Daily Archives: September 17, 2022

Las Vegas used to be the worlds favorite gambling hub, but Macau is swiftly taking over as a hotspot for casino tourism. Indeed, the number of people who visit the region every year is increasing rapidly. In 2016, there were just over 30 million tourists, and that shot up to 39 million in 2019.

For the millions of people who play casino games worldwide, a holiday to Macau could be the dream. Before you travel, there are a few things you need to know about the Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China.

Macau attracts a vast number of online casino playersInterestingly, the emergence of Macau as a global gambling destination coincided with the rise of the online casino industry. Internet gambling helped raise awareness of classic games, and then it seems that more people were influenced to seek them out on their holidays.

Nowadays, theres actually no need to travel anywhere to find live games. When you play blackjack online at Paddy Power, youre faced with a wide array of options that are all hosted by real-world dealers via streams. You can even scroll through and see who is hosting what game so that you can pick a dealer that you relate to. Some of the choices that come with live dealers include Lightning Blackjack, All Bets Blackjack Live, and Speed Blackjack.

Playing these titles can give people a taste of the glitz and glamour theyll experience in a casino. They can then be persuaded to take casino holidays to destinations that are going to provide this in abundance. Just as history lovers go to famous historical locations to expand their interests, online casino lovers can check out gambling resorts to enjoy their favorite internet games from another perspective.

Things to know before travelling to MacauMacau certainly represents a destination for more adventurous travelers. After all, Vegas has been portrayed in mainstream entertainment so many times over the years that most people who go there have a good idea about what to expect. Macau doesnt have that notoriety, though, and you may need to do a bit of research before you visit.

Macau is a region under the administration of China, but most people there dont speak traditional Mandarin. Instead, the main languages are Cantonese and Portuguese. Only a small fraction of the population speaks English, but Holidify says that English is common among people who work in the tourism industry.

According to an article in The Culture Trip, the best way to get to Macau is to fly to Hong Kong and then take a ferry to the island. There are two options and they both come regularly. There is also an international airport in Macau, but most of the flights are from local countries around Asia.

While this is one of the best places in the world for gambling, the pastime isnt the only thing to do in Macau. Indeed, the most populated region on the planet has plenty of other attractions to keep people busy. One of the best things for tourists to do is to look around at all the traditional Portuguese architecture that remains from the 400 years that the region existed as a colony. Theres also the stunning Macau Tower, which provides panoramic views of the city.

Photo by Jimmy Woo Man Tsing on Unsplash

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Is Macau now the number one place in the world for gamblers to visit - Travel Daily News International

If all goes according to plan over the next 14 hours or so, flight TR905 will begin its take off roll along the single runway of MFM Macau International Airport at 7:55pm this evening.

That flight, one of three per week on the humble Scoot airline, will almost certainly take off to the north (as almost all flights out of Macau do), then shortly turn 180 degrees to the south, and begin its over three-hour journey to Singapores Changi airport. Singapore is now the epicenter of Asian air travel having long eclipsed COVID-zero decimated Hong Kong. It also represents the main practical route out of Macau to the wider world.

Assuming all goes to plan, flight TR905 at 7:55pm this evening will represent my own salvation, my getaway car, my escape from the incarceration that has been Macau over the past 933 days since 23 February 2020. It was on that day I arrived from London via Zurich and Hong Kong, mere days before the proverbial door was slammed shut behind me courtesy of a little mishap known as the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps youve heard of it?

How Macau has changed in those 933 days.

In that time, I have barely left a tiny patch of just a few square kilometers the longest continuous period in a single city in my entire life including my childhood right back to birth. I havent even been able to go to Zhuhai, much less the pipedream of visiting Hong Kong. For someone who loves travel to the point of averaging one flight a week in 2019, its been quite the torment.

18 years of MacauI first set foot in Macau in 2004, shortly after Sands Macao opened its doors. After living in Hong Kong for a few years and visiting Macau regularly, I finally took the plunge and relocated permanently in 2009, to make my home in what was then a wonderful melting pot of east-meets-west. I lived, I loved, I learned. I worked, I played. I even completed a masters degree at the University of Macau. The casino gaming industry thrived, Macau became king of the world, we all know the story.

But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. We wobbled in 2014, fell to our knees in 2015, but then dusted ourselves off and recovered through to 2019. Things were looking good until well, again, we all know the story. There is no need to repeat it.

The pandemicThrough 2020 and 2021 the world suffered COVID together. But in 2022 it is different. The rest of the world has moved on, recovered, started to put their lives, their businesses and their economies back together again. They talk of COVID-19 in the past tense. When Macau people reference their own pandemic plight, overseas friends and colleagues answer in a bewildered tone, Are you guys still doing that?

I run a business called Inside Asian Gaming, not Inside Macau Gaming. As long as Macau was the center of the Asian gaming world it made sense to be based in Macau, and to visit the rest of Asia and the world regularly. But Macau is no longer the center of Asian gaming. As explained in the cover story of the August issue of IAG, that center of gravity has now slipped away from Macau and is being picked up by other APAC jurisdictions like the Philippines, Singapore and Australia.

While IAG will remain a Macau company, our office will remain in Macau and our Macau-based staff will continue to do their work right here in Macau, much of the business of the Asian gaming industry is now outside Macau. While networks and relationships built up over the past three decades (and the past decade in particular) stood IAG in good stead through 2020 and 2021, that is simply no longer the case. In order to keep our business afloat its imperative for me visit a host of countries as quickly as possible. To name just a few: the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, the US and the UK. I hope to visit all of them and more over the next 12 months.

It is with terribly mixed emotions I leave Macau, on what I am describing to anyone who asks as a very, very long business trip. On the one hand I leave the place I have grown to love over the past 13 years and leave our wonderful hard working IAG team behind to hold the fort. But on the other hand, I simply must venture out from the cave to hunt the mammoth given the lack of gaming industry business in Macau. There are some interesting non-gaming opportunities in Macau, particularly in the CSR space, and our parent company O MEDIA is pursuing them. But for IAG, the well is running very dry in the SAR.

Brain drainIt would be remiss of me not to mention the persistent and disquieting brain drain occurring right now in Macau, for in departing Macau I am certainly not the lone ranger. Over the past six months there has been a veritable cavalcade of goodbye drinks, parties, farewells and messages announcing departures from Macau, mainly of foreigners and even quite a few Macau people lucky enough to have links to countries outside Macau.

I put this brain drain down to three quite obvious reasons: the relentless COVID-zero policy of the Macau and central governments with no end in sight, the rising opportunities for skilled industry professionals in other parts of the world, and the general emotional malaise hanging over Macau. Awfully, that malaise is expressing itself in Macau through increased suicide rates, heightened prevalence of domestic violence and all manner of mental health issues.

The situation is even worse for foreigners and the more worldly locals, who are coming to the realization that Macau will likely never return to its former economic glory, even post COVID-zero. There is also and this is a very touchy subject, but since when have I shied away from touchy subjects a quite obvious undercurrent of anti-foreigner sentiment in Macau. Some would even call it xenophobia.

For just one piece of evidence of this sentiment, one need merely look at the statistics on new residency applicationsin Macau. In the 2021 year the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) processed 33 such applications, rejecting 32 of them! In a place boasting a population of around 677,000 (down by around 20,000 since the start of the pandemic, mostly through foreign workers losing their jobs), just a single person had their residency application approved. For 2022 Q1, a mere five applications were processed with all five being rejected. Statistics are only available for the first quarter of this year, despite Q2 finishing over 10 weeks ago. It seems it takes quite some time to count to a single digit number.

It was just last month that Macau lawmakers considered a bill to attract internationally recognized, high-quality and highly qualified personnel and senior professionals to Macau. But talk is cheap. I would contend that actions speak louder than words.

