Lawmaker urges govt to check illegal inns in HOS flats

Grassroots lawmaker Au Kam San has urged the Housing Bureau (IH) to “seriously” look into whether any subsidised home ownership scheme (HOS) flats are being used for illegal accommodation businesses.Au, vice-chairman of the grassroots Macau Community Development Initiatives (MCDI), made the appeal in a written interpellation submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday. A copy of the interpellation was sent to the media.Recent reports by local media said that some flat owners in the

May 9, 2016 | BY admin

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Forum slams govt’s response to checkpoint computer glitch

Panellists and audience members at an open-air debate programme yesterday slammed the government’s response to the city’s border checkpoint computer glitch on April 30.The debate programme was hosted by government broadcaster TDM in Areia Preta Park. The forum is held every Sunday morning.The automated passenger clearance systems – also known as e-channels – at the city’s border checkpoints did not work properly for two hours on April 30 due to a computer malfunction.An audience

May 9, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt is leading discrimination against LGBT: activist

LGBT rights activist Jason Chao Teng Hei said yesterday that by not including LGBT couples in a government-drafted domestic violence bill, the government was essentially leading the discrimination against sexual minorities.Activist group Rainbow of Macau, which dedicates itself to the fight for LGBT rights in Macau, held a press conference at Yau Seng Industrial Building in Iao Hon, where Chao, the group’s co-founder, made the remarks.LGBT is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and

May 9, 2016 | BY admin

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Wynn Macau revenue drops 13.8 pct in Q1

Wynn Macau’s net revenues dropped 13.8 percent year-on-year to US$608.2 million in the first quarter, Wynn Resorts said in a statement in Las Vegas last week. Adjusted property Ebitda decreased 9.9 percent year-on-year to US$191 million. According to the statement, table game turnover in the VIP segment amounted to US$13.47 billion, a 21.4 percent decline from the first quarter of last year. Please read the full article in our print edition.

May 9, 2016 | BY admin

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Mayday holiday visitors rise 4.8 pct: tourism chief

Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said yesterday that the number of visitor arrivals during the May Day holiday period rose 4.8 percent year-on-year. She also said that three- to five-star hotels recorded about 90 percent occupancy rates over the three days, adding that the figures were “really encouraging”. The director made the remarks on the sidelines of yesterday’s opening ceremony of a string of events to mark International

May 9, 2016 | BY admin

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Culture chief pledges ‘not too commercialised’ shipyard

Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Guilherme Ung Vai Meng said yesterday the government has already repossessed a shipyard and two stilt houses in Coloane, adding that his bureau plans to revitalise the shipyard in Lei Chi Van Village as a display of the traditional wooden shipbuilding craft that, he promised, would not be “too commercialised”.Ung made the pledge on the sidelines of yesterday’s opening ceremony for a string of events to mark International Museum Day at local group

May 9, 2016 | BY admin

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80 domestic violence cases recorded last year: official

The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) recorded around 80 suspected domestic violence cases last year, IAS President Celeste Vong Yim Mui said yesterday, adding she believed, however, that the figure does not show the actual situation.Vong made the remarks on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the bureau’s “Happy Family Month” event in Iao Hon. The city’s welfare chief said she believed the number of cases reported to the bureau would increase after a bill on preventing and

May 9, 2016 | BY admin

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5-year plan draft lacks clear direction: civic leaders

The draft of the government’s Five-Year Development Plan (2016-2020) lacks a clear direction, both Alliance for Common People Building Up Macau (API) President Chan Tak Seng and social commentator Iu Veng Ion, who is also the director of the Chinese-language weekly Joy Post, said yesterday. Both spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a forum hosted by the Macau Wisdom Convergence think tank in Iao Hon district where they were guest speakers.Chan, a member of the government-appointed

May 9, 2016 | BY admin

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Lawmaker urges govt to tackle siltation issues

Grassroots lawmaker Antonio Ng Kuok Cheong is urging the government to come up with a new plan to deal with the city’s siltation problems, according to an interpellation released to the media yesterday. Ng lamented the lack of progress despite the government’s attempts to deal with the silting-up problem plaguing Sai Van Lake and Nam Van Lake using organic methods such algae and other plants.Ng said it was high time for the government to review its tactics for tackling the city’s

May 8, 2016 | BY admin

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Man arrested for sexually abusing own children

The police arrested a 41-year-old local Portuguese man on Wednesday for alleged physical and sexual abuse of his two children since 2011, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said yesterday.The shocking case was announced during a regular press briefing.The spokesperson said the mother of the two children, a 9-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, reported the alleged abuse on April 14.This handout photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday shows the hooded suspect posing in a

May 6, 2016 | BY admin

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Wait is over: KK is back in action

After a hiatus of over a year, Ng Kuok Kun aka ‘The Macau Kid’ aka KK has a fight on the Rex ‘The Wonder Kid’ Sing-ye’s undercard in Top Rank and DEF Promotions—Clash of Champions in Hong Kong next Saturday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).MPD Weekender caught up with KK in his gym in Areia Preta on Tuesday to talk about the enforced yearlong break and the prospect of fighting again next weekend.KK (8 wins, 4 KOs) will be fighting another Thai opponent,

May 6, 2016 | BY admin

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Bill proposes cap on length of ‘academic activities’ in courses

A government-drafted bill proposes that “academic activities” included as part of the degree programmes offered by local tertiary education institutions should not exceed 15 hours per week, legislator Andrew Chan Chak Mo, who chairs the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) 2nd Standing Committee, said yesterday.The lawmaker-cum-restaurateur spoke to the media after a closed-door committee meeting with senior officials including Tertiary Education Services Office (GAES) Director Sou Chio Fai.Chan

May 6, 2016 | BY admin

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Group urges public entities to set up breastfeeding rooms

Women’s General Association of Macau (commonly known as Fu Luen) senior member Ng Ka Teng yesterday urged the city’s public entities to set up breastfeeding rooms on their premises to provide mothers with a comfortable environment to feed their babies.Ng, a board member of Fu Luen, made the appeal during yesterday’s meeting of the government-appointed North Districts Community Services Consultative Committee at the Government Services Centre in Areia Preta.Addressing the meeting, Ng, a

May 6, 2016 | BY admin

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MGM China revenue drops 25 pct in Q1

MGM China’s total revenue dropped 25 percent year-on-year to HK$3.6 billion in the first quarter, narrowed from the 31 percent year-on-year decline in the previous quarter, the gaming operator said in a statement yesterday. According to the statement, adjusted Ebitda fell 23 percent to HK$995 million. The company’s “business in the quarter was negatively affected by low hold in both mass table games and in-house VIP operations,” the statement said, adding that “luck-adjusted

May 6, 2016 | BY admin

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