Uber row divides forum

Guest speakers and members of the audience at yesterday’s Macau Forum were starkly divided on whether Uber’s operation should be allowed in Macau. Grassroots lawmaker Au Kam San, one of the five guest speakers, said that as it wasn’t technically difficult to draft legislation to regulate ride-hailing app operators like Uber, it was obvious that the government isn’t considering drafting legislation for such operators and just intends to maintain the “status quo” of the city’s

September 5, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Macau has ‘high chance’ of imported Zika cases

After Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong recently confirmed cases of the Zika virus, the director of the local Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), Lam Chong, has warned that the chance of Macau getting imported Zika cases is “quite high”.Lam made the comment on the sidelines of a session about the Zika virus, such as test procedures, observation methods and prevention measures, for medical practitioners from the private and public sectors on Friday.With more confirmed Zika cases

September 5, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Group marks 60th anniversary by showing late members’ work

The Macau Museum of Art (MAM) and the Macau Artists Society are co-hosting an exhibition to mark the group’s 60th anniversary.The exhibition comprises 60 pieces of artwork created by 36 of its late members, at the Macau Handover Gifts Museum in Nape.Founded in 1956, the group is one of the most influential associations of its kind in Macau and has made a remarkable contribution to local art development, according to the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s (IC) webpage.PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN

September 5, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Casinos end 26-month revenue drop

Macau’s casinos last month reversed their 26-month slump in gaming revenue as new resorts, including one by Wynn Resorts, attracted visits from mass-market gamblers.Casino shares rose in Asia and the US yesterday as investors now look to see whether Macau’s gaming operators can sustain the momentum through the mainland’s National Day holiday week starting on October 1.  Gross gaming revenue rose 1.1 percent year-on-year in August to 18.8 billion patacas, the Gaming Inspection and

September 2, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Stomp struts its stuff at Venetian to tease visitors

Hitting brooms on the ground, sliding their bristles then stamping their feet to the beat, “Stomp” performers proved that even broomsticks could be a percussion instrument.The performers gave a preview to visitors at the Venetian mall on Monday of what their upcoming show “Stomp” at the Venetian Theatre would be like.The show, which was created by Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas in 1991, combines percussion, dance, theatre and comedy where performers use everyday objects to create

September 2, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Group petitions govt to support Uber

Members of the grassroots Love Macau Association submitted a petition, addressed to the Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On, yesterday, urging the government to support global ride-hailing giant Uber’s continued operation in Macau.Speaking to reporters after handing the petition to an official outside Government Headquarters, Cloee Chao Sao Fong, the group’s president, said an online survey conducted by her group last week showed that more than 90 percent of the respondents supported

September 2, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Think tank calls for details on ‘land debt’ plots

Local think tank Collective Wisdom Policy Centre yesterday called for the government to announce details of the six plots which originally had been leased to developers but were eventually used by the government for other purposes.A press conference about the issue was held yesterday at the centre in Avenida de Horta e Costa.Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On admitted in July in the legislature that the government has used a total of 88,806 square metres of land which originally had been

September 2, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Govt shelves eatery plan for Taipa-Houses Museum

The Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture has shelved its controversial plan to open a Portuguese restaurant in one of the five mansions in the Taipa-Houses Museum complex, according to a statement by the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) yesterday.The statement said an inter-departmental working group under the purview of the secretariat had decided to shelve the plan as it triggered a “heated discussion” in civil society, namely because of fears that the environment around the

September 2, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Govt may amend noise control law if many complain: official

The Environmental Noise Prevention and Control Law might be amended if residents have many complaints about it, Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) Vice Director Ip Kuong Lam said yesterday. Ip made the remarks after a regular meeting of the Northern Districts Social Services Consultative Committee at the Government Service Centre in Areia Preta.Committee member Chio Lan Ieng told reporters before the meeting that many residents work shifts but the law’s noise-protection time frame

September 2, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Union petitions govt over smoking lounge details

Members of the Macau Gaming Enterprises Staff Association (MGESA) yesterday submitted a petition, addressed to Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng, to voice various complaints by casino workers about gamblers illegally smoking in casinos, urging the government to announce details about casino smoking lounges that it has approved. The association is an affiliate of the influential Macau Federation of Trade Unions (known as “Gung Luen” in Cantonese).Speaking to

September 2, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

No textbooks: Children all excited about e-learning

After their long summer holiday, children are generally happy to be back at school, especially those at Escola Sao Paulo who couldn’t wait to use their own tablet PC for all their classes and homework.About 200 children who are in Primary 4 now were already at school on Monday where they took a one-day training course on how to use their tablet PC.“It’s so slippery,” Eric Mak Kin Wong, who is nine and a half, told MPD Weekender as he tried to write his name on the touch-screen of his

September 2, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Govt rents offices for 4 billion patacas in 10 years: audit report

The government spent four billion patacas on leasing office  space in private properties for its bureaus and other public entities between 2004 and 2014, the Commission of Audit (CA) said in a report yesterday.The commission criticised the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) for being responsible for the dilemma by failing to plan for the construction of government buildings.The report points out that the government rents a large number of private properties for its various

September 1, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Taiwan uni expels Macau cat killer: reports

A National Taiwan University (NTU) student from Macau, identified by the island’s media as Chan Hou Ieong, who reportedly admitted that he had killed two cats in Taiwan, was expelled by the university on Tuesday, according to Taiwan media reports yesterday. The public university’s decision means that Chan, who was set to graduate in chemical engineering this summer, won’t be able to obtain a degree from the university, NTU Chief Secretary Lin Ta-te was quoted as saying by the

September 1, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0

Car & bike imports drop 56 pct in Jan-July

Macau’s imports of cars and motorcycles dropped by 56.4 percent year-on-year to 700 million patacas, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced yesterday. Mobile phone imports fell by 47.4 percent to 2.5 billion patacas. Imports of watches dropped by 42.8 percent to 2.2 billion patacas. Gold jewellery imports decreased by 27.9 percent to 2.9 billion patacas. Construction material imports declined by 33.5 percent to 1.2 billion patacas. Total imports decreased by 21.3 percent

September 1, 2016 | BY admin

Comment: 0