GOV’T HANDS OUT NEW-LOOK MILITARY LARGE HONORIFIC TITLES DRILLS ANNOUNCED SCALE Former lawmaker and Taiwan’s military yesterday REGATTA businessman Chan Meng Kam announced a series of was the recipient of the Grand newly designed large-scale KICKS OFF Lotus Decoration of Honor military drills for this year P2 P10-11 PHOTO SHOP P9 CHINA THU.10 Jan 2019 T. 17º/ 22º C H. 70/ 98% facebook.com/mdtimes + 11,000 MOP 8.00 3206 N.º HKD 10.00 FOUNDER & PUBLISHER Kowie Geldenhuys EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Paulo Coutinho www.macaudailytimes.com.mo “ THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’ ” WORLD BRIEFS Taipa SECTION OPENS IN 2ND HALF OF 2019 VIETNAM Facebook was defending itself yesterday against allegations that it allows illegal content in violation of Vietnam’s new cybersecurity law. The social media giant Light Rapid Transit said it has restricted illegal content and is in discussions with the government. More on p13 fares not decided yet AP PHOTO P3 BLOOMBERG PHILIPPINES A mammoth crowd of China car sales mostly barefoot Filipino Catholics joined a raucous procession yesterday of a centuries- fall for the first old black statue of Jesus Christ despite terrorism fears and amid the president’s attacks on the time in 20 years P8 Catholic faith. More on p13 AUSTRALIA Several foreign diplomatic missions were evacuated in the Australian cities of Melbourne and Canberra yesterday after they received packages containing suspicious substances. More on p14 AP PHOTO IRAN-US Iran’s supreme leader yesterday called U.S. officials “first- class idiots,” mocking American leaders as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo toured the Mideast to promote the White House’s tough stance on Iran. SYRIA Russian military police have started patrolling the surroundings of the northern Syrian Kurdish- held town of Manbij. A representative for the military police told reporters that Russia’s mission is to ensure safety in the Manbij area, and monitor moves of militant groups. More on backpage 10.01.2019 thu 2 MACAU 澳聞 WWW.MACAUDAILYTIMES.COM.MO First edition of the Macao Cup International Regatta kicks off today Renato Marques Lei also noted that the idea of organizing the event came HE first-ever edition of the from Across Four Oceans Sai- TMacao Cup International ling Event Management, and Regatta kicks off today and will the government and in parti- run until Sunday, with 20 teams cular the ID, “thought it was divided into two different com- a good idea, as it was a good petitions. opportunity to make us of our Up for grabs will be pri- sea, promote Macau and also zes for overall winners of promote this sporting activi- HKD20,000, 10,000 and ty.” 8,000, respectively for first, se- In her opening speech, the ac- cond and third in each group. ting president of the ID, Chris- In the first group are ten teams tine Lam mentioned, “this is representing ten different coun- the first time for Macau to host tries: Australia, Canada, Esto- a large-scale international re- nia, France, Germany, Japan, gatta, ushering in a new era Philippines, Russia, Singapore for water sports in Macau at an and the United Arab Emirates. international level,” adding, “it Teams will be racing in a unified also plays an active role to faci- boat category using Beneteau litate the development of water First 40.7 sailing boats. sports.” The second group compri- Lam also noted the rich expe- ses ten teams from the Greater start and finish is at the Macau rience of many of the partici- Bay Area that will race accor- Fisherman’s Wharf (MFW) with pants, saying that the presence ding to International Rating a fleet parade to be organized on This is the first time for of “some claiming numerous Certificate rules, a system of the first and last days of compe- international awards and ac- handicapping different design tition so the public can enjoy the Macau to host a large- colades,” is a reason to expect and size sailboats and yach- sailing action up close from both that “the races will be thrilling ts for the purpose of racing. the Peninsula coastline between scale international and exhilarating.” In this group, the Macau SAR MFW and the Macau Tower and As a piece of advice, Lam said is represented by two teams from Taipa’s Ocean Gardens regatta, ushering in a the Fleet Parade would be “a (Wanboyu Sailing and Macau area. new era for water sports. rare sight” that “residents and Concurrent with the compe- Sugram) that will face strong CHRISTINE LAM tourists should not miss.” competition from more expe- tition, a sailing exhibition will ID ACTING PRESIDENT Among the noted entry list, rienced teams coming from be held for the four days of the the highlight goes to French Hong Kong, Shenzhen and event between noon and 3 p.m. pany, Across Four Oceans Sai- Bureau [ID] and that one-third legend sailing captain Lionel Guangzhou. in the waters of the south sec- ling Event Management, is said is a little over MOP6 million” Péan, winner of several inter- The four-day event will take tion of the Inner Harbor and to have a total budget of around according to the head of the Ma- national sailing events, inclu- place in the waters around Hac Macau Tower. MOP20 million, of which “one- cau Grand Prix and Major Spor- ding the 1986 Whitbread Rou- Sa Beach in the form of round- The event, co-organized by the third would be supported by the ting Events Department from nd the World Race now known the-island and course races. The government and a local com- government through the Sports the ID, See Lei. as Volvo Ocean Race. vocational quality. “Our hotels are world Gaming and hotel employees’ skills first-class. Macau is the center of the world’s ga- competition to be held next week ming industry. Our ser- vice level has been conti- nuously improving, which Julie Zhu cational skills . The competition will The cooking skills com- cooking counter will be let tourists enjoy Macau’s The competitions are kick off with the gaming petition will be held on awarded. service,” said Chan. HE first Macau Inte- supported by the Insti- vocational skills cate- January 18 at MUST’s The award ceremony “Actually, we are consi- Tgrated Tourism and tute for Tourism Studies gory on January 15 at the teaching kitchen. Each will be conducted at the dering [inviting interna- Leisure Enterprise Voca- (IFT), by the Macau Uni- workers’ stadium. Each team will consist of five Fisherman’s Wharf on Ja- tional teams] to partici- tional Skills Competition versity of Science and team will consist of two members. For this com- nuary 23. pate in the competition. will kick off next Tuesday, Technology (MUST) and members. The participan- petition, teams will be re- At the sidelines of the This is the first edition, so the Macao Federation of by the Macao Polytechnic ts will be requested to cal- quested to cook an appe- press conference, presi- we are promoting locals Trade Unions announced Institute. culate cards, among other tizer, a main course and a dent of the Macau Fede- to improve their skills. In this week. The schools will provide gaming table skills. dessert. ration of Trade Unions, the future, for the second The event consists of spaces and facilities for On January 17, at IFT, In the first two catego- Chan Kam Meng, hoped or third editions, we will three separate contests: the competitions, with the the hotel service skills ries, the organizer will set that the competition can consider ways to invite hi- one for gaming entertain- schools also sending their competition will be car- the third runner-up. help Macau’s tourism gh-level tourism and lei- ment vocational skills, representatives to serve ried out. Each team will For the cooking skill and leisure companies sure teams to compete in another for hotel inte- as jury members. consist of three members, competition, the third to maintain their world- Macau in order to enhan- grated service vocational The six gaming opera- who will be given tasks runner-up, best appeti- class services, and that the ce our communication skills, and the third for tors will also be sending a related to handling hotel zer, best main course,the competition can encoura- and [help] our services world gastronomy city vo- team to each competition. room arrangements. best dessert and the best ge the gaming employees’ improve,” said Chan. www.macaudailytimes.com.mo EDITOR-IN-CHIEF (DIRECTOR)_Paulo Coutinho [email protected] A MACAU TIMES PUBLICATIONS LTD PUBLICATION MANAGING EDITOR_Paulo Barbosa [email protected] CONTRIBUTING EDITORS_Eric Sautedé, Leanda Lee, Severo Portela ADMINISTRATOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER + 4 Million page views Kowie Geldenhuys [email protected] NEWSROOM AND CONTRIBUTORS_Albano Martins, Annabel Jackson, Daniel Beitler, Emilie Tran, Irene Sam, SECRETARY Juliana Cheang [email protected] PER MONTH Ivo Carneiro de Sousa, Jacky I.F. 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Ruan Du Toit Bester | NEWS AGENCIES_ Associated Press, Bloomberg, Financial Times, MacauHub, MacauNews, For subscription and general issues: [email protected] | Printed at Welfare Printing Ltd +12,000 like us on facebook.com/mdtimes Xinhua | SECRETARY_Yang Dongxiao [email protected] SEND NEWSWORTHY INFORMATION AND PRESS RELEASES TO: [email protected] WEBSITE: WWW.MACAUDAILYTIMES.COM.MO thu 10.01.2019 th Anniversary MACAU’S LEADING NEWSPAPER 澳聞 MACAU 3 IC expects more film applications LRT Taipa section to open in in 2019 The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) second half of this year believes that more non-local companies will seek to film in HE Transportation Macau in 2019.