The renovated Yiu Tung Building on the Macao University of Tourism’s (UTM) Taipa campus will start operating in the next academic year, featuring 58 theory-based classrooms, 54 academic offices, four educational kitchens, mock front desks, and housekeeping classrooms, according to yesterday’s naming ceremony officiated by Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Wallis O Lam and others.
The 2025/26 academic year is slated to start in September.
The educational building was officially inaugurated and named after Francis Lui Yiu Tung, the head of Macau’s integrated resort operator and gaming concessionaire Galaxy.
Yiu Tung Building (耀東樓) was formerly known as the Silver Jubilee Building (銀禧樓), with a total construction area of about 16,000 square metres, according to a statement by the public university, which underlined that the high-rise will serve as the primary teaching venue for degree programmes, with a capacity of accommodating over 2,000 students.
Trustees Committee of the UTM Development Foundation Inaugural Chairman and UTM Council Vice-Chairman Francis Lui Yiu Tung said in a speech that with the continued support of the government, he hoped to work closely with UTM and all sectors of the community to further strengthen the high-quality development of Macau as a “Word Centre of Tourism and Leisure”.
Lui is chairman of K. Wah Group, chairman of Hong Kong-listed K. Wah International Holdings Limited, chairman of Hong Kong-listed Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG), and managing director of Galaxy Casino Company Limited, the official website of the Our Hong Kong Foundation, of which Lui is a special counsellor, points out, adding that “with over 40 years of experience in the construction, property development, hospitality and entertainment sectors spanning across the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Southeast Asia and North America, he oversees the development and operational management of K. Wah Group and GEG.”
Meanwhile, Executive Committee of UTM Development Foundation Chairman Cheung Kin Chung said in a speech that Lui’s “generous donation of 30 million patacas will be dedicated to supporting UTM’s academic development, including establishing teaching excellence awards, research excellence awards, outstanding paper awards, and fostering exchange and collaboration programmes”, among others.
UTM Rector Fanny Vong Chuk Kwan noted that as a public higher education institution, this marked the first time that UTM has opened a new source of financial income, signifying greater flexibility for the future.
Vong added that UTM would continue leveraging its strengths to nurture cross-disciplinary “Tourism+” talent, injecting new elements and vitality into the development of the tourism industry and other sectors, thus contributing to the high-quality development of both Macau and the nation.
The building has been named after Francis Lui Yiu Tung. Born in 1955 in Hong Kong, he is the eldest son of the Lui Che Woo (呂羚뵨), a Hong Kong business magnate, investor and philanthropist who passed away last November, aged 95. Francis Lui studied at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in structural engineering.
Trustees Committee of the Macao University of Tourism Development Foundation Inaugural Chairