Tam appoints new culture bureau’s vice-chief

Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng said yesterday that he has signed an order to appoint Leong Wai Man as a vice-president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC). Leong currently heads the bureau’s Cultural Heritage Department.Tam made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event at Praça do Lago Sai Van.The bureau has two vice-presidents but one of the posts is currently vacant after Chan Peng Fai resigned last month so as to hold himself

January 18, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Legislative duo retract ‘political act’ draft resolution

Indirectly-elected lawmakers Kou Hoi In and Vong Hin Fai yesterday retracted their jointly-proposed draft resolution – a document that they submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) last week – on whether the suspension of a lawmaker by his or her peers is a “political act”.The president of the legislature, Ho Iat Seng, accepted the duo’s request to withdraw the draft resolution.In a statement requesting the withdrawal of the draft resolution yesterday, Kou and Vong say they had

January 18, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Drug dealer hides cocaine in disabled toilet: police

The police arrested a man on Tuesday who hid a quantity of cocaine in a toilet cubicle for the disabled in Areia Preta, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a special press conference at the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday.According to Choi, the suspect is a 24-year-old from Hong Kong, whose surname was not provided.Choi said that a week ago the police received a tip-off about a person selling drugs in Areia Preta. On Tuesday evening, the police put the suspect under

January 18, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

2 women nabbed smuggling booze in satchel & pushchair

Two local women in two separate cases were nabbed when they were trying to enter the mainland via Zhuhai’s Gongbei checkpoint with alcohol hidden in a kindergarten pupil’s satchel and a pushchair respectively, according to a report by government-owned broadcaster TDM yesterday.The report did not say when the two cases happened.In the two cases, Gongbei Customs officers seized a total of 21 bottles of red wine and brandy.PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN OUR PRINT EDITION.

January 18, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

City hosts record 32.6 million visitors last year

Preliminary figures show that visitor arrivals in Macau last year amounted to 32.6 million, a rise of 5.4 percent over the previous year, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said yesterday.Senna Fernandes made the remarks during MGTO’s annual new year press conference, at Macau Tower.According to Senna Fernandes, among the 32.6 million visitor arrivals, over 29.4 million were from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, up 5.3 percent year on

January 18, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Accountant cheated in online love scam: police

A local woman has fallen victim to an online love scam, in which she lost around 18,000 patacas, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Yeung Sau Chan said during a regular press conference yesterday.Yeung noted that the victim is a 53-year-old divorcee surnamed Chao, an accountant by profession.According to Yeung, Chao told the police that she met a man who claimed to be from the US on Facebook in early November, after which they started an online relationship.Later that month, Yeung said, the man

January 17, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Court postpones lawmaker’s disobedience trial

The Court of First Instance (TJB) yesterday postponed the trial of directly-elected lawmaker Sulu Sou Ka Hou and fellow non-establishment activist Scott Chiang Meng Hin for alleged aggravated disobedience, as the outcome of a ruling to be made by the Court of Second Instance (TSI) in response to an interim injunction by Sou may affect the ongoing trial of the case.The decision was made by the TJB judge Cheong Weng Tong, during the first hearing of the trial yesterday.During a plenary session on

January 17, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Woman nabbed with illegal weapon at airport: police

The police caught a woman from the mainland on Monday morning at the local airport for carrying an illegal weapon, Public Security Police (PSP) spokeswoman Lai In Hong said during a regular press conference yesterday.Lai identified the suspect as a woman in her thirties surnamed Zang, who flew from Hangzhou to Macau on Saturday.According to Lai, Zang was set to depart from the local airport on Monday morning. When she was going through the airport’s security check, security guards spotted a

January 17, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

JLL says no to govt’s home- ownership scheme

The government’s public housing policy should focus on renting out flats because selling off the units would further worsen the housing supply shortage, the cause of Macau’s housing problem, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Macau Managing Director Gregory Ku Ka Hou said yesterday.Macau has two types of public housing, consisting of social rental housing and a home-ownership scheme (HOS) that allows residents to buy a government-subsidised unit, which the owner can only sell on the private market

January 17, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Legislature passes coastal waters framework bill

The legislature yesterday passed the outline of a government-initiated bill on the framework for the management of Macau’s coastal waters. The bill proposes that no gaming projects be allowed on land newly reclaimed from the sea.Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan introduced the outline of the bill during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday.In December 2015, the central government granted Macau jurisdiction over 85 square kilometres of its

January 17, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Lawmakers pass outline of job agencies bill

The legislature yesterday passed the outline of a government-initiated bill regulating the city’s employment agencies. The bill proposes that employment agencies are barred from providing services to tourists or non-resident workers.Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac introduced the outline of the bill during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday.The existing decree-law on the licensing of employment agencies was enacted back in 1994 when Macau was

January 17, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Woman on zebra crossing hit by van

A local woman in her seventies was hit by a van yesterday when she was on a zebra crossing in Lam Mau Tong district, the Public Security Police (PSP) said yesterday.The police said that the male driver of the van is a non-resident worker. The police said they were investigating whether he was illegally working as a driver.The hiring of non-local drivers – both for passenger and goods vehicles – is banned by the government.According to the police, the accident happened at around 2 p.m. in

January 16, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Ex-weather chief’s pension amount to be calculated: Chan

Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan said yesterday that the Pension Fund (FP) will calculate the amount of the pension that the former director of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG), Fong Soi Kun will receive.Chan made the remarks while speaking to reporters after attending a committee meeting in the Legislative Assembly (AL).The day after Super Typhoon Hato pummelled Macau on August 23 and killed 10, Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On accepted Fong’s

January 16, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Workers protest on rooftop over labour row

Four construction workers sat on the 16th floor rooftop of a recently-completed residential high-rise in Fai Chi Kei for two hours in protest over a labour dispute yesterday, the police said.The police did not say what grievances the workers were protesting about.The quartet began their sit-in on the rooftop of one of the buildings of the recently-completed residential estate in Rua Nova do Patane at around 10 a.m., the police said.Firefighters stand on the podium next to a safety cushion of

January 16, 2018 | BY admin

Comment: 0