Briefs | AirAsia to operate Macau-Jakarta flights

AirAsia Indonesia will operate thrice-weekly direct flights from Jakarta to Macau effective August 7. Starting September 1, it will increase the number of weekly flights to four. “The growing number of Chinese and Indian tourists coming to Indonesia boosts our spirit to launch the new routes,” said Dendy Kurniawan, AirAsia Group CEO for Indonesia, last week. AirAsia’s Macau-Jakarta route is not the first of its kind in the SAR. Low-cost carrier Viva Macau operated flights to Jakarta, among other destinations, before filing for bankruptcy.

CTM compensates customers

Following the partial Internet blackout that occurred last month, CTM announced a once-off 15 percent discount on Internet monthly service charge “for potential affected Internet customers served by BRAS21 and BRAS22 internet servers on 18 April.” According to the local telecom operator, the relevant customers will be automatically entitled to the discount on the Internet monthly service charge of April, the discounted amount will be shown in the customers’ June service bill.

Foreign Correspondents’ Club head to give talk in Macau

The Macau Portuguese and English Press Association (AIPIM) will host a talk by Eric Wishart, president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, on “News Judgment, Fact-Checking and Fake News.”  The event will take place 6.30 p.m. at the Military Club. Wishart is a member of the global news management of Agence France-Presse. He began his career in the 1970s as a reporter in Scottish newspapers and joined AFP in Paris, 1984. Since then, he has been head of AFP’s Middle East English service (Nicosia, 1992-1996), Asia-Pacific editor (Hong Kong, 1996-1999), global editor-in-chief (Paris, 1999-2005) and Asia-Pacific director (2005-2012). He lectures part-time at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Former DSAT oficial’s sentence reduced

The former head of the Division of Transport Management Department of the Transport Bureau (DSAT), Lou Ngai Wa, has been sentenced to 15 months of imprisonment, a sentence three months shorter than the one read last year by the Court of First Instance (TJB). The court also dropped two charges against Lou regarding counterfeit property declaration. In 2015, the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) found Lou to have received MOP16 million in bribes for helping three companies to obtain parking lot management contracts from the government between 2012 and 2015.

Human traffickers arrested in police operation

The Judiciary Police arrested two mainland women suspected of involvement in a human trafficking network, according to an announcement by the Unitary Police Service. The women were charged with operating an illegal hotel. Last Thursday, Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong police forces organized a joint operation to combat crime. Approximately 193 Macau police officers were deployed to inspect casinos, bars and other venues during the operation. 790 people were reviewed, of which 95 were taken to the police station for further investigations.

Human traffic index at tourist spots suggested

Li Nong, chief of the marketing office of 12301 Smart Travel Public Services Platform of China, has suggested that Macau use modern technology to provide tourists with information about human traffic at popular tourist spots. Li put forth a number of possible solutions, such as the use of WeChat to provide updates on human traffic at specific times and locations. He also suggested using red, yellow, and green colors to indicate each location’s carrying capacity. He also suggested that Macau create new alternatives for the city’s tourist spots, especially those with historical landmarks.