The France Macau Chamber of Commerce (FMCC) announced during a press conference yesterday at MGM Macau in Nape that its 2022 Charity Gala Dinner will be held on March 25, supporting the Association of Rehabilitation of Drug Abusers of Macao (ARTM) in launching its “Alcohol Abuse Awareness Campaign”.

The dinner will be held with the theme “Around the World in 80 Days”, which is based on a famous novel by French novelist Jules Verne’s series of Voyages Extraordinaire, a collection or sequence of fifty-four novels.

The FMCC will support the association in launching its campaign to raise awareness of alcohol abuse in Macau and its negative impact, with ARTM President and Executive Director Augusto Paulo Valente Nogueira describing the campaign as an “important project” for the association and the city in a pre-recorded message shared with attendees.

Moreover, an FMCC statement noted that “it is vital for our society to have a programme in place that provides professional counselling when a crisis point is reached with accessible aftercare, to foster holistic means of recovery”. 

France Macau Chamber of Commerce (FMCC) Chairman Rutger Verschuren told reporters after the press conference that, with reference to a presentation delivered during the event, alcohol consumption has potentially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdown periods, adding that it is “good timing” for people in Macau to pay “extra attention” to ARTM’s fight against alcoholism. 

When reporters asked how much money was expected to be raised, Verschuren noted that the chamber aims to raise at least 60,000 patacas. He added that he hopes that the amount could be increased this year with the raffle tickets and auction of items made by “people working or connected with the ARTM”, also noting that the amount to be achieved “will depend on the generosity of the people coming in”.

Moreover, Verschuren also commented on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on business relations between France and Macau, noting that there have been several French nationals who are Macau residents or blue-card holders who have left Macau and cannot be replaced by anyone from France as they cannot enter Macau. 

Foreign nationals without the right of abode in Macau have been barred from entering the city since March 2020. 

Verschuren also said that he believes that French businesses have so far been running “quite normal”, but also noted that businesswise, “I think it is like everyone else, it has not been a very good period for anyone.”

However, he also added he thinks that French companies are doing quite well, with luxury products “back to what it used to be”, seen from a “larger perspective”.

No developments on enabling blue card workers to ‘multi-task’

Meanwhile, Verschuren also told The Macau Post Daily that there are currently no developments on the hotel industry’s request for the government to enable non-resident workers to work in positions not registered on their work permits for a certain a period of time. 

Verschuren said that the Macau Hotel Association will have another look at the issue, adding that the association needs to reformalise the proposal to the government and hopes to “find an ear for that”.

Verschuren said that the multi-tasking issue was “really necessary, more than ever” considering recruitment problems and financial losses. “We cannot immediately increase our expenses,” he said.

Verschuren also noted that caution is needed and said he believed that “multi-scaling or multi-tasking” could help regarding the matter while also being able to secure the jobs of the local population. 

FMCC Chairman Rutger Verschuren (left), a hotelier by profession, poses with ARTM Vice Director and Coordinator of Integrated Services of Ka Ho Erick Lik Hang Cheung.