Foundation ‘understands the public concern’ over subsidies

The Macau Foundation (FM) “understands the public concern regarding the way public money is spent” and has taken measures to improve its mechanism to grant financial support, said FM President Wu Zhiliang yesterday on the sidelines of a meeting with media representatives. During the meeting, the FM Administrative Committee president reviewed work conducted in 2018. A total of MOP2.3 billion was given to support 2,568 events. About 18 percent of the money was donated to education and academic research, followed by social welfare (32 percent).  Ng Chi Leong, president of the executive committee of the foundation, said that no cases of subsidy abuse had been discovered. Currently, the FM receives approximately 8 to 10 applications for funding daily. Ng claimed that the foundation carefully reviews the applicant’s background, the project concerned, execution and budget.