Briefs | Agnes Lam questions school bullying matter

Agnes Lam is calling for the government’s attention on matters of school bullying, she wrote in a written inquiry to the government. According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Macau has a higher rate of school bullying than the global average.  A recent case of school bullying is now being investigated by the Judiciary Police. In particular, Lam asked the government: “Will the education authority conclude what needs to be reviewed and improved regarding this bullying case?…According to PISA, Macau’s school bullying is rather serious. What does the education authority think about the eventual reasons? […] Does the government have a way of creating a friendly and happy school environment?” Lam asked.

IPOR president visits Polytechnic Institute

Joaquim Ramos, the president of Instituto Português do Oriente (IPOR), visited the Macau Polytechnic Institute (IPM) on October 30 and was received by Professor Im Sio Kei, president of the education institution. Ramos visited the Chinese-Portuguese-English Machine Translation Laboratory and learned about the teaching and research development of IPM and its contribution to the language services industry in Macau. During the meeting, Im expressed his intention to expand the realm of cooperation with IPOR and its partners from Portugal and to foster collaboration between teachers and students of the two parties. Both parties discussed cooperation in different fields, including the promotion of joint research projects. An exchange program of teachers from IPOR to IPM was suggested, which would provide an opportunity for teachers from both parties to interact with each other.

Bird forces plane to abort takeoff

An Air Macau plane was forced to abort its takeoff from the Macau International Airport on Saturday morning, on account of a bird flying into one of the aircraft’s engines. The flight, which was headed to Incheon in South Korea, was scheduled to leave Macau at about 8.25 a.m. However, prior to takeoff, a bird flew into one of the engines, leading aviation officials to abort the procedure. Public broadcaster TDM reported that no one was injured in the incident. The passengers were transferred to another Air Macau plane, which departed for Incheon later that same morning.