Lawmaker calls for more opinions on proposed high-rise

Grassroots lawmaker Antonio Ng Kuok Cheong yesterday urged members of the government-appointed Urban Planning Committee and residents to continue giving their opinions on the proposed development of a plot of land next to the city’s Muslim cemetery.Ng also said that the committee members, who voted against the proposed height limit of 127 metres for the plot because they thought it to be too high for the neighbourhood, should make their positions public and release a joint statement on the

May 23, 2016 | BY admin

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Unionist urges integration of festivals and non-gaming attractions

Macau’s six gaming operators should integrate the promotion of their non-gaming attractions with the city’s festivals and major annual events such as the Macau Grand Prix, Leong Sun Iok, a vice-president of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (Gung Luen), said yesterday. Leong, who heads the Gaming Employees Home, a subsidiary of the federation, spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a forum hosted by the Macau Wisdom Convergence Network, a local think tank, in Iao Hon district where

May 23, 2016 | BY admin

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Macau has only about 20 speech therapists: group

There are only 20 or so speech therapists working in Macau, Yan Kam Sum, the vice-president of the Macau Association of Speech Therapists (MAST), said yesterday, pointing out that his sector is facing an acute labour shortage. The therapist made the remarks on the sidelines of the association’s Speech-Language Therapy Promotion Day at the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau’s (DSEJ) Lago activity centre in Taipa.Most of Macau’s speech therapists graduated from Hong Kong, Taiwan and

May 23, 2016 | BY admin

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Group holds debate on gaming industry’s impact on youth

Macau’s young people should have more opportunities to learn about and debate the possible problems caused by the gaming industry’s development, Emily Cheang Ka I, a staff member of the Macau New Chinese Youth Association, told reporters yesterday. The association held a debate at the Macau Science Centre for pupils and students on how the gaming industry affects young people’s development. Cheang spoke to reporters before the debate.Pointing out that many local schools and social

May 23, 2016 | BY admin

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Speakers worry CCTV cameras impinge on privacy

Macau Forum guest speakers Kou Ngon Fong and Mak Heng Ip yesterday raised concerns about possible breaches of residents’ privacy by the proliferation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the city.The forum is a weekly public debate programme run by government-owned broadcaster TDM. About a dozen residents attended yesterday’s forum about the government’s planned 1,600 CCTV cameras for the city and how to protect residents’ privacy.Ella Lei Cheng I (centre), a guest

May 23, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt hopes animal protection law takes effect on Sept 1: lawmaker

The government hopes its animal protection bill will finally become law soon and come into force on September 1, legislator-cum-unionist Kwan Tsui Hang, who chairs the legislature’s 1st Standing Committee, said yesterday.The committee met yesterday to discuss the newly revised version of the bill with senior officials including Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan and Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) President Jose Fonseca Tavares. Kwan briefed reporters on the

May 20, 2016 | BY admin

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Police bust human smuggling gang

The police caught eight people in Coloane on Wednesday, including the suspected head of a human trafficking gang, and seven illegal immigrants, a Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson said after the arrests. The case was announced near a youth hostel at Hac Sa Beach. According to the spokesperson, the suspected head of the gang is a 25-year-old mainland man surnamed Huang. Please read the full article in our print edition.

May 20, 2016 | BY admin

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CE can close failing tertiary institutions: bill

A government-drafted bill proposes to give the chief executive the power to close any local privatelyowned higher education institution if their teaching standards have  “obviously declined”, Tertiary Education Services Office (GAES) Director Sou Chio Fai said yesterday. Sou talked to reporters after attending a closed-door meeting of the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) 2nd Standing Committee’s about the bill, which proposes that the chief executive should also be able to close

May 20, 2016 | BY admin

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Gaming staff urge govt to mandate holiday compensation

Kelvin Choi Kam Fu, a gaming industry representative on the government-appointed Standing Committee for the Co-ordination of Social Affairs, urged the government yesterday to mandate employees’ holiday entitlements in its next revision of the Labour Relations Law. Choi made the appeal during a forum at Tai Peng Industrial Building in Istmo de Ferreira do Amaral. Choi said many gaming employees had told him that their companies were violating their right to have days off. Kelvin

May 20, 2016 | BY admin

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Group urges govt to treat low-ranking retirees better

Macau Association of LowRanking Public Sector Staff President Lam Wai Koi said yesterday the government should show more concern about the financial difficulties faced by its retired low-ranking employees.Lam said the government should improve the retirement protection of its contract staff who are only protected by its provident fund system.Lam made the remarks after handing a petition to an official out side Government Headquarters. The petition was addressed to Secretary for

May 20, 2016 | BY admin

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Lawmaker calls for cap on casino buses

Lawmaker Wong Kit Cheng has urged the government to say whether there will be an official cap on the number of the city’s ubiquitous casino shuttle buses.Wong, a nurse by profession, made the request in a written interpellation submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday. A copy of the interpellation was sent to the media. Wong, a vice president of the Women’s General Association of Macau (commonly known as Fu Luen), says in her interpellation that the Transport Bureau (DSAT)

May 20, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt to look into how much is wasted during butchering

Central District Social Services Consultative Committee Deputy Convenor Kuong Iok Kao said yesterday government officials agreed to the need to study how much of a pig is wasted during the butchering process. Kuong made the remarks after a special session held at the Government Service Centre in Areia Preta, in which officials from the government’s Working Group on Food Prices briefed the city’s three government-appointed social services consultative committees on the current meat

May 20, 2016 | BY admin

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Govt mulls banning dealers from gambling in casinos

The Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau (DICJ) will start studying before the end of the year whether local dealers – also known as croupiers – should be barred from gambling in local casinos, DICJ Director Paulo Martins Chan said yesterday.Chan made the remarks after attending a phone-in programme hosted by Ou Mun Tin Toi, the Chinese-language radio channel of government broadcaster TDM. The former prosecutor also said the bureau would talk to representatives of the gaming sector

May 19, 2016 | BY admin

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Election amendment bill elicits different views

Lawmakers yesterday raised starkly divergent opinions on the government’s proposed changes to the Legislative Assembly Election Law yesterday. Some lawmakers slammed the bill for failing to increase the number of directly-elected seats and change the method of the indirect legislative election. Senior officials including Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan presided over a meeting at the Legislative Assembly to collect lawmakers’ opinions about the

May 19, 2016 | BY admin

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