Briefs | New wholesale market to open in Q2

The Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) said that the city’s new wholesale market, which is currently under renovation, will open in the second quarter of the year with twice as many sales booths as the current market. IACM president José Tavares said all booths at the new market have already been rented out. In a written inquiry to IACM, lawmaker Kwan Tsui Heng questioned the future of the new market’s management model. José Tavares responded that the authorities will review the management model after 2022. 

Illegal graffiti in Tap Seac Gallery

The Tap Seac Gallery premises were vandalized on February 2, with three walls smeared with paint. The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has reported the incident to the Judiciary Police (PJ), which is now investigating. No arrests have been made so far. PJ said that the culprits, once identified, will be charged with aggravated destruction of relics and can be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison. The IC said repairs will cost approximately MOP20,000. 

Call for domestic helper market opening

Lawmaker Mak Soi Kun is calling for the government to open Macau’s domestic helper market to Guangdong Province, according to a report by TDM. In a written inquiry to the government, Mak praised the government’s work in livelihood policies, before adding that the Chinese central government has already permitted an unlimited number of domestic helpers from Fujian and Guangdong to work in the region. Mak remarked that the Macau government has only released this information to the city’s Labour Affairs Bureau, meaning that many local families who need domestic helpers are still unaware of the policy. He urged the government to make the information public through multiple channels.

FSS increases employer contribution

Starting this February, the standard employer contribution for social security will be MOP90. The Social Security Fund (FSS) announced that the contribution would be doubled from MOP45 on January 1 this year. The FSS reiterated yesterday that all employers are required to pay this new amount to contribute to their casual workers’ social security. Under the Executive Order, the contributions for casual workers from January 1 are MOP90 for employees who work more than 15 days a month, where employers’ and employees’ portions are MOP60 and MOP30 respectively. For employees who work fewer than 15 days a month, employers’ and employees’ contributions are MOP30 and MOP15 respectively.

IC extends deadline for subsidy program

The application deadline for the “2016 Subsidy Program for the Production of Original Animation Short Films” has been extended to 5 p.m on April 12. The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), which organizes the event, said the extended deadline allows 45 more days for applicants to prepare the necessary documents. Successful applicants will receive a subsidy of up to MOP240,000 for the production, promotion and marketing of the animated films. The “2016 Subsidy Program for the Production of Original Animation Short Films”, which launched last December, is part of the “Subsidy Program Series for Macau’s Cultural and Creative Industries”.