Briefs | New graffiti display at Anim’Arte Nam Van

Starting tomorrow local art group “Gantz 5” will be redecorating the graffiti display area at Anim’Arte Nam Van, the lakeside plaza, with a new theme “Midsummer.” The Cultural Affairs Bureau has been collaborating with Gantz 5 since May last year, inviting the group to design creative graffiti for Anim’Arte on a quarterly basis. In addition, the “Nam Van Lake Craft Market” will be held on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the same area, where a variety of handicraft workshops will be held. Visitors are welcome to register their participation online in advance or on-site. The current exhibitions at the lakeside gallery, “Macau Artist Society Youth Committee Member’s Exhibition 2017” and “Sou Leng Fong Ceramic Art Exhibition”, will be extended until July 23. The artworks will be available for sale. Admission to the gallery is free.

Chui to attend Hong Kong’s handover celebrations

Chief Executive Chui Sai On will visit Hong Kong from today to Saturday to attend the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying invited Chui to attend a banquet hosted by the Hong Kong government to welcome President Xi Jinping. During his visit, Chui will also attend the inauguration of the fifth administration of Hong Kong. Accompanying Chui on his trip will be Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan, Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, and Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office, Daniel Fung. Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak will be acting chief executive in Chui’s absence.

IndieLisboa Macau this weekend

Organized by the Portuguese Consulate General in Macau and Hong Kong, the second edition of the IndieLisboa Macau Film Festival will be held this weekend at Cinematheque Passion. From today to Sunday, several films from the Lisbon-based IndieLisboa Independent Film Festival – including several that received awards – will be screened, showing some of the best of European alternative cinema. Sponsored by the Orient Foundation and House of Portugal in Macau, the local screening event is an extension of the IndieLisboa Independent Film Festival. All of the films will be subtitled in English.

Cultural Center presents show for infants

The Macau Cultural Center (CCM) presented its first staging of “Rain,” a performance and installation for infants, on Wednesday. The performance was staged by Australian theater group Drop Bear Theatre. According to a statement from CCM, “Rain” is a kinetic, musical and sensory performance introduced by several actors and a cellist in a soothing and hypnotic atmosphere. The performance marks the beginning of this year’s “ARTmusing Summer” program organized by CCM, a series running through August with performances and workshops selected to inspire infants, children and adults alike. “Rain” will run until July 2. Packages for young children and parents are sold out but limited tickets are still available for adults only.

Ng condemns tobacco control law

Lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong has condemned Macau’s latest amended tobacco control law for being regressive. The government has already delivered an amendment which will allow local casinos to establish smoking lounges on their premises. Ng declared that this is a serious step backwards for Macau’s tobacco control, stating that no smoking lounge can completely isolate smoke from external areas. However, the government has imposed many requirements to be met by all gaming operators who wish to establish a smoking lounge.

Group tours increase

The total number of visitors to Macau on package tours totaled 681,000 in May, according to information released by the Statistics and Census Service, up by 1.2 percent month-to-month and 20.7 percent year-on-year. Analyzed by destination, package tour visitors from mainland China (524,000), South Korea (42,000) and Taiwan (35,000) rose by 18.9 percent, 56.4 percent and 14.6 percent respectively year-on-year. In the first five months of 2017, visitors to Macau on package tours totaled 3,085,000, up by 8 percent year-on-year. Outbound residents using travel agency services in May rose by 15.1 percent year-on-year to 112,000; those traveling on package tours increased by 23.1 percent to 46,000. In the first five months of 2017, outbound residents using travel agency services totaled 557,000, up by 10.6 percent year-on-year.

Imports up 10.4 percent in May

According to the Statistics and Census Service, the total value of merchandise imports went up by 10.4 percent year-on-year in May to MOP5.84 billion, of which imports of gold jewelry and watches increased by 73.4 percent and 47.5 percent, respectively. The total value of merchandise exports for May 2017 amounted to MOP894 million, up by 7.4 percent year-on-year. The trade deficit therefore amounted to about MOP4.94 billion. In the first five months of 2017, the total value of merchandise imports grew by 5.3 percent year-on-year to MOP29.13 billion. Analyzed by place of origin, a significant portion of these imports came from mainland China (MOP9.57 billion) and the European Union (MOP7.55 billion). Imports from Portuguese-speaking countries amounted to just MOP250 million, down 1.4 percent year-on-year.

0.4 pct of civil servants are non-local

Kou Peng Kuan, director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP), said that non-local civil servants represent 0.4 percent of the total number of civil servants in Macau. This disclosure follows allegations that a mainland student who had graduated from the Macau Polytechnic Institute was hired by the MSAR government as a translator through a “special recruitment channel.” There are more than 30,000 civil servants in Macau, of which approximately 500 were hired through personal employment contracts, representing 2 percent of the total workforce. Non-locals occupy         2 percent of these 500 employees, according to Kou.