Recent phone scammers not from mainland: police

The Judiciary Police (PJ) believe that the fraudsters in the recent wave of phone scams made the calls from foreign countries and not the mainland, PJ spokesman Choi Ian Fai said during a regular press conference yesterday.The Judiciary Police have said that phone scam cases have been reported “frequently” since early this year. The first wave of phone scams occurred in March and April, the police have said.The police have said that the second wave of phone scam cases started on July 20. In

August 17, 2017 | BY admin

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Rent law changes are not what the market needs

The dust has settled and only five of the seven changes proposed by nine legislators survived. Rent control was voted down after a heated debate. Those passed into law are (1) extension of minimum lease term from 2 to 3 years; (2) establishment of an arbitration mechanism; and (3) notarisation of leases.The government considered high rent as threatening the livelihoods of poor families and survival of SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises). The rise in rent was, however, just to reflect the

August 17, 2017 | BY admin

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Local teens get taste of work life at MGM

About 80 local teenagers had a taste of what life at work is like at MGM Macau, and two of them shared their experiences during a certificate presentation ceremony at the hotel-casino yesterday.According to yesterday’s presentation, the gaming operator has given about 400 local youngsters the opportunity to learn practical skills and gain insights into the daily operations of the hospitality industry since 2011.This year, about 80 teenagers with an average age of 15 joined the annual “A Day

August 17, 2017 | BY admin

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Govt expects barrier-free facility guidelines to be ready this year

The government expects to complete this year its official guidelines on the setting-up of barrier-free facilities to assist the disabled in the city’s buildings and to implement them next year, Choi Sio Un, chief of the Social Solidarity Department of the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS), said yesterday.The bureau had announced in June that it expected to publish the guidelines in September.Choi made the announcement when briefing reporters after attending a closed-door meeting of the

August 16, 2017 | BY admin

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Legislature’s work more ‘mature’ & ‘healthy’: speaker

Legislative Assembly (AL) President Ho Iat Seng said yesterday that the operation of the legislature has become more “mature” and “healthy”.Ho made the remarks at the end of a plenary session which coincided with the last day of the legislature’s four-year term (2013-2017). The direct and indirect legislative elections will be held on September 17.Yesterday’s plenum discussed a debate motion by directly-elected lawmaker Au Kam San. His motion asked whether the points-based system

August 16, 2017 | BY admin

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Sands staff pack 35,000 hygiene kits for Philippines

About 300 Sands China employees and around 100 volunteers from local associations packed 35,000 hygiene kits for “Clean the World” that will benefit Children International which will deliver the kits to families in need in the Philippines.It is the fourth year that the US gaming operator is partnering with international social enterprise “Clean the World” that recycles the soap collected from the company’s properties worldwide, before delivering the recycled soap to people in need to

August 16, 2017 | BY admin

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Govt to revive point system for HOS applicants: Rosario

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario said yesterday the government agreed that its points-based system should be relaunched for the allocation of subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) flats.Rosario attended a plenum in the legislature’s hemicycle which discussed a debate motion by directly-elected lawmaker Au Kam San.The government’s public housing programme comprises HOS flats and social rental housing units. The government’s current public housing policy is that

August 16, 2017 | BY admin

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Court convicts 6, acquits 3 in trial related to ex-top prosecutor’s graft case

Three of the nine defendants in a trial related to convicted former chief public prosecutor Ho Chio Meng were acquitted yesterday while the other six were sentenced to two to 14 years behind bars.Ho was sentenced to 21 years behind bars last month for over 1,500 crimes including corruption, fraud, embezzlement, organised crime, money laundering and unjustified wealth. He was also sentenced to pay 18.36 million patacas to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) as well as more than 57 million patacas

August 16, 2017 | BY admin

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Police nab S Korean stealing for a living

A South Korean man was caught on Monday for stealing money and valuables from various shops to support himself after gambling away all his money, according to a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson yesterday.The spokesperson said the suspect, surnamed Jung, is a 48-year-old overstayer.According to the spokesperson, the suspect came to Macau as a tourist in 2015. Since losing all his money in local casinos, he has never left the city.The spokesperson said an antique shop owner reported to the

August 16, 2017 | BY admin

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Woman cheated out of US$1.46 million in online scam: police

A married woman has been cheated out of about US$1.46 million (11.7 million patacas) by a man who claimed to be a British petroleum engineer, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said yesterday.According to Choi, the victim is an unemployed local resident who is in her forties.Choi said the victim met the suspect on Facebook in March. After swapping phone numbers, they talked to each other on WhatsApp. Choi said the victim soon fell in love with the suspect.According to Choi, the victim

August 15, 2017 | BY admin

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Rosario rejects full subsidy for structural surveys

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario said yesterday he did not agree with the idea that the government should pay the full cost of structural surveys arranged by flat owners for their old buildings.Rosario attended a plenum in the legislature’s hemicycle which discussed a debate motion by directly-elected lawmaker Mak Soi Kun.The legislature passed Mak’s debate motion last month, which questioned whether the government should require buildings that are at least 30

August 15, 2017 | BY admin

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Smart city project to cost extra 200 million patacas a year: govt

The government expects to spend an additional 200 million patacas a year for the next two years to implement projects related to Macau’s smart city development, the Government Spokesperson’s Office (GPV) said in a statement yesterday.The government early this month signed the Framework Agreement of Strategic Co-operation on Smart City Development with Alibaba Group to develop Macau into a smart city, by using Alibaba’s big data processing capabilities to enhance the quality of the

August 15, 2017 | BY admin

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Govt fixes campaign broadcasting ad slots

Each electoral group’s campaign advertisements will be aired on government-owned broadcaster TDM’s Chinese- and Portuguese-language TV channels 12 and eight times respectively during the official campaign period, according to yesterday’s Official Gazette (BO).The ads will be aired free of charge.The direct and indirect legislative elections will take place on September 17. A record 25 groups are competing for 14 seats in the direct election while six groups are running in the indirect

August 15, 2017 | BY admin

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Rent control article wouldn’t have been useful: lawmakers

Lawmaker Gabriel Tong Io Cheng told reporters yesterday that he abstained last week from voting on an article in the controversial landlord-tenant bill which proposed that the chief executive could have placed a cap on rent increases based on certain conditions, because he thought that the article would not have been useful to control rent rises.Fellow lawmaker Zheng Anting also told the media yesterday that he abstained from voting for the same article because he doubted the feasibility of the

August 15, 2017 | BY admin

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