Racing Spectacular to Commence on Guia Circuit this November

Macao's annual international motorsports event, the 67^th Macau Grand Prix will be held on 19-22 November. The Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee (MGPOC) convened a press conference today (11 September) at the Macau Fisherman's Wharf Convention and Exhibition Centre to announce preliminary details of the races.

The press conference was attended by: Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government and President of MGPOC, Ms. Ao Ieong U; President of the Sports Bureau of the Macao SAR Government and Coordinator of MGPOC, Mr. Pun Weng Kun; Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, Ms. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; Chairman of the Automobile General Association of Macao-China, Mr. Charles Lo Keng Chio; President of the Automobile General Association of Macao-China and Coordinator of Sporting Subcommittee of MGPOC, Mr. Chong Coc Veng; and Deputy Coordinators of MGPOC; Mr. Allen Lau Cho Un and Ms. Christine Lam Lin Kio.

During the press conference, the MGPOC introduced the preparations for the races. A total of 6-7 races are expected to take place this year, which include: Formula Macau Grand Prix, Macau GT Cup, Macau Guia Race, Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix – 54^th Edition, Macau Touring Car Cup and Greater Bay Area GT Cup.

The Macau GT Cup will feature GT3 and GT4 race cars, with drivers selected from China GT Championship and Asia Pacific GT to compete with local counterparts. The Macau Guia Race will be run in the TCR format, featuring selected drivers from TCR Asia Series and Asia Pacific Touring Cars 2.0T races as well as local drivers. The Macau Touring Car Cup will continue last year’s format with the two classes of race cars ‘1600cc Turbo’ and ‘Above 1950cc’ competing on the grid. Arrangements for the other races will be announced in due course.

BMW Concessionaires (Macau) Ltd is the designated sponsor for safety, medical, rescue and official vehicles and Macau Industrial Limitada the designated beverage sponsor for the Macau Grand Prix this year.

Temporary Facilities Installed along the Circuit for the Convenience of Residents

In regard to the resurfacing of the circuit, the first phase was already completed in August and the second phase will be performed on the section between Casino Oceanus and Fishermen’s Bend on Avenida da Amizade from 5-7 October. For the convenience of residents, a temporary footbridge will once again be installed during the races between Hotel Lisboa and the overpass near Estrada de São Francisco to connect Praça de Ferreira do Amaral with the city centre. Moreover, barrier gates at the entrances of junctions and buildings near the circuit will be increased to 156 to ensure that public roads can be reopened as soon as possible after the end of each day’s races.

Enhanced Arrangements for Ticketing and Admission

Tickets for the 67^th Macau Grand Prix will be on sale from 21 September.  Prices remain unchanged - tickets for practice days on 19-20 November are priced at MOP 50, whereas tickets for race days on 21-22 November are priced between MOP 400 to MOP 1,000, varying depending on the spectator stand. Holders of a valid Macao student card can purchase Reservoir Stand tickets for race days at a discounted price of MOP 150. Each person is limited to one student discount ticket per day, and student discount tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. For the convenience of the public and race fans, MGPOC has set up 17 ticketing counters in Macao, Hong Kong and Mainland China as well as alternative ticketing channels including website, hotline, email and mobile application.

During the races this year, both self-service kiosks and staff-stationed kiosks will also be available at the ticketing counter on the circuit. Credit cards and various electronic payment methods are accepted for ticket purchases, and spectators who have reserved their tickets in advance may collect tickets at the kiosks using their credit cards, transaction records or notification letters on their mobile phones. In addition, electronic gates and electronic wristbands will be used at Lisboa Stand and Reservoir Stand this year, where the spectators will receive the wristbands after presenting their tickets, and will be able to enter the Stands upon verification with the wristbands at the electronic gates.

Multiple Channels Provided for Business Advertising during Macau Grand Prix

The Macau Grand Prix has always been the centre of the public and race fans’ attention and an ideal platform for advertising and promoting businesses, given that the races are broadcasted to different parts of the world on television and various online platforms. This year, the MGPOC continues to provide opportunities for local business community to support the Macau Grand Prix through a variety of means including: circuit advertising, guest boxes and MGP Official Magazine and Programme advertising. In addition, sales booths are open for applications from 14 Septembers. For more details please contact MGPOC via email at marketing.mgp@sport.gov.mo.

Measures to be Implemented by MGPOC based on Development of COVID-19 Pandemic

MGPOC will continue to closely monitor the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and make appropriate preventive arrangements for the races based on the relevant guidelines by the Macao Health Bureau.

For more information about the event, please visit the Macau Grand Prix official website at www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo, download the relevant mobile application, or follow the Macau Grand Prix official page on Facebook, WeChat or Weibo.

Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) launched the Barrier Free Access Guide (the “Guide”) today (15 July) to provide barrier-free information of local tourist attractions. Individuals with special needs can consider the information when planning their visits. The Guide was designed to foster building of an inclusive local community in parallel with the Macao Special Administrative Region Government’s plan to optimize the city’s urban environment towards greater accessibility.

