Hato causes drop in visitors in August

Killer Typhoon Hato caused visitor arrivals to fall 0.6 percent year-on-year and 1.8 percent month-to-month to 2.86 million last month, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced.A DSEC statement on Friday attributed the decline to the “catastrophic typhoon” that hit Macau on August 23. It took the city several weeks to recover from the disaster, which killed 10 people.Same-day visitors decreased 6.2 percent year on year to 1.31 million, while overnight visitors rose 4.8 percent

September 25, 2017 | BY admin

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Police probe 2nd Grand Lisboa Palace’s fire this year

The Judiciary Police (PJ) said yesterday they have launched an investigation into a suspicious fire at SJM’s Grand Lisboa Palace construction site on Saturday night. This is the second time a suspicious fire has broken out at the site this year. The first blaze was in March.A number of labour disputes and work-related accidents also happened at the site in the past.According to the statement, 88 construction workers were evacuated while one of the workers and a firefighter were slightly

September 25, 2017 | BY admin

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Group suggests indirect service for kids’ developmental problems

The Macau Special Education Study Association (MSESA) suggested yesterday that the government provide an indirect service for children with developmental problems as a way of tackling Macau’s current shortage of human resources in early intervention.The association made the suggestion during a press conference at the Sheng Kung Hui Taipa Youth and Family Integrated Service Centre.Commenting on a recent case concerning a dispute between a doctor and the parents of a child with developmental

September 25, 2017 | BY admin

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Hato is reminder for need for diversification: economic chief

Economic Services Bureau (DSE) Director Tai Kin Ip said yesterday that last month’s Hato disaster has made Macau’s civil society “fully” realise the “complexity of the reality”, adding that the government would think “deeply” about how to diversify the local economy in order to consolidate the city’s industrial structure.Tai also said that economic diversification would enhance Macau’s competitiveness and its resilience to uncertainties.Tai made the remarks in a speech

September 25, 2017 | BY admin

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Police nab II and ‘snakehead’ gang

The Judiciary Police (PJ) and Macau Customs Service caught a “snakehead” gang smuggling illegal immigrants into the city early yesterday morning, leading to the arrests of three suspected gang members and an illegal immigrant from the mainland, according to a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson.In colloquial Cantonese, human traffickers are known as “snakeheads”.The spokesperson said the three suspects and the illegal immigrant were arrested at the Inner Harbour Ferry Terminal. One of

September 25, 2017 | BY admin

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Barrier Gate bus terminal ‘will never be ideal’: Rosario

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario said yesterday he does not believe that the bus terminal at the Barrier Gate border checkpoint will become a comfortable station after its renovation to improve its ventilation and other facilities, because of the rising number of bus passengers and the fact that its size will remain unchanged.Rosario made the remarks while speaking to reporters after attending the opening ceremony of an exhibition at the Carmo Post Office in

September 22, 2017 | BY admin

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Tam most suitable official for weather chief: Rosario

Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosario said yesterday he believes that Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) Director Raymond Tam Vai Man is the most suitable official to be appointed director of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) for a one-year term while remaining in his existing post.Rosario made the remarks while speaking to reporters after attending the opening ceremony of an exhibition at the Carmo Post Office in Taipa. The exhibition celebrates the

September 22, 2017 | BY admin

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New lawmaker vows trade union bill

Leong Sun Iok, one of the incoming legislature’s three directly-elected newcomers, said yesterday that he would try his best to create an atmosphere for a rational discussion of a trade union bill in the legislature and enhance residents’ awareness of the importance of a trade union law.Leong was the second-ranked candidate of electoral group Union for Development (UPD) in Sunday’s direct legislative election.The Union for Development is the electoral vehicle of the influential Macau

September 22, 2017 | BY admin

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BNU vows to join B&R Initiative

Local Portuguese lender BNU said this week that it was “ideally placed” to promote bilateral trade and investment between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (PSCs) in line with the central government’s Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative.Paulo Macedo, CEO of Lisbon-based Caixa Geral de Depositos (CGD), made the remarks in a speech addressing BNU’s 115th anniversary reception at Galaxy Macau’s JW Marriott Macau hotel in Cotai.BNU is wholly owned by CGD.Macedo pointed out that CGD

September 22, 2017 | BY admin

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Yamazato presents Kyoto cuisine created by Michelin-starred chef

Yamazato restaurant in Hotel Okura Macau is offering guests a rare opportunity to enjoy a kaiseki culinary experience featuring the best from the ancient Japanese capital Kyoto, which has been created by the Michelin-starred chef from the award-winning Awata Sanso restaurant in Kyoto.Kaiseki haute cuisine is a traditional multi-course meal that is elaborately prepared and elegantly presented. The kaiseki meal that Yamazato is currently offering is created by Daisuke Usui, executive chef of

September 22, 2017 | BY admin

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Choose life: Microfilm adapts true story of local teen

Being brought up by a drug addict mother and an alcoholic father, life has never been easy for Hedy Kou Cheng, but she never got dragged down because she chose to live through it.Kou’s story has been adapted into a 26-minute microfilm, “Choices of Life”, where Kou, now 20, relives her childhood with her drug-taking mother and her drunken father. The film had a silver-screen premiere at UA Galaxy Cinema on Saturday and earlier this week, it kicked off its school tour with a showing at her

September 22, 2017 | BY admin

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Group submits by-law draft on urban renewal firm

One of the Urban Renewal Council’s three working groups yesterday submitted its draft of a by-law on the government’s setting-up of the “Macau Urban Renewal Company Limited” to the council.The company will lead the city’s urban renewal projects, according to the group’s coordinator Paulino do Lago Comandante, a lawyer by profession.The draft was prepared by the council’s second group.A closed-door meeting of the council, chaired by Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo

September 22, 2017 | BY admin

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Govt lets Internet service providers set up outdoor WiFi hotspots

The government is now allowing Internet service providers (ISP) to set up their own WiFi hotspots in outdoor areas on the condition that they set aside capacity for the government to provide free WiFi to the public, Macau Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT) Director Derby Lau Wai Meng said yesterday.Lau made the comments while speaking to reporters after CTM’s launch ceremony of the WiFi service in Largo do Senado where the public can enjoy 60 minutes of free WiFi.According to Lau, the

September 22, 2017 | BY admin

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Activist presents findings of his election observation

Jason Chao Teng Hei, grassroots New Macau Association’s (NMA) former vice-president who quit the group in March, yesterday held a press conference about the findings of his observation of Sunday’s legislative elections based on the information collected by his website, “Project Just Macau”.Chao said he hoped his findings would arouse society’s attention, namely concerning possible amendments to the Legislative Assembly Election Law in the future.Project Just Macau, the brainchild of

September 22, 2017 | BY admin

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