Unofficial panda naming contest opens

The New Macau Association (ANM) announced the launch of an unofficial naming competition for the new Panda cubs born recently in the territory, yesterday.
According to ANM representatives who called a press conference to disclose the initiative, the government’s competition for the official naming of the newborn animals will result in a “non-transparent” decision-making process. As such, they are therefore publicizing a similar competition in tandem.
Vice-president Jason Chao said during yesterday’s meeting that the competition has two purposes. “Firstly it is symbolic; we are trying to take things back into our control. We [previously] had the chance to choose the names of the pandas [given to Macau], but this year we don’t have [the same] chance,” he explained. “Another aspect to the [competition] is to educate citizens to make decisions about things in Macau.”
The unofficial competition is being hosted by the Macau Concealers for what New Macau terms the panda’s “civil nicknames”. ANM hopes that the unofficial names may replace the official ones in common usage among Macau’s public.
Nominations for the panda names can be submitted online by August 28. Meanwhile, voting will be held electronically on the Macau Concealers website between September 1 and 7.
Voters must have their Macau phone number verified before casting a ballot, however organizers stress that all personal data collected will be solely used for the purpose of this competition, in compliance with the Personal Data Protection Law of Macau. DB