Briefs | Residential price index up 4.7pct in Q1

The residential price index in the first quarter of 2017 grew by 4.7 percent quarter-to-quarter to 244.0, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) said yesterday. The indices for the Macau Peninsula (245.0) and Taipa & Coloane (239.5) rose by 4.8 percent and 4.1 percent respectively. The index for existing residential units (248.7) went up by 5.1 percent, with the indices for the Macau Peninsula (236.0) and Taipa & Coloane (305.9) increasing by 4.6 percent and 6.5 percent respectively. The index for pre-sale residential units in the first quarter (233.3) increased by 1.7 percent quarter-to-quarter, a slowdown from the 10.7 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2016. The indices for all groups of existing residential units in terms of year of completion registered growth. The data also indicated a higher increase in the indices for residential units built more than 20 years ago (248.1) and for those completed between six and 10 years ago (243.6), up by 6.6 percent and 3.7 percent respectively.

New Central Library website launched

The Cultural Affairs Bureau launched the New Macao Central Library website. This new website provides an introduction of the Library and information about the revitalization of the old buildings, promotional activities and mentions by news publications. The content of the website will be updated according to the project progress, in order to allow residents to obtain the latest information about the New Central Library.

Seminar on illegal fishing to be presented

The EUAP-M (European Union Academic Programme- Macau)  will hold a seminar on “Liability of international organizations for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing” at the University of Macau on May 8. The event will take place in the Faculty of Law at 3 p.m. and it will be conducted in English. Invited guest speaker Prof. Helmut Türk is a Professor of International Law from Austria. From 2005 to 2015, he was a Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany, also serving a term as Vice President. Subsequently, he was elected president of the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority in Kingston, Jamaica, where he currently holds the position of chairman of the Review Committee.

2.5 million border crossings during May holidays

Immigration authorities recorded almost 2.487 million border crossings across the seven Macau checkpoints over the Labor Day holiday, according to data released by the Government Information Bureau yesterday. The total number of tourist arrivals in that period amounted to 533,398, representing a year-on-year increase of 10.89 percent over the holiday period from 2016. Over the extended weekend between April 29 and May 3, immigration services logged 1,256,887 entries, with the vast majority entering via the Border Gate (922,897). A further 130,158 entered via the Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal, 73,177 through the Lotus Bridge and 71,481 via the Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal. Crossings administered by immigration services at the Macau International Airport totaled 44,075.

Dentist suggests teeth whitening regulations

The President of Macau Dental Association, Jerry Wong, has recommended that the local government establish regulations for teeth whitening services. According to a report by Macao Daily News, some cosmetic clinics are providing teeth whitening services that are not performed by professional dentists. Wong said that such services need to be conducted by a licensed dentist.  Moreover, Wong noted that treatment doses that use more than 45 percent density should be performed by professional dentists to control the dosage and timing. Poorly performed teeth whitening can cause permanent damage to the teeth and gums.

School milk gone bad

The Head of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ)’s education department, Leong Vai Kei, said that the bureau received reports from five schools complaining that milk offered within the city’s milk plan had gone bad. According to a report released by TDM yesterday, the schools communicated the problem to the bureau in the middle of last March.  In Leong’s understanding, part of the milk’s packaging broke during transportation, which caused the milk to expire. After receiving the schools’ reports, DSEJ instructed milk suppliers to change to new batches of milk. The milk supplier also condemned the transportation company.