Group calls for financial sector development

The Macau Economics Association yesterday urged the government to promote the development of financial businesses with “special features” to diversify the local economy.The group held a press conference yesterday to brief the media about its newly-published book that suggests polices that will develop financial businesses with “special features” in the city.The press conference, co-hosted by the association’s president Joey Lao Chi Ngai and members Lao Heng Meng and Sou Chan Fai, was

February 27, 2017 | BY admin

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Lawmaker slams provident fund bill for not protecting staff

The initial version of the government-proposed non-mandatory central provident fund system cannot protect workers, especially those working in the construction industry, lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I said yesterday.Lawmaker Kwan Tsui Hang told reporters on Friday after a meeting of the legislature’s 1st Standing Committee with government officials that the government had decided not to amend the bill.According to the initial version – the draft – of the bill, an employee will get

February 27, 2017 | BY admin

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3 maids nabbed for operating fake base stations

Three female Vietnamese domestic helpers were caught on Wednesday for operating fake base stations, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said yesterday during a special briefing.A fake base station is telecom equipment which sends out a signal, disconnecting mobile phone users in an area from their base stations and who then receive messages from the fake one instead.According to the spokesperson, the first suspect, surnamed Bui, is 37 years old while the second suspect, surnamed Le, is aged

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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NMA vice-president to quit group

Jason Chao Teng Hei, the vice-president of the grassroots New Macau Association (NMA), said in a statement on his Facebook page last night that he had decided to resign and withdraw his membership from the grassroots groups. According to the statement, Chao says that when he was serving as the president of the association, he endeavoured to keep the direction of the group in line with international standards and practices. “From time to time, I came across the criticism of being too

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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HK man nabbed in Macau for online fraud

Judiciary Police (PJ) officers arrested a Hong Kong man on Wednesday on suspicion of cheating eight local residents and 70 Hong Kong residents, a PJ spokesperson said during a special press briefing yesterday.The spokesperson said the 29-year-old suspect, surnamed Chan, is unemployed.According to the spokesperson, eight residents separately told the police between December 2015 and May last year that they had met Chan online on a selling platform.Judiciary Police (PJ)

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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Man nabbed for robbing casino chips

The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested a man from the mainland on Wednesday on suspicion of robbing gambling chips from a female gambler from the mainland in a casino-hotel resort in Cotai, PJ spokeswoman Yeung Sau Chan said during a special press conference yesterday.Yeung identified the 38-year old suspect as surnamed Gan and the victim as a 25-year-old surnamed Xu.According to Yeung, Xu met Gan for the first time earlier this week when Gan bought gambling chips from Xu. Early Wednesday morning,

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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GDP falls 2.1 pct in 2016, improving from 2015

Macau’s gross domestic product shrank by 2.1 percent year on year in real terms last year, an improvement from the 21.5 percent drop in 2015, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) said yesterday. According to a DSEC statement, GDP contracted by 9.7 percent in the first half of 2016, but rebounded by 5.7 percent in the second half. The statement attributed last year’s economic contraction mainly to the weakening of total demand. Domestic demand dropped 5.8 percent, private consumption

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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Visitors rise 17.6 pct to 2.8 million in January

Macau’s number of visitor arrivals rose 17.6 percent year on year to 2.87 million last month, boosted by the start of the Chinese New Year on January 28, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced yesterday.Month-on-month, the number was up by 2.2 percent. Overnight visitors increased 18.9 percent year on year to 1.36 million, while same-day visitors rose 16.4 percent to 1.51 million. PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN OUR PRINT EDITION.

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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CEM expects new power station in 5 years

CEM expects its new power plant in Coloane to be up and running in five years time, Bernie Leong Wa Kun, chairman of the electricity utility’s executive committee, said yesterday.Leong made the announcement on the sidelines of a Spring Festival media luncheon at Wynn Palace in Cotai yesterday.Leong also said that the demolition of the former CEM power station on the peninsula was in progress, adding he expected the project to be competed in 18 months time when the company would hand the

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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Councillor urges govt to submit urban renewal bill

Urban Renewal Council member Ron Lam U Tou said yesterday he hoped that the government will, as promised, submit its urban renewal amendment bill to the legislature by the end of June so that the Building Redevelopment Fund and the cancellation of the double payment of stamp duty can get off the ground as soon possible.For the bill to become law, it must be passed by the Legislative Assembly and promulgated in the Official Gazette (BO).Lam, a member of the government-appointed Urban Renewal

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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‘North’ and ‘South’ latest gastronomic gems at MGM

After undergoing a US$7 million reconceptualisation, the “Square Eight” restaurant at MGM has been transformed into a culinary hot spot, offering the best of the northern and southern regions of mainland China in a lively yet sophisticated environment at a very reasonable price.The two restaurants North by Square Eight and South by Square Eight are side-by-side but offer a very different atmosphere as with the very different flavours the two regions offer.Serving signature dishes from the

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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Rosario keeps mum on shipyards

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario said yesterday that he had “nothing further to add” regarding the fate of Coloane’s Lai Chi Vun Village, one day after Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On told reporters that right now he was unable to say how the government will preserve and redevelop the village.Rosario spoke to reporters after attending a regular meeting of the Urban Planning Council at the Transport Bureau (DSAT).Chui told reporters on Wednesday that public

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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Freezing moments: Creating stories

The presence of smartphones that feature built-in cameras complemented with all the fancy filters nowadays makes everyone a photographer, even those who don’t usually take pictures will snap away to record virtually every moment of their life.Joao Miguel Barros, who opened his photo exhibition “Between Gaze and Hallucination” at the Creative Macau gallery yesterday, wanted to take the opportunity to show what photography means to him.Barros told MPD Weekender in an e-mail interview

February 24, 2017 | BY admin

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Govt decision on smoking lounges to heed public interest: Chui

Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On said yesterday that the government had not made a final decision on the possible retention of casino smoking lounges, pledging that the government’s decision on the matter will heed the public interest.Chui spoke to reporters at the airport before departing for a working visit to Fuzhou, the provincial capital of Fujian province, for talks with the provincial government on their joint participation in the development of the central government’s ‘One

February 23, 2017 | BY admin

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