“Supporting China’s Development and Promoting National Education” Forum
Organized by Macao Polytechnic Institute, supported by the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, and hosted by Galaxy Entertainment Group, the Forum on “Macao Integrated Tourism and Leisure Operators and Corporate Social Responsibility” was successfully held at 3 p.m. on 27 October 2016 in Banyan Tree Macau at Galaxy Macau. The theme of the forum was “Supporting China’s Development and Promoting National Education”. Participating organizations that also spoke at the forum included (based on the order of their speeches): Galaxy Entertainment Group, Wynn Macau Ltd, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau S.A., Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM, Sands China Ltd., Macao Federation of Trade Unions and Macao Polytechnic Institute. The objective of this Forum series is to showcase and further promote corporate social responsibility commitments among local operators of integrated tourism and leisure resorts; with a view to providing the whole industry, the general local public and visitors with a comprehensive understanding of these corporations' contributions to supporting Mainland China’s development and promoting national education.
Attending and/or officiating guests of the Forum included Mr. Yao Jian, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region; Mr. Ip Peng Kin, representative of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture; Ms. Lok Kit Sim, representative of the Secretary for Economy and Finance of Macao; Representative of the hosting organization, Mr. Philip Cheng, Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group; Professor Lei Heong Iok, President of Macao Polytechnic Institute; Mr. Liu Bin, Section Chief of Economics Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region; Mr. Paulo Martins Chan, Director of Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. Other representatives from the Macao Federation of Trade Unions and local key integrated tourism and leisure operators have included: Ms. Ho Sut Heng, President of the Macao Federation of Trade Unions; Ms. Linda Chen, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Wynn Macau Ltd.; Mr. Chum Kwan Lock, Chief of Staff of Sands China Ltd.; Mr. Grant Bowie, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of MGM China Holdings Ltd.; Mr. Ted Chan, Chief Operating Officer of Melco Crown Entertainment; Dr. Hung Hak Wai, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer of Sociedade de Jogos de Macao S.A. (in alphabetical order of their company name).
These Macao integrative tourism and leisure enterprises have made positive contributions to the development of Macao's economy towards moderate diversification, in line with its strategic goal of building Macao into a world tourism and leisure center. The rapid development of the tourism and leisure industry in Macao benefits considerably from the relevant policies of the Chinese central government on Mainland visitors, the rapid progress of China's domestic transportation networks, the growth of its citizen's consumption power, the abundant historical and cultural resources of Macao and its international-standard recreational facilities. Macao attracts more than 20 million visitors from the Mainland each year, whose spending made here accounts for an important share of Macao's revenues.
Apart from attracting Mainland visitors to spend in Macao, these integrated tourism and leisure enterprises are also actively feeding back portions of their economic benefits to support the Mainland, for example, by making substantial donations to disaster relief aid and by creating more education opportunities. Many of them have also set up tailor-made activities to promote Chinese culture, strengthen exchanges with the Mainland, encourage their staff to learn the national conditions and reinforce the national identity of the staff, so that a more harmonious relationship can be built between local residents and Mainland residents.
During the Forum, representatives from local integrated tourism and leisure operators have shared with the audience their tailor-made programs to support Mainland China’s development and to promote national education. Some of these initiatives are listed as follows (in the order of their speeches):
Galaxy Entertainment Group
As a patriotic enterprise, Galaxy Entertainment Group has been supporting the sustainable development of the country in a variety of ways. These include, for example, the enthusiastic and generous donations made by its founder and Chairman, Dr. Lui Che-woo to support China's education sector for many years. These efforts have contributed considerably to the quality of education, leading China into its goal towards a stronger country. In Macao, Galaxy Entertainment Group has been sponsoring the "GEG China National Situation Knowledge Competition" for eight consecutive years starting from 2009. This event has become one of the three pillar competitions in the academia. GEG spares no efforts to encourage team members to visit the Mainland to exchange and develop their patriotism and national bond, thus injecting further energy into the positive effects of national education.
Wynn Macau Limited
Since its founding in Macao, Wynn Macau Ltd. has consistently attached great importance to corporate social responsibility. Its corporate responsibility is not only confined to the local Macao community, but also extends its bond to the motherland. Wynn not only cares about China's development, but also vigorously promotes the Chinese cultural heritage. Wynn Macau and the Wynn Palace treasure up a large collection of Chinese works of art, even incorporating a blend of phenomenal Chinese elements in its design style, galvanizing local residents and visitors with the unique charm of Chinese culture and Macao. The "Wynn Cup - Macau Primary School Student National Education Drawing Competition", sponsored by Wynn Macau, has aimed to strengthen Macao students' knowledge and understanding of national conditions from an early age.
