Briefs | Over 300 apply to IPIM for temporary residency

Three hundred and five applications for temporary residency for managerial personnel, technical and professional qualification holders were received by the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute in 2016. According to a statement from the entity, this marks a decrease of 177 compared with the previous year. Twenty-four applications for major investment and major investment plans were recorded, accounting for just 7.3 percent of the total. The number of approved cases for managerial personnel, technical and professional qualification holders amounted to 99, representing an increase of 18 compared with 2015. Meanwhile approved applications for major investment plans numbered four, a decrease of three on an annual basis.

53 percent of vehicles owe new year taxes

As of February 28, 133,220 vehicles had still not paid their annual taxes, the Transport Bureau (DSAT) announced yesterday. The number accounts for 53 percent of the city’s total number of vehicles (250,560) including private cars and motor bicycles. DSAT is calling the owners who intend to keep using their vehicles to make the payments before March 31 at any of DSAT’s offices, the Financial Services Bureau (DSF), or at the Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT). Owners can also pay the tax online. DSAT reminded that owners must first settle all previous debts when they pay the tax for using their vehicles for one more year.

School facilities included on public sports network

The Sports Bureau (ID) Public Sports Facilities Network now includes the sports facilities of the Sir Robert Ho Tung Official School. The facilities comprise an indoor sports pavilion, which will expand ID’s offer of badminton courts as well as basketball practice courts. The practice fields will be available to the public on weekdays during the evening from 8p.m. to 11 p.m. and on weekends from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Use of the badminton courts will be subject to an  hourly fee of MOP20, while the basketball courts will be available for institutional rental upon advance reservation, subject to an hourly fee of MOP100. The school is located at the Tap Seac Sports Pavillion building, the entrance of which faces Rua da Vitória.

Online program may involve prostitution of minors

An online form called “Macau Joint-School Secret Pleasure Angel Programme” drew the attention of education authorities, with the Judiciary Police (PJ) considering the matter very serious given it may involve the prostitution of minors. PJ previously received several complaints from local schools and parents about the program which recently appeared on an online social network. The program is directed at people between the ages of 16 and 25 years of age. It further features advice such as “all female participants please check your emails occasionally and reply to us in order for us to arrange appointments with the dating party.”

ASEAN Gaming Summit to include ‘social casino’ talk

The ASEAN Gaming Summit 2017, which will be held at the Conrad Manila on March 21 and 23, will feature a talk by John Lin, managing director of Playstudios, on the topic of “social casino”. Social casino is a lucrative component of the mobile game industry, which is expected to generate about USD4.4 billion in 2017. According to a statement from organizers, the ASEAN Gaming Summit will host the talk, where Lin will assess the value of social casino in Asia and how this will fit in with land-based and online gambling. “Historically, there was a lot of skepticism about the free-to-play model as applied to the games of chance [… but] there is no doubt, that Asian players love games of chance,” he said, according to organizers. “Our conviction is that the social casino sector [in Asia] will one day be larger than North America and Europe.”

Bird nests shop robbed of HKD1.3 million

A shop selling bird nests, located at the Zona Nova de Aterros do Porto Exterior, was robbed of HKD1.3 million worth of stock yesterday morning. A shop employee was injured by the thief and had to receive medical treatment. The thief entered the shop at around 6 a.m., with his face covered. The shop owner, who returned after the robbery, stated that his shop is still open 24 hours.

China trademark office opened in Hengqin

The Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce of China (CTMO) opened its office in Hengqin on Wednesday, according to a report by Jornal Va Kio. The office’s opening marks the second one in Guangdong province.  All nationals are allowed to register their trademarks at this office. Besides Zhuhai, China has also announced the opening of other 37 trademark offices across other provinces. Prior to the establishment of this office, Hengqin planned to invest RMB300 million in subsidies to help Hengqin’s enterprises. Any Hengqin company accredited with “China Well-known Trademark”, or “Guangdong Well-Known Trademark,” can get at most RMB2 million or RMB800,000, respectively, in subsidies.

MAM opens latest ‘Arts Window’ series

The Macau Museum of Art (MAM) is presenting the latest edition of its “Macau Arts Window” exhibition series, named “Untitled Travel – Works of Lin Ge”. The exhibition features a total of 30 illustration works, mostly themed around a few places in Macau that are either about to disappear or have already disappeared. According to a statement from MAM, the artist endeavors to record the transformations of the city through his works, reminding the public of certain long-forgotten landscapes. MAM has been organizing the series since 2012 with the aim of providing “an open and diverse exhibition space and exchange platform [to] encourage local artists to explore and express concepts and forms of contemporary art.”

UM scholars publish breakthrough paper

A paper authored by scholars at the University of Macau (UM) was recently published in “Lab on a Chip”, a publication under the auspices of the Royal Society of Chemistry in the U.K. The paper presents a new technique that can quickly identify the DNA of multiple pathogens causing septicemia (a serious blood infection) from a single droplet. According to a statement from the UM, the breakthrough will allow medical workers in remote mountainous regions to promptly identify pathogens and administer treatment. This is because the new technique can utilize portable DNA testing and thereby quickly diagnose hidden or contagious diseases. The research paper was co-written by PhD student Dong Cheng, Gao Jie, Chen Tianlan, Professors Jia Yanwei, Mak Pui-In and Vai Mang-I, and also the vice rector for research, professor Rui Martins.

6th Macau Literary Festival kicks off tomorrow

The 6th edition of The Script Road – Macau Literary Festival kicks off tomorrow with comic book authors Dick Ng, Filipe Melo, Philippe Graton and Clément Baloup delivering a talk on “Illustrating Words – The Art of Comics” at 4 p.m. Lo Yi-Chin, a celebrated author from Taiwan, will then take to the stage at 5:30 p.m. to discuss “The Labyrinth of Contemporary Chinese Fiction”.  The events will be held at the Old Court Building. The official opening ceremony and inauguration of the Script Road exhibitions will commence at 3 p.m.

MGTO co-hosts tourism meeting

The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) jointly held the 77th Work Meeting of the Tourism Marketing Organization of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau in Hong Kong on Wednesday. During the meeting, the three parties reached a consensus to keep strengthening collaboration in tourism promotion under the current tourism cooperative framework, according to a press release issued by MGTO. The tasks include setting up joint booths in major travel fairs, placing strategic advertisements and organizing trade familiarization trips and joint promotional activities for multi-destination travel in domestic cities and overseas.

FSS calls for pensioners’ proof of life

The Social Security Fund (FSS) calls for beneficiaries of old-age pension and disability pension to provide the proof of life for this year, in accordance with the Law 4/2010. The number of people involved this year is nearly 100,000, of which 95,700 people have already provided their proof of life.  The FSS calls on the remaining 3.5 percent of the beneficiaries, who have not yet provided the proof of life, to complete the procedure within this month without further delays.  The relevant payment will be suspended from April if anyone fails to provide the required documentation.