Briefs | Science Center to increase wind resistance capacity

The Macau Science Center has planned to increase the wind resistance capacity of its external walls. The work is expected to be completed before October 2019. Furthermore, the center’s curator, Pan Sio, noted that waterproofing works have already been finished. According to Pan, the damage to the Center’s external walls which was caused during last year’s Typhoon Hato, is systematic, and will need to be repaired entirely.

Jiangsu dismantles online gambling syndicate

Jiangsu Province dismantled an online gambling syndicate which had been operating an online gambling site using the names of two casinos in Macau.  Sixty-three suspects have been arrested. The crimes involved more than RMB500 million. Jiangsu’s police authority started taking action in June 2017, when it arrested some suspects in Guangdong, Fujian and Yunnan provinces, as well as in Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines. The syndicate opened an online gambling site in Laos, and was accepting bets from mainland China through bank cards and online payment platforms.

Sunday saw new record in border crossings

For the 24 hours between August 18 and August 19, the city’s border crossings broke new records, with over 600,000 crossings registered on Sunday alone. On Saturday, all ports registered a total of more than 580,00 crossings, exceeding the previous record of 570,00 which had been set on April 21. The next day, more than 300,000 entries were recorded, which broke the record (290,000) registered on April 21. Regarding the busiest border (Border Gate), more than 220,000 entries were recorded, which also broke the record.

Football bettors tend to be younger

From the beginning of this year until now, the Social Affairs Bureau (IAS) received 11 football betting participants looking for assistance from the bureau. The number represents a slight increase year-on-year, and it also represents 10 percent of the total number of people who sought help from IAS due to a gambling disorder. IAS says that it will analyze the relationship between the increase and this year’s World Cup once the department has the statistics for third quarter. The gamblers tend to be younger, and are between the ages of 30 and 39. Some are part-time students.

Doctor wants regulation on medical aesthetical devices   

The president of the Plastic Surgery Division of the Macau Surgical Association, Io Shun, wants the government to regulate matters concerning devices for medical aesthetics. According to Io, in recent years, medical practitioners administering unqualified drugs to patients have been reported frequently. However, Io said that the medical practitioners normally don’t know that the drugs are spurious products, and the patients can only notice problems five years later. Io also highlighted that medical aesthetics is not an independent subject in Macau.

Gov’t to hold 96 percent of LRT company shares

The Macau SAR government will control 96 percent of the city’s Light Rapid Transit company’s shares. The LRT public company will be set up before the LRT operation starts and will have three shareholders: the Macau SAR government, the Industrial and Commercial Development Fund (three percent share) and the Science and Technology Development Fund (one percent share). The city’s law requires a company to have a minimum of three shareholders. The two funds were selected because the field that they are involved in relate to the LRT operation.