Will I be back?Absolutely. As referenced above, this is merely a very, very long business trip, not a complete departure. Officially, I remain based in Macau, as does IAG. But I suspect it may be more than a few months on the road given the many destinations around Asia and the world which must be visited to reconnect with a host of senior industry executives who havent had an in-person meeting with IAG for almost three years. One can only do so much by zoom, and ours is an industry built on relationships and human connections that can only really be cemented in person.

To those of you outside Macau, Im excited to be heading your way and Ill see you soon.

For those inside Macau, I guess its zoom meetings for the foreseeable future, and I will leave you with those beautiful words sung by Dame Vera Lynn, over 80 years ago:

Well meet again,Dont know where, dont know when,But I know well meet again,Some sunny day.

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After 18 years visiting Macau, 13 years living in Macau and 933 days trapped in Macau, it's time to go - Inside Asian Gaming

By Chen Yu-fu / Staff reporter

The Mainland Affairs Council is closely monitoring if the authorities in Macau would try to force three remaining Taiwanese officials in the Office of Macau Affairs to sign a pledge to recognize the one China principle as a condition for them to receive a visa extension.

The three officials have all applied to extend their visas. Their applications have yet to be approved, the council said.

The last Taiwanese official is allowed to stay in Macau until Oct. 30 when their visa expires.

Since 2019, Taiwanese officials and contractors working in the Office of Macau Affairs have been asked to sign an affidavit recognizing Beijings one China principle as a precondition for a visa, council sources said.

Those refusing to comply would be denied entry to Macau or their visas would not be extended, they said.

As China is getting ready to celebrate its National Day on Oct. 1, the government in Macau is very likely to try to force the three Taiwanese officials to sign the one China pledge, council sources said.

The post of director at the office in Macau has remained vacant since Chen Hsueh-huai () retired in 2019.

As the requirement to sign a one China pledge has made it impossible to appoint a new director, the council had asked the Taiwanese officials whose visas have yet to expire to serve as acting directors since then.

In June last year, former acting director of the Office of Macau Affairs Chen Chia-hung () returned to Taiwan after refusing to sign the one China pledge.

The office would be left with only Macanese employees if the three Taiwanese officials in Macau are forced to leave, the council said.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Mei-hui () yesterday said that the council does not need to wait until the final day to vacate the office in Macau.

The one China principle is designed to destroy the Republic of China and force Taiwanese to recognize the Peoples Republic of China as the suzerain. Taiwan and China are two nations separated by the Taiwan Strait. Taiwanese officials will never sign such a pledge. Instead of waiting until the last day, the council needs to prepare for the possible outcome in advance, because there is no way that Taiwanese officials can be stationed in Macau without a visa, Wang said.

Meanwhile, the council is considering selling the Dr Sun Yat-sen Memorial House in Macau if Macau refuses to extend the visas of the three remaining officials.

The council has full ownership of the memorial house, a property of the government registered under the name of a Singaporean firm.

The property with an area of 439.67m2 is valued at about NT$140 million (US$4.54 million), the council said, adding that it is the only place in China where Taiwans national flag can be displayed.

The council is leaning toward selling the property in case Beijing confiscates it after the last Taiwanese officials leave.

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Council monitoring situation in Macau after three officials apply to extend visas -

A shipping container loaded with products of New Zealand and Pacific Island nation Vanuatu left Port of Tauranga, the largest port in New Zealand, on Saturday for the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE) 2022 to be held in Shanghai on Nov. 5-10.

More than 200 companies from New Zealand have participated in the previous four editions of the expo in China, which is by far New Zealands largest trading partner.

Chen Zhiyang, economic and commercial minister-counselor of the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, said China encourages more New Zealand companies to embrace the business opportunities presented by the CIIE.

CIIE is a key event in Chinas opening-up. It is a world-class forum for cooperation and a great opportunity for innovation and exploring market potentials, Chen told Xinhua.

