Briefs | Fewer new voters registered for the fourth time

Data from the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) shows that the number of new voters registered last year decreased, thus continuing the trend recorded in the last four elections, Macao Daily News reported. A total of 7,851 new voters were registered during the last two years, including 2,794 in 2014 and 5,057 in 2015. Young people constitute half of these voters, while old people represent 22 percent. Initial reports believe that the small increase is due to the fact that the 2017 elections are still far away. Until December 1 of 2015, Macau had over 285 thousand registered voters, up 1.7 percent from 2013. In addition to the increasing number of young voters, the number of voters aged over 60 also increased. In 2015, elderly voters represented 25.3 percent of the electorate, having increased from 14.9 percent in the previous year. One in every four newly registered voters is aged over 60.

More Chinese students who study abroad choose to return

The Ministry of Education of China released a blue paper containing information regarding Chinese students who studied abroad until 2015.  According to this document, between 1978 and 2015, more than four million Chinese students have been overseas to pursue higher levels of education. In 2015, 523,700 students went abroad, representing an average annual increase of 19.06 percent. Of those, 409,100 returned to China after finishing their degrees. According to the national report, the ratio between students who went abroad and those who returned to China increased. While in 2006, one out of every 3.15 students went back to China, by last year one student out of every 1.28 returned to the country.

Legal procedures delay and defy adoption process

A senior technician from the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) admitted that local adoption services will probably need more time before an adoption case is successfully accomplished within the regulation-stipulated one-year timeframe, due to complex legal procedures, TDM reported. Over the past 15 years, the IAS received 148 applications for adoption of abandoned children, out of which 33 were eventually approved by the department. Two adoption cases were made by overseas people. The IAS noted that the adopting family is usually granted one year to raise up the child, and that the Court will pass an ultimate verdict on the relationship after a final IAS assessment.