Council backs high-rise next to Muslim cemetery

The government-appointed Urban Planning Committee voted yesterday on the legal conditions proposed by the Lands, Transport and Public Works Bureau (DSSOPT) for the possible development of a plot next to the city’s Muslim cemetery. Twenty of the 26 members of the committee who cast their votes supported the conditions while six voted against.With the support by the council, a high-rise of up to 127 metres can be built on the plot.The Urban Planning Committee yesterday held a meeting on the

May 11, 2016 | BY admin

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Almost 650,000 live in Macau

Macau’s population had risen to 649,100 at the end of the first quarter, an increase of 2,300 inhabitants quarter-to-quarter, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced yesterday. Based on Macau’s land area of 30.4 square kilometres, the special administrative region’s population density per sq km stood at 21,352, reportedly the highest in the world. The population included 181,436 non-resident workers (“blue cardholders”). Please read the full article in our

May 11, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt mulls asking UNESCO for ‘city of gastronomy’ listing

The government is looking into the criteria required to lodge an application with UNESCO next year to designate Macau as a ‘city of gastronomy’ in the UN body’s Creative Cities Network, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said yesterday.She made the remarks after attending a plenary meeting of the government-appointed Tourism Development Committee at the Tourism Activities Centre (CAT) in Zape. According to UNESCO’s website, the network,

May 10, 2016 | BY admin

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Lawmaker urges govt to probe public car parks

Lawmaker-cum-unionist Kwan Tsui Hang has urged the Transport Bureau (DSAT) to strengthen its supervision of the city’s public car parks and to check whether there are any irregular activities affecting their operation.Kwan, a chairwoman of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, commonly known as Gung Luen, made the appeal in a written interpellation submitted to the Legislative Assembly yesterday. A copy of the interpellation was sent to the media.The veteran lawmaker says in her

May 10, 2016 | BY admin

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2 women robbed of chips worth HK$1.1 million in hotel

The Judiciary Police (PJ) said yesterday that two women from the mainland were robbed of gaming chips worth HK$1.1 million in a hotel at the Venetian resort in Cotai.A PJ spokesperson announced the case during a regular police briefing.The spokesperson said PJ officers received a report from the Public Security Police (PSP) station in Taipa on Friday about a robbery that had occurred early that morning at a hotel in the Venetian resort.Please read the full article in our print edition.

May 10, 2016 | BY admin

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Retired civil servant sexually abuses daughter: police

The police arrested a retired civil servant on Friday for allegedly sexually abusing his 4-year-old daughter at least five times, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said during a regular press briefing yesterday.According to the spokesperson, the victim’s mother went to a police station with a social worker on Friday to report the case.According to the spokesperson, usually the family’s domestic helper picked up the victim from a tutorial centre, but on Thursday the suspect picked her up

May 10, 2016 | BY admin

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Mobile phone imports fall 52 pct in Q1

Macau’s imports of mobile phones fell 51.8 percent year-on-year to 1.3 billion patacas in the first quarter, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced. Gold jewellery imports fell 22.2 percent to 1.47 billion patacas, imports of food and beverages dropped 13.8 percent to 2.8 billion patacas, imports of watches decreased 38.8 percent to 1.0 billion patacas, and imports of handbags and wallets declined 18 percent to 654 million patacas. Imports of construction materials

May 10, 2016 | BY admin

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3 aviation bodies ink delta deal

The civil aviation authorities of the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau signed an agreement on enhancing air traffic management co-operation in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region yesterday, the Macau Civil Aviation Authority (AACM) said in a statement yesterday. The trilateral pact was signed in Hong Kong. Macau was represented by AACM President Simon Chan Weng Hong. According to the AACM statement, the three authorities agreed to strengthen co-ordination in the PRD region’s air traffic

May 10, 2016 | BY admin

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Residents can learn wushu at Grand Gathering: sports chief

Residents and tourists alike will have the opportunity to learn wushu during Macau’s first-ever Wushu Grand Gathering, which is slated to take place in Tap Seac between August 11 and 14, Sports Bureau (ID) President Pun Weng Kun said yesterday.‘Wushu’ is Putonghua for martial arts.Pun made the remarks after attending a plenary meeting of the government-appointed Tourism Development Committee at the Tourism Activities Centre (CAT) in Zape. Sports Bureau (ID) President Pun Weng Kun

May 10, 2016 | BY admin

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Scholar worries FM donation further divides students

Social commentator Larry So Man Yum said yesterday he worried that the recent 100-million-yuan (123 million patacas) donation by the public Macau Foundation (FM) to Jinan University in Guangzhou will further divide mainland students and those from Hong Kong and Macau.So, who teaches social work at the Macau Polytechnic Institute (IPM), made the remarks during a group interview on the tertiary institute’s campus in Zape.The casino-funded but government-run foundation said in a statement on

May 10, 2016 | BY admin

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100 million yuan isn’t much for a university: Tam

Groups call for axing of donation to Jinan UniAsked by reporters about the recent 100-million-yuan (123 million patacas) donation by the public Macau Foundation (FM) to Jinan University in Guangzhou, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng said yesterday that the amount was not much for the development of a university, urging residents to be “reasonable when analysing the matter”. The policy secretary made the remarks after chairing a meeting of the

May 10, 2016 | BY admin

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100 million yuan donation to Jinan University causes mixed reaction

A 100 million yuan donation by the public Macau Foundation (FM) to Jinan University in Guangzhou, from which thousands of local students have graduated, has caused a mixed reaction here. While some have supported the donation as a patriotic gesture, others have rejected it due to its perceived conflict of interest. For instance, the grassroots New Macau Association (NMA) is collecting signatures urging Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On to quit over the donation to the

May 9, 2016 | BY admin

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Adelson backs Trump: report

US casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who chairs the Venetian Macau, has voiced support for the Republic Party’s presumptive nominee, the Financial Times reported last week.According to the report, Adelson, who was the single largest Republican donor in the 2012 election, said he would back Trump after he beat the other 16 Republican contenders in what was the conservative party’s most competitive primary race in modern US history.“Yes, I am Republican, he’s a Republican,” Adelson told The

May 9, 2016 | BY admin

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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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