During the past years, New Zealand companies have been actively participating in the CIIE, which provides a platform for the vast Chinese consumers to appreciate the high-quality New Zealand products such as agricultural products of dairy products, wine, meat products, honey, and health products and high-quality consumer products, he said.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand. We encourage New Zealand companies to fully avail themselves of the CIIE platform to further pragmatic cooperation and enjoy the shared economic development opportunities, Chen added.

The COSCO SHIPPING container, which was heading to China on Saturday, carried a wide range of products from New Zealand and Vanuatu, such as dairy products, honey, juice, and art crafts. The container is expected to arrive at Shanghai Port in early October.

Kang Xiaoyu, managing director of COSCO SHIPPING Lines New Zealand, told Xinhua that her team in New Zealand had been preparing for the shipment for quite a long time.

We collaborated with local companies so that we worked out individual shipping plans for them to make sure the products from New Zealand and Vanuatu arrive in Shanghai safe and sound and on time, she said.

David Song, managing director and CEO of Yashili New Zealand Dairy, said he was looking forward to the new products that the company would launch at the fifth CIIE, and highlighted the support from COSCOs New Zealand team.

Under the challenging circumstances where the global supply chain is at constant risk of disruption, it is great that COSCO supports us with high-quality services, said Song.

YTABC, a New Zealand company participating in the CIIE for the first time, said it has been preparing for the exhibition for months ahead to understand relevant policies and customs clearance procedures. The company is looking forward to showcasing its products at the CIIE.

COSCO SHIPPING is the official international shipping service provider for the CIIE.

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Products of New Zealand, Vanuatu shipped to China for import fair - Macau Business

The UN General Assembly is back in person after the pandemic disruption but in a world as full of crises as ever, with the war in Ukraine set to pit the West against Russia.

Some 150 world leaders will descend on New York for a week of diplomacy, with all required to come in person to speak save one Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, granted an exception as he leads the fight against Russian invaders.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking ahead of the summit that formally begins Tuesday, said that the worlds divisions are the widest they have been since at least the Cold War.

Our world is blighted by war, battered by climate chaos, scarred by hate and shamed by poverty, hunger and inequality, Guterres said.

As fractures deepen and trust evaporates, we need to come together around solutions.

For the two previous years, the annual meeting that jams traffic through Midtown Manhattan had been a more subdued affair with leaders allowed to send in videos.

The General Assembly voted Friday to let Zelensky speak by video. Seven nations voted against including Russia, saying that the right should be extended to all leaders, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping, not planning to travel to New York.

Several US adversaries are expected, however, including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, defying loud protests from their opponents in the United States.

Richard Gowan, who follows the United Nations for the International Crisis Group, said that Zelenskys speech will get 1,000 times more attention than most in-person speeches by other leaders.

But Zelensky has to be careful.A lot of non-Western politicians are resentful of the Wests focus on Ukraine and worry that the war is distracting international attention from issueslike the global food crisis, he said.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, acknowledged the concerns, saying that despite discussions on Ukraine, it will not be the only thing that were dealing with.

We cannot ignore the rest of the world and what is happening in the rest of the world, the impact of climate change, the impact of the pandemic, conflicts elsewhere in the world, she said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday will co-chair a summit on food security with the African Union, European Union and Spain as high global prices worsened by the invasion of major grain producer Ukraine bring new hunger around the world.

French President Emmanuel Macrons office said that he will seek dialogue with our partners from the South to avoid planting this idea that its the West against the rest.

Despite the shift toward normalcy, the schedule of the General Assembly was scrambled by the death of Queen Elizabeth II. US President Joe Biden, who traditionally would have been one of the first speakers Tuesday and who would have led the food summit, will instead speak Wednesday.

And with Covid concerns lingering, the United Nations is still limiting the size of delegations and requiring the wearing of masks in the towering headquarters on the East River.

Prime Minister Liz Truss, who took office two days before the death of Britains longest-reigning monarch, will fly after the funeral to the United Nations on her first foreign trip since taking office.

The UN summit will also mark a fresh occasion to build momentum on global action on climate change, amid mounting signs that the planet is descending into dangerous levels of warming.

