One-minute silence held at Alliance Française

Xavier Garnier

One-minute’s silence was observed last night at 7p.m. at the library of the Alliance Française de Macao to pay homage to the victims of Friday’s Paris terrorist attacks.
According to organizers around 30 people attended, among them a mix of Chinese, Portuguese, and French nationals. After the minute, attendees stayed in the library where they exchanged ideas and thoughts about the attacks.
The minute of silence was synchronized with a broadcast from TV5 Monde, in France, where the time was noon.
Thursday will mark the French celebration of Beaujolais Day. Xavier Garnier, the Director of Alliance Française de Macao said that despite the sorrow of the recent attacks, they are expecting high turnouts for the celebration’s events.
“We can expect many French people coming to be united and to celebrate the joy of living that we want to [hold on to] after the attacks,” he said, before explaining that “Paris is about ‘joie de vivre’.”
A similar minute of silence was held earlier this year in January, in memory of the victims of the attack at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, also in Paris. Staff reporter