Corporate News

White truffle charity auction raises MOP 4.48 million

Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, S.A. (SJM) successfully hosted the Italian White Truffle Charity Auction and Dinner at Grand Lisboa last Thursday for the fifth consecutive year.  Six lots of Italian white truffles were offered for charity auction.  The total amount raised at the auction was MOP 4.48 million, fully donated to local charities.
All funds raised from the auction were donated to nine local charities, namely Tung Sin Tong Charitable Society, Kiang Wu Hospital Charitable Association, Obra das Mães, Special Olympics Macau, Macau Holy House of Mercy, Charity Fund of Readers of Macao Daily News (2011 Walk for Millions), Caritas de Macau (2012 Caritas Macau Charity Bazaar), Yat On Pathological Gambler’s Counselling Centre and Macau Social Services Centre. 
The largest white truffle of the event, found in Tuscany of Italy, weighed 980 grams. It was auctioned together with another white truffle, weighing 515 grams, found in Alba of Italy.  SJM, represented by its directors Dr. Ambrose So, Ms. Angela Leong and Mr. Louis Ng, was the successful bidder for this largest lot of truffles for MOP 4 million.
SJM had invited chefs from Grand Lisboa’s Chinese restaurant “The Eight” and the Italian restaurant “Don Alfonso 1890” to jointly prepare an evening of award-winning “East-meets-West” cuisine for the guests, who included VIPs from Macau and Hong Kong, members of the Consular Corps and representatives of the charities.

(L-R) Golf professionals Li Wei, Zhang Lianwei, actor Michael Wong and Senior Vice President of Casino Marketing, Brian Fiddis

World-renowned golfers raise funds for Orbis

MGM Macau hosted its first Charity Golf Invitational Championship at Macau Golf & Country Club on Monday. World-renowned professional golfers Zhang Lianwei and Li Wei flaunted their skill as they were joined by special celebrity guest, Michael Wong, while Malaysian professional golfer Danny Chia and Singaporean golf player Lan Chih Bing were invited to show their flair as well.
It was the first championship to partner with the global charity organisation Orbis, and the 50 tournament winners raised total cash sum of nearly HKD 300,000 for the charity.
 MGM Macau Charity Golf Invitational Championship hosted 70 contestants from all over the globe.
 After the five-hour-long competition, the golf tournament winners have come out. There were 50 winners in total in the tournament, of which 12 winners in the category “Beat the Pro”, 34 winners in “5mm Putt”, 1 winner in both “Nearest the Pin” and “10mm Putt”, and 2 winners in “Longest Drive”,
 All were treated to a gala dinner later in the evening at Aux Beaux Arts, the 30’s-style French brasserie of MGM Macau, where the awarding ceremony for the championship took place as well. But 59 awards were given, as the lowest total score golf winner and eight best players were also announced by MGM Macau.

Venetian spreads Christmas cheer with community groups

Sands China Ltd hosted local community organisations at a Christmas party at The Venetian on Sunday. Santa Claus made an appearance, as did singing gondoliers, ballroom dancers, jugglers and performers.
About 400 children, youngsters and their families from Fuhong Society of Macau, Macau Special Olympics, The Association of the Parents of the Mentally Handicapped of Macau and the Macau Associations for the Mentally Handicapped joined the festive event along with members of the Sands China Care Ambassador Program.
“Christmas is all about being with our loved ones and sharing with others in a spirit of giving,” said Edward Tracy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sands China Ltd. “That’s why it makes us very happy to be able to share the spirit of Christmas with these deserving groups today.” he added.
The Sands China Care Ambassador Program was officially launched in August 2009. Since November 2011, more than 300 volunteers from The Venetian Macao, Sands Macao and the Plaza Macao have participated in various community activities and have already performed nearly 2,200 hours of community service for families, disadvantaged groups, and the elderly, as well as for the community at large.

320 Christmas boxes to children

The International Ladies Club of Macau’s Community Services last Friday coordinated the delivery of 320 Christmas boxes for children who live in six of Macau’s residential homes for children.
The ILCM support over 6 of Macau’s residential children’s homes and was able to assist the Box of Hope Programme in Hong Kong to provide presents for Macau children who are abandoned or at risk. Company World Freight Removal provided their expertise and transferred the boxes to Macau at cost, which were sent to Fountain of Hope Orphanage for delivery. Six residents from ARTM along with their Social Worker generously donated their time and used their van to deliver the 12 big cartons of presents to the six homes.
Ms Sophie Lei, President of ILCM, emphasised “there was much to do in the way of coordination, however the true spirit of Christmas was demonstrated by several charitable organizations working together to ensure that 320 children receive a Christmas present. ILCM has distributed through this programme 900 boxes over the last three years.”

French spirit in focus for gala dinner

The FMBA (French Macau Business Association) Annual Gala Dinner 2011, will  be held today, at the Grand Ballroom of MGM Grand Macau. It is FMBA’s tradition to gather all its members, guests and potential interested parties for a cultural night with a 4-hour intensive program including cocktail reception, 5-course French dinner, entertainment and hospitality. This serves as a hub for Macau locals or Chinese participants to understand French culture indepth.
 Franklin Willemyns, Chairman of FMBA said: “Our passion to charity for the needy in the community enables us to get support from various traditional and electronic media’s support and make this become a bi-city event for Macau and Hong Kong, with more than 300 attendees. This also explicits the FMBA spirit as being a platform for French and Chinese businessmen who are based in Macau SAR and Hong Kong SAR of the Mainland China.”
For more information about FMBA , visit www. fmba@francemacau.com or call  8798 9699.

The Guinness World Record’s Longest Anamorphic Painting

Celebrating its second anniversary and the joyous Christmas holiday, One Central Macau on Tuesday launched “One Fabulous Christmas @ One Central Macau” with a series of celebratory surprises.
It started with a Guinness World Record’s longest anamorphic art measuring around 120-metres in length. Qi Xinghua, a renowned Chinese pioneer in 3D painting, hosts Macau’s first-ever 3D painting exhibition at One Central Macau, with the art piece titled Macau’s One Impression,
The record-breaking art piece incorporates Macau’s rich culture and western architectures, and captivates viewers with the amazing optical illusion created by a clever combination of different trompe l’oeil techniques.
Another art piece Thrilling Christmas is also being exhibited to maximise the joyful spirit. Highlights also included a lucky draw, and festive music performance.

Organisers and participants in Sunday’s badminton clinic pose with badminton pros Lee Chong Wei, Wang Zhengming, Zhang Zhibo and Wang Rong

Pros lead Badminton Clinic for Special Olympics Athletes

Lee  Chong Wei and three other Badminton World Federation (BWF) players – Wang Zhengming, Zhang Zhibo and Wang Rong – led a badminton clinic at the CotaiArena at The Venetian on Sunday, with 32 MSO athletes attending.
Demonstration of badminton skills by the world-ranked players followed chats and group photo-taking with the enthusiastic participants.
Doubles matches came next, with the pros serving as judges for the MSO players’ games. And in a bout that is sure to remain etched in the memories of the participants, Lee and Wang Zhengming each paired with an MSO player for an exciting pro-am doubles match.
After the winners received their congratulatory souvenirs, all 32 MSO athletes were invited to stay and watch the semi-finals of the 2011 Kumpoo® Macau Open Badminton Grand Prix Gold tournament. The November 29 to December 4 BWF Level 3 event featured some of the world’s top badminton players and awarded around MOP 1,600,000 in total prize money.