We have run out of time to waste, said Ambassador Walton Webson of Antigua and Barbuda, heading the Alliance of Small Island States.

Our islands are being hit with more severe and more frequent climate impacts and recovery comes at the cost of our development, he said.

Guterres said he will use the week to speak frankly with leaders amid guarded hopes for further progress on climate during the next climate summit, COP27, in Egypt in November.

by Amelie Bottollier-Depois

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UN summit returns in person to world of divisions - Macau Business

Fifty or so migrants sent to the wealthy island of Marthas Vineyard in the northeastern United States as part of a political battle over immigration will be temporarily housed at a military base not far from there, the governor of Massachusetts said Friday.

The migrants, mostly Venezuelans and including children, arrived Wednesday at Marthas Vineyard, a Democratic stronghold and popular vacation spot for the countrys political elite.

They had been put on board flights from Texas which the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, says he chartered.

Despite local mobilization to help the new arrivals, the island is not equipped to provide sustainable accommodation, and state officials developed a plan to deliver a comprehensive humanitarian response, said a statement from the administration of Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican.

State authorities on Friday offered to move the migrants, on a voluntary basis, to temporary accommodation at the nearby Joint Base Cape Cod.

Families will not be separated, the statement said, noting that the base had previously served as an emergency shelter and that the migrants would have access to care and legal services.

According to local media, the migrants were on their way to the base by midday Friday.

Some of them had said they had not known they were being sent to an island.

Local Democrat legislator Julian Cyr called for an investigation.

Whether or not this meets the legal threshold for human trafficking, this meets the moral threshold of human trafficking, he told local television, adding that he hoped the Department of Justice would look into the incident.

Sending migrants to Democratic strongholds has become a political cudgel for the American right as a means of denouncing President Joe Bidens immigration policy, which they say has allowed undocumented migrants to cross the border with Mexico in large numbers.

It is also a way to try to place immigration at the center of the campaign for the midterm elections in November.

On Thursday morning, two buses carrying migrants arrived near the official residence of Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, a place chosen on purpose because she is overseeing the explosive issue of immigration for the White House. They had been sent by Texass Republican Governor Greg Abbott.

The White House on Friday again slammed the Republican governors tactics towards people who have fled the socialist regime in Venezuela.

These were children. They were moms. They were fleeing communism. And what did Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott do to them? They use them as political pawns, treating them like chattel in a cruel, premeditated political stunt, said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

These are the kinds of tactics we see from smugglers in places like Mexico and Guatemala. And for what? A photo op? she said.

But DeSantis shot back by mocking the fact that the migrants had been transferred off the wealthy island.

By the way, they already bussed them out. They said, We want everyone. No ones illegal. And theyre gone within 48 hours, he said.

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Migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard moved to US military base - Macau Business

The number of active drilling rigs in the United States increased to 763 this week, up by four from the previous week and 251 from this time last year, according to the weekly data released Friday by Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes.

These active drilling rigs included 599 oil rigs operating in U.S. oil fields, up by eight from the previous week; 162 gas rigs, down by four from last week; and two miscellaneous rigs, the same as last week.

The rigs included 744 land drilling rigs, four inland water drilling rigs, and 15 offshore drilling rigs.

Of them, 45 were directional drilling rigs, 695 were horizontal drilling rigs and 23 were vertical drilling rigs.

So far, the Permian Basin in western Texas and eastern New Mexico has been the largest source of shale oil production growth in the United States, having become an engine of supply growth outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in the past years.

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Number of active U.S. drilling rigs up this week - Macau Business

Two million people in Japan were told Saturday to seek shelter before the arrival of Typhoon Nanmadol, national broadcaster NHK said, as the weather agency issued a rare special warning about the powerful storm.

NHK, which compiles alerts issued by local authorities, said level four evacuation instructions the second highest were in place for people in Kagoshima, Kumamoto and Miyazaki in the southern Kyushu region.

The move came as the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest alert for the Kagoshima region, a warning that comes when it forecasts conditions only seen once in several decades.

