Administration | Tourism and ID bureaus distinguished for high quality services

MGTO’s information desk at the airport

The Macau Identification Services (DSI) and the Macau Government Tourist Office information desks have been awarded prizes by the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) for providing high-quality public services.
DSI will be awarded today with a prize for providing high-quality IT and technology services, while MGTO’s information desks will be granted a prize for high-quality public service.
SAFP invited media representatives to meet some of the frontline civil servants and department chiefs of DSI and MGTO’s information desks yesterday.
Christina Lau, the head of MGTO’s public relations division, said that information desks located at the airport have been recently renovated  to better respond to tourists’ needs.
She revealed that the outer harbor’s tourist information desk will also undergo renovation.
“This is a government service, so we will encourage our frontline workers to keep up the good work, and urge them to provide an even better service. We need to put ourselves in Macau tourists’ shoes in order to improve our service,” she told reporters, adding that they’re hoping to diversify tourist information desks’ services and give employees motivational awards.
Two employees at the Macau International Airport’s tourist information desk acknowledged that the prize shows an appreciation of their work performed by both public and department officials. As frontline workers, Ms Wong and Ms Lam said that they’re required to keep their emotions under control.

Residents can apply for ID renewal using specific kiosks

Asked about the job’s daily challenges, they admitted that language-barrier issues do emerge from time to time, but that they’re still able to communicate and make themselves understood by tourists of different nationalities.
Meanwhile, DSI will receive an award today for its high-quality IT and technology services. DSI’s deputy director, Lo Pin Heng, recalled that DSI has been issuing residents digital IDs since 2002, and since 2009 some of its kiosks can automatically verify IDs.
Kun Sin In, who is a department head, stressed that residents are now allowed to apply for ID renewal using specific kiosks. According to her, these kiosks make things easier for residents, while alleviating pressure on staff.
DSI estimates that about 170,000 residents will have to renew their IDs next year. According to Ms Kun, DSI handles an average of 197 applications and other procedures through these kiosks every day. Currently, there are about 49 kiosks placed across various public services.
Cheong Pui Kuan, one of DSI’s functional heads, acknowledged that the launching of the kiosks helped staff to cope with pressure and heavy workloads. “We became more efficient, as we now have more time to handle each case. Of course, we have cases of elderly people coming to us saying: ‘Oh, I don’t know how to work with this machine,’ but we manage to help them out,” she said.
Ms Cheong revealed that DSI is hoping to place more kiosks in different services in the near future.
Ms Lo, DSI’s deputy director, concluded by saying that DSI could only have won the prize thanks to good cooperation between different public services.