Visitors rise 1.6 pct in October

Macau’s number of visitor arrivals rose 1.6 percent year-on-year and 10.4 percent month-on-month to 2.67 million in October, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced yesterday. A DSEC statement attributed the two-digit month-on-month increase to the National Day “Golden Week” holiday in the first week of last month. Overnight visitors rose 12.1 percent year-on-year to 1.37 million, accounting for 51.2 percent of the total, while same-day visitors dropped 7.6 percent to

November 24, 2016 | BY admin

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Chan insists current election systems suitable for Macau

Addressing yesterday’s Q&A session in the legislature’s hemicycle, Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan said that the current systems to elect the chief executive and legislators were suitable for Macau.Chan made the remarks when answering questions from grassroots lawmakers Antonio Ng Kuok Cheong and Au Kam San, on the first day of the two-day Q&A session about her portfolio’s policy guidelines for next year.Chan and several other senior officials of her

November 23, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt mulls amending law to better protect inspectors: Chan

The government considers reviewing the law on providing legal aid for inspectors facing insults, physical violence and other kinds of attacks, so as to evaluate if the law is still suitable under the current circumstances, Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan said yesterday.Chan made the remarks when replying to a question by legislator-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I during a plenary session of the legislature. Chan yesterday presented the 2017 policy guidelines for her

November 23, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt plans shopping centre for Seac Pai Van

Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) President Jose Fonseca Tavares said in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday that the government was planning to build a shopping centre in Seac Pai Van.Tavares made the remarks when answering questions from several lawmakers, on the first of the two-day Q&A session about the Administration and Justice portfolio’s policy guidelines for next year.Several lawmakers asked the government whether it planned to build wet markets in new neighbourhoods,

November 23, 2016 | BY admin

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GDP grows again after 2-year shrinkage

Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) has finally snapped a two-year contraction amid a recovery in casino receipts.  GDP grew 4 percent year-on-year in real terms in the third quarter, the first positive quarterly growth recorded over the past two years, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced yesterday. The bureau attributed the return to growth to a rebound in both exports of services and investment. The gain brought an end to a slide that was at its worst in the second

November 23, 2016 | BY admin

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Man nabbed for punching police, resisting arrest

A 60-year-old local man was arrested on Sunday for resisting arrest and injuring two policemen, a Public Security Police (PSP) spokesperson said during a press briefing yesterday.According to the spokesperson, PSP officers received a report about suspected illegal gambling near a construction site in Fai Chi Kei at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday. When PSP officers arrived at the location, several men ran off in different directions but the suspect, surnamed Lau who claimed to be unemployed, was

November 23, 2016 | BY admin

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Hengqin has enough land for local investors: official

Apart from the five-square-kilometre area known as the Hengqin Guangdong-Macau Co-operation Industrial Park, Hengqin Island has enough land for investors from Macau, the director of the Administrative Committee of Hengqin New Area, Niu Jing, said yesterdayNiu made the remarks on the sidelines of a seminar at the Zhuhai Holiday Resort Hotel about the investment projects at the industrial park. According to a statement released by the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM)

November 23, 2016 | BY admin

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Lawmakers reject bill on interpretation of Coloane law

Lawmaker-cum-unionist Jose Pereira Coutinho’s bill of on the interpretation of Decree Law No. 33/81/M concerning the preservation of a 198,060-square-metre plot of land in Coloane was rejected by his fellow legislators yesterday.Coutinho’s bill, formally known as an interpretative norm, requested that the government ensure that no one can develop the plot except for scientific reasons or in the public interest.In the introduction to his bill, Coutinho said that more and more residents were

November 22, 2016 | BY admin

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Firm urges govt to help improve residents’ spoken English

Education First (EF) urged the government yesterday to help improve residents’ spoken English by creating an English-speaking atmosphere in Macau.Founded in Sweden in 1965, the firm focuses on teaching languages, educational travel and cultural experiences, according to an EF statement.EF General Manager of Macau Region Adrian Kwok Gee Kin made the remarks during a press conference at the Fortuna Business Centre (FBC) in Nam Van about the company’s recent report on the 6th Edition of the

November 22, 2016 | BY admin

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1,254 sign petition to halt joint exam

New Macau Association (NMA) activists handed a petition signed by 1,254 residents to the Tertiary Education Services Office (GAES) yesterday, urging the government to stop a controversial joint university admission examination scheduled to be held from March 30 to April 2.The joint exam will replace the separate entrance exams of four local tertiary education institutions, namely the public University of Macau (UM), Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT), Macau Polytechnic Institute (IPM,) and the

November 22, 2016 | BY admin

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Rise in public investment needed during downturn: Leong

Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac said yesterday the government needed to increase public investment to help boost the local economy amid its current downturnLeong made the remarks when attending a plenary session to present the government’s 2017 budget bill, which was unanimously passed by the legislature.According to the bill, the government expects total receipts of 102.94 billion patacas next year, a 0.3 percent decrease from this year. Government expenditure

November 22, 2016 | BY admin

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Group calls for intangible cultural heritage promotion amongst youth

The government should put more effort into promoting the city’s intangible cultural heritage amongst young people, the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations’ Cultural and Recreational Committee Director Ian Heng Wa said yesterday.The association is commonly known as Kai Fong.The union hosted a press conference to release the results of a survey on young residents’ knowledge of the city’s intangible cultural heritage. Conducted on August 27 and September 3, the survey

November 22, 2016 | BY admin

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Legislature passes bill raising civil servants’ housing allowance

The legislature yesterday passed the government’s bill on increasing public servants’ housing allowance. The bill proposes that the monthly allowance be increased from 30 salary points (2,430 patacas) to 40 salary points (3,240 patacas).The outline of the bill was passed by all 31 lawmakers who attended the plenary session. One lawmaker was absent. Customarily, the speaker of the legislature does not vote.Currently, one salary point for public servants’ salaries is 81 patacas. Chief

November 22, 2016 | BY admin

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21-year-old caught for sex with 4 girls: police

A 21-year-old local man surnamed Ieong was arrested on Friday for the alleged sexual assault of four minors, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said during a special press briefing on Saturday. Ieong, a part-time construction worker, raped a 13-year-old girl and had had sexual intercourse with three of her friends aged 13 to 14 since March last year, said the spokesperson. According to the spokesperson, one of the two 14-year-old victims, hereinafter referred to as victim A, seldom

November 21, 2016 | BY admin

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