‘Macau Local Cadet Program’ excludes non-Chinese

The application criteria for Air Macau’s “Local Cadet Pilot Program” is raising questions among residents. Among other requirements, Cadet Pilot candidates must be “Macau permanent ID card holders with Macau SAR passports,” effectively excluding all residents not of Chinese nationality.
According to a local lawyer, the complaints of local residents who are non-passport holders may have a legal case. Carlos Lobo cited article 25 of the Basic Law, saying, “people might invoke principles of equality, proportionality, need, and […] of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality.”
“Further to the Basic Law, Macau’s Labor Law – Law 7/2008 – explicitly prohibits discrimination of residents on access to employment on grounds of nationality. This basic principle of equality, enshrined in Article 6, does allow for differentiation – as long as it is justifiable,” Lobo said, adding that the contentious point relates to the justification for such a requirement.
“If the company is able to justify why the candidates need to be Chinese nationals in addition to being Macau residents, perhaps those general principles do not apply,” he said. “Prima facie and without any information about the reasons for such a requirement, I would say that this is of dubious legality.”
Article 25 of the Macau Basic Law clearly states that “Macau residents shall be equal before the law without discrimination on grounds of nationality, ancestry, race, gender, language, religion, political or ideological convictions, education level, economic status or social condition.”
The Times tried for several days to obtain the official position from Air Macau but did not receive a reply by press time.

mop20 million to train 10 air cadets

Air Macau’s Cadet pilot program will train 10 young local cadets to be the next Air Macau pilots. According to a Tribuna de Macau report, the program will cost the airline around MOP20 million. Deputy director Du Guofu told JTM that the cadets would undergo a two year intensive course at a training center in France.