The Macau Basic Law Commemorative Gallery reopened to the public yesterday after its closure in late 2023 for a revamp aimed to strengthen its role in popularising the nation’s Constitution and the Macau Basic Law.
The facility’s reopening was marked by a ceremony yesterday afternoon, which was officiated by Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai, Central People’s Government Liaison Office Director Zheng Xincong, Foreign Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Macau Garrison Commander Yu Changjiang, and Macau Basic Law Promotion Association President Chui Sai Cheong.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon also attended yesterday’s reopening ceremony which he addressed.
The Macau Basic Law Commemorative Gallery, located next to the main entrance to the Macau Forum complex in Zape, is open daily, except Mondays, between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Admission is free.
Before its closure in November 2023 for renovation, the gallery had been operated by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) since it opened in 2013. The revamped and reopened gallery is now run by the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ), which noted in a statement yesterday that in addition to its original exhibition functions of promoting the nation’s Constitution and the Macau Basic Law, the revamped gallery now plays the additional function of being a Macau Youth Patriotic Education Law Popularisation Base, with the aim of further strengthening Macau residents’ sense of national identity and consolidating Macau’s social foundation rooted in love for the nation and love for Macau.
Cheong noted in his speech that the commemorative gallery, after a revamp including a redesign of its internal layout, now includes the new function of housing the Macau Youth Patriotic Education Law Popularisation Base, in addition to its original exhibition functions. Cheong said that with its new positioning as “One Gallery and One Base”, the gallery will now publicise the nation’s Constitution and the Macau Basic Law to all Macau residents through more diverse channels and methods, including multimedia devices, particularly targeting primary and secondary school students.
Cheong also pledged that the government will strengthen its collaboration with community associations and schools to leverage the gallery’s role in publicising the nation’s Constitution and the Macau Basic Law, with the aim of upholding Macau’s core value of loving the country and loving Macau and ensuring the steady and far-reaching implementation of the great cause of “One Country Two Systems”, so that it will last for generations to come.
After yesterday’s reopening ceremony, the gallery hosted a youth legal education lecture where University of Macau (UM) Faculty of Law (FLL) Prof. Lok Wai Kin laid out the core principles of the nation’s Constitution and the Macau Basic Law to 40 secondary students from various schools. The lecture also highlighted the successful implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle in Macau, yesterday’s DSAJ statement said.
A student surnamed Ng told reporters on the sidelines of the lecture that it was her first visit to the gallery. Through exhibition panels and lectures, Ng said, she and her fellow schoolmates gained a deeper understanding of the Macau Basic Law, such as that it is not merely a legal document, but also the nation’s commitment to Macau to safeguard residents’ rights and freedoms. She described the experience as highly rewarding.
The implementation of the Macau Basic Law, which was passed by the National People’s Congress (NPC) on March 31, 1993, began on December 20, 1999 when the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) was established by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). On that day, the Basic Law replaced the Portuguese administration’s Macau Organic Statute (EOM).
December 20, 1999 marked Macau’s transfer from temporary Portuguese to permanent Chinese administration and its return to the motherland. The so-called “handover” was not a change in sovereignty, as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) did not recognise foreign sovereignty over Chinese territory. While until December 20, 1999 the PRC refrained from exercising its sovereignty over Macau, Portugal had unilaterally relinquished all its overseas claims of sovereignty shortly after its anti-colonial Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974, including Macau. On December 20, 1999, China resumed its exercise of sovereignty over Macau and the Basic Law took effect.
Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai (centre), Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government Director Zheng Xincong (second from left), Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa (second from right), People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Macau Garrison Commander Yu Changjiang (left) and Macau Basic Law Promotion Association President Chui Sai Cheong cut the ribbon at yesterday’s reopening ceremony of the revamped Macau Basic Law Commemorative Gallery at the Macau Forum in Zape. – Photo: Armindo Neves
University of Macau (UM) Faculty of Law (FLL) Prof. Lok Wai Kin gives a lecture about the Macau Basic Law during yesterday’s Youth Patriotic Education Law Popularisation programme on the sidelines of the reopening of the Macau Basic Law Commemorative Gallery at Macau Forum. – Photo: Armindo Neves