MGTO commissioned the social service organization Caritas Macau to carry out the “Consultancy Study on Accessible Tourism Facilities in Macao”, conducting site inspections at major local attractions and evaluating their level of accessibility for production of the Barrier Free Access Guide with the data compiled. The Guide encompasses pertinent information on tourist attractions, ports of entry, convention and exhibition venues, shopping malls and hotels, involving close to 150 tourist spots. It not only covers their locations, opening hours and transport facilities, but also includes information about elevators, restrooms and other friendly facilities for wheelchair users at these local spots. Users can learn more about the barrier-free facilities available at their destinations from the illustrations of the Guide.

The Barrier Free Access Guide adopts web accessibility design. Users with special needs can view the website by screen readers or other means. There are videos with auditory and visual guidance for visits to certain tourist spots, enabling wheelchair users to access the actual situation along the routes for better planning of their visits. The website is available in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese and English.

MGTO is striving to provide an accessible urban environment for Macao residents and visitors in line with the SAR Government’s vision to build a barrier-free city. The Office will continue to optimize the Guide and provide a wider variety of useful information for people with special needs. All who are interested are welcome to access the Barrier Free Access Guide ( https://www.macaotourism.gov.mo/en/barrier-free-access-guide ) for further details.

With the mission to promote the construction of the “International Portuguese Training Centre” and the “training base of Chinese-Portuguese bilingual talents”, and with the long-established effort in Portuguese language teachers’ training to enhance academic excellence and teaching, the Centre for Portuguese Studies (CPCLP) of Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) continues to offer summer training courses to Portuguese language teachers of higher education institutions in China to meet the high demand over the years.  Due to the epidemic situation, the training course this summer will be conducted online, and free of charge. All Portuguese language teachers of higher education institutions in Macao, mainland China and other Asia-Pacific regions are welcome.

The Center for Portuguese Studies spares no effort in training Portuguese language teachers. In the past years, it held Portuguese language teacher training in Macao and mainland China to enhance the growth and the standard of Portuguese language teaching in Macao, mainland China and other Asia-Pacific regions. So far, CPCLP has successfully held approximately 30 training courses for higher education institutions, with a total of 400 enrolled participants and more than 600 hours of training, receiving unanimous praise from Portuguese language teachers of higher education institutions and from the Instituto Camões in Portugal.  

In the field of non-tertiary Portuguese language teacher training, CPCLP cooperates with the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau of Macao SAR as well as other institutions to provide teacher training locally; more than 200 participants from primary, secondary and kindergartens enrolled the Portuguese language teachers training. The provision of these courses highlights Macao’s advantages in Portuguese language talent training which are reflected in the optimization of the disciplinary knowledge structure of Portuguese language teachers, the elevation of the standard of practice in Portuguese language teaching, and the cultivation of more Sino-Portuguese bilingual talents.

This summer, the online training courses for Portuguese language teachers will be launched from 30^th June to 15^th July, consisting of three topics, namely “Literature in Dialogue (intertextual case study)”, “Academic Speech (seminar presentation)” and “Optimized Learning Experience (textbook design)” taught by Sara Augusto, Caio Christiano and Gabriel Cordeiro.  “Literature in Dialogue” starts from the works of well-known Portuguese writers and displays the dialogue and exchange between literary works, aiming to interpret the intertextual dialogue in Portuguese literary works through reading and commenting on the works; “Academic Speech” will introduce a series of academic presentation skills, including effective methods to attract the audience, clear and accurate display of speech content, and more, so that the trainees can use the Portuguese language in different seminars to share and report their academic achievements according to the current international standards. Based on the principles of cognitive psychology with guided examples, “Optimized Learning Experience” demonstrates the theoretical basis, practical skills and suggestions in the field of textbook design, and provides guidance to write appropriate and effective Portuguese textbooks from the perspective of communicative design.  Each topic includes three lectures; interested parties can apply for one or more topics according to their own interests and needs.

Enrollment of online training courses for Portuguese language teachers is now opened until 21^st June, with a limited number of spaces on a first come first served basis.  Portuguese language teachers of higher education institutions in Macao, mainland China and other Asia-Pacific regions who are interested in the above topics are welcome to participate in the training courses. Please scan the QR code on the poster for online registration. For inquiries, please contact the Centre for Portuguese Studies of MPI at 83998692. (Details)

The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, today directed all public departments to make further effort – within their respective areas of competence and authority – in order to realise measures outlined in the Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2020.

Mr Ho gave the directive this morning during a session to follow up on tasks mentioned in the Policy Address. The session was held at the Macao Science Center and was attended by approximately 260 officials from public departments.

Public departments were asked to focus – in line with prescribed work timelines – on fulfilling their respective tasks scheduled for the coming seven months. Should any difficulties arise, relevant supervising bodies would provide necessary assistance, Mr Ho added.

During the two-hour session, the Chief Executive talked about the role of digital technology in governmental functions, and public spending. Mr Ho noted there had been progress made in advancing the Government’s electronic services. The next phase would focus on how to foster data sharing among different departments, so as to enable the public to experience further the convenience of electronic services, he added.

Regarding public spending, Mr Ho stated public departments needed to cut spending: especially in relation to hosting receptions, producing souvenirs, and making outbound visits. This was due to an expected decrease in public income as affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, Mr Ho took the opportunity during the session to express his gratitude to the public services for their dedication and contribution towards Macao’s overall effort to curb the novel coronavirus from spreading within the local community.He also spoke highly of the interdepartmental effort in relation to epidemic-control work.