Sociedade de Jogos de Macau S.A.
Every year, SJM would organize large-scale patriotic education activities, including training courses of Jinggangshan Patriotism, Nanchang Red Journey, as well as organizing training camps for staff's children, and holding annual national-day banquet to promote patriotism. The Chairman of SJM, Dr. Stanley Ho, is committed to supporting the cultural and educational activities in the Mainland, by funding the construction of the "China Century Monument" and the swimming pools for the Beijing Olympic Games. The "Dr Stanley Ho Aerospace Science and Technology Training Fund" also provides sponsorships to the "Dream High, Chinese Tie" summer camps to arouse interest among the youths in Hong Kong and Macao in China's Aerospace Science and Technology, thus further enhancing their understanding of China's national conditions.
Melco Crown Entertainment
Melco Crown Entertainment not only set up scholarships to nurture talents for the Mainland, but also organized fund-raising cycling charity campaigns in Hainan Island for its employees, going all out in its support to the Mainland disaster relief aid. The Company also sent its employees to receive training from the Chinese Academy of Governance and organized large-scale seminars and visits in Sanya City to increase knowledge of national conditions among its employees, thus implementing its whole-person education policy thoroughly. In September, Melco Crown Entertainment held a "Splendors of China" Forum for its 400 management employees. Through the forum, employees got to know more about the Chinese history and culture, the development of the motherland and its celebratory achievements. These activities have significantly enhanced the employee's sense of pride towards the national culture.
MGM
MGM has collaborated with a number of renowned artists from Mainland China and the Chinese Rosewood Museum to showcase the essence of the Chinese culture through art exhibitions. Its annual Lion Dance Competition and its Junior Lion Dance Academy further promoted and celebrated the heritage of Chinese traditional arts and craftsmanship. The Company also convened lectures on national conditions for its local employees, organized exchange tours and seminars to the Mainland for employees to keep abreast of China's national development trend, as well as sponsoring study tour visits from the Mainland. MGM even formed partnership with the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse to integrate the competitive edge of the two brands in an effort to create a high-end hotel management platform to exploit and manage five-star hotels. In addition, the Zhuhai Center of Excellence and the strategic expansion of Hengqin program will help create more employment opportunities and share the economic benefits thus brought forth.
Sands China Limited
So far, Sands China has provided training to about 4,000 integrated resort personnel, who subsequently went back to the Mainland and joined the workforce. This move by Sands China represents it fair share of contributions to the development of China’s tourism industry. The Company also encourages its employees to actively participate in the "Youth Nurturing Program" to help students return to school in the earthquake-stricken regions in Sichuan, another move that stimulates the patriotic emotions among its staff. For many years, it has also organized all sorts of cultural and recreational activities to local residents, tourists and employees that showcase the treasures of the Chinese art, thus significantly improve their cultural literacy and knowledge. Sands China also provided tours to their staff to visit the Hengqin New District, and arranged its management personnel to participate in seminars on national education so that they can keep abreast of China’s recent developments. Meanwhile, the Company also effectively integrated its national education into its employee’s self-initiated learning platforms and knowledge competition events in an effort to encourage more employees to have a deeper understanding of China’s national conditions.
The Macao Federation of Trade Unions reviewed the history of its establishment, calling upon its employees under the spirit of patriotism, solidarity, welfare to support China's development and to fight for the rights and interests of workers as two primary tasks. With a history of over 70 years, the Federation of Trade Unions has committed consistently to promoting patriotic unity by actively engaging in activities related to national education, such as the series events it has organized to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.
Macao Polytechnic Institute
The Macao Polytechnic Institute summarized the forum and outlined its variegated projects in promoting national education. MPI capitalizes on its academic advantage to help the Mainland to train Portuguese and English teachers, and to help Portuguese universities to establish Chinese language and cultural centers, thus promoting Chinese culture to the international arena. The Institute also offered courses on The Red Journey, holding knowledge dissemination talks by consulates, organizing students to participate in national situation knowledge competitions, helping the poor in the hinterland and rural areas, with a view to enhancing the national identity among teachers and students. MPI has set up scholarships for outstanding students from the Mainland, students from the earthquake-stricken areas, sports elites and children of space workers, thus making contributions to nurturing a large number of talents for the Mainland.
