FMCC charity gala raises MOP61,000

The France Macau Chamber of Commerce (FMCC) 2022 Charity Gala Dinner has raised a total of MOP61,000 to support the city’s drug rehabilitation center.

Themed “Around the World in 80 Days,” the proceeds from the event will be given to the Association of Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers of Macao (ARTM) to launch its awareness program around the abuse of alcohol and its impacts, including the setting up of a 24-hour hotline.

Earlier this year, ARTM statistics were quoted showing that there has been an increase in alcohol consumption among residents since the pre-pandemic era.

“It is vital for our society to have a program that provides professional counseling when a crisis point is reached, with aftercare and means of recovery,” the group said in a statement.

FMCC chairman Rutger Verschuren drew a parallel between the theme of the event and the near three-year pandemic journey of the local society and businesses in his speech, noting that people turned unexpected hardships into opportunities as they “foster core qualities such as optimism, open-mindedness, curiosity, perseverance, and adaptability.”

“Let us reframe bad luck as an opportunity for growth, reflection, change and developing resiliency. This is exactly what FMCC and many of us in Macau have done: turning the unexpected hardships into opportunities by seeing and connecting the bright dots,” he said.

“Almost three years down the road, we found ways to survive, [although it hasn’t been] easy and we have gone through a lot of changes and new normals. By sourcing and implementing new technologies, new organization structures and concepts, rethinking our business processes, we became more efficient and stronger,” Verschuren added.

The annual charity gala dinner also featured a recorded welcome speech from the new Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau, Christile Drulhe. LV

*Macau Daily Times is an official media partner of the event.