It is the first typhoon-linked special warning issued outside of the Okinawa region since the current system began in 2013.

On Saturday evening, Typhoon Nanmadol was classed at the agencys top category of violent, and was packing gusts of up to 270 kilometres (167 miles) as it hovered about 200 kilometres north-northeast of Minami Daito island, part of a string of remote isles that form the Okinawa region.

The storm is expected to approach or make landfall on Sunday in Kagoshima prefecture, then move north the following day before heading towards Japans main island.

There are risks of unprecedented storms, high waves, storm surges, and record rainfall, Ryuta Kurora, the headof the Japan Meteorological Agencys forecast unit, told reporters.

Maximum caution is required, he said, urging residents to evacuate early.

Its a very dangerous typhoon.

The wind will be so fierce that some houses might collapse, Kurora told reporters, also warning of flooding and landslides.

The evacuation warnings call on people to move to shelter or alternative accommodation that can withstand extreme weather.

But they are not mandatory, and during past extreme weather events authorities have struggled to convince residents to take shelter quickly enough.

Kurora said even inside strong buildings, residents should take precautions.

Please move into sturdy buildings before violent winds start to blow and stay away from windows even inside sturdy buildings, he told a late night press conference.

Japan is currently in typhoon season and faces around 20 such storms a year, routinely seeing heavy rains that cause landslides or flash floods.

In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis smashed into Japan as it hosted the Rugby World Cup, claiming the lives of more than 100 people.

A year earlier, Typhoon Jebi shut down Kansai Airport in Osaka, killing 14 people.

And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the countrys annual rainy season.

Ahead of Typhoon Nanmadols arrival, flight cancellations began to affect regional airports including those in Kagoshima, Miyazaki and Kumamoto, according to the websites of Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.

Scientists say climate change is increasing the severity of stormsand causing extreme weather such as heat waves, droughts and flash floods to become more frequent and intense.

by Natsuko FUKUE

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Millions told to seek shelter as Japan warns on Typhoon Nanmadol - Macau Business

Vietnamese authorities have arrested the owner of a karaoke bar where a fire killed 32 people earlier this month, police said Saturday.

The blaze ripped through a three-storey entertainment venue nine days ago in a dense residential neighbourhood of Thuan An city, north of commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City.

It trapped customers and staff as smoke filled the staircase and blocked the emergency exit.

Seventeen people were injured, with many suffering broken bones after the flames forced them to jump from the roof, police said.

Binh Duong provincial police on Saturday confirmed in a statement that bar owner Le Anh Xuan, 42, was arrested a day earlier and would face criminal charges related to breaching fire prevention regulations.

He will be held in custody for four months while the investigation continues, police added.

While 15 of the injured have been released from hospital, two of the most seriously hurt are still receiving medical treatment.

The bodies of the 32 people killed have been handed over to their families.

Firefighters initially struggled to enter the building because of the fires intensity and had to knock down part of a wall to get inside.

Sixty people were inside the 30-room bar when the fire erupted and eight people were found dead in the bars toilet.

In the aftermath of the tragedy survivors described their harrowing escape from the blaze.

We thought we would die, karaoke parlour worker Do Thanh Tu told state media.

Authorities initially blamed an electrical short circuit for the blaze but said the bar had met all fire safety standards in checks over the past three years.

Police partly blamed drunken singers.

They were drunk. So when the staff at the karaoke bar informed them about the fire people in some karaoke rooms didnt listen, provincial police chief Trinh Ngoc Quyen said during a press conference.

In what was previously Vietnams deadliest fire, 13 people died in a 2018 blaze in an apartment complex in Ho Chi Minh City.

In 2016, a fire at a karaoke facility in the capital Hanoi left 13 people dead, prompting a country-wide assessment of fire prevention measures at bars and clubs.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered a further inspection of high-risk venues, especially karaoke bars.

Last month, three firefighters died after trying to extinguish a fire at another karaoke bar in Hanoi.

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Owner of Vietnam bar arrested after blaze that killed 32 - Macau Business