‘The Gift’ concert halted after vocalist faints

A concert featuring pop band ‘The Gift’ came to a halt yesterday night at the Cultural Center’s Grand Auditorium after vocalist Sónia Tavares fainted. The incident happened around half an hour into the show. The singer was quickly rushed backstage, where doctors from the audience saw to her. This was followed by an announcement that the show would be suspended. The Gift’s concert was part of the event “June- Month of Portugal” and was preceded by a speech by the Portuguese Consul in Macau and HK, Vitor Sereno.

MAF: 87pct tickets sold

The overall percentage of ticket sales for the recently concluded 27th Macao Arts Festival (MAF) has reached 87 percent. The event, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, featured 27 shows as well as an outreach program, totaling over 100 activities.

Training courses for speech and occupational therapists

The government plans to offer training courses for speech and occupational therapists, in order to meet the increasing need for such medical specialists. According to a statement issued yesterday, the courses will be jointly offered by the Social Welfare Bureau, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, the Tertiary Education Services Office and the Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM). The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, stated this week that an undergraduate program focused on speech therapy would be offered at IPM, most likely at the start of the next academic year.

Men arrested for using forged bank cards

Two Russian men were arrested for using forged bank cards to withdraw money from ATMs, according to a report by TDM. The police announced yesterday that the duo had been arrested at the Macau Ferry Terminal on Tuesday, intending to leave the territory. The police found them to be in possession of 100 forged bank cards as well as a large number of card readers. Both men are suspected of committing a similar crime in February 2015. More than ten banks have reportedly fallen victim to the Russians’ scheme, through which they stole a total of HKD 16,900 from local ATMs. Both men denied their crimes, and will be charged with computer bilking and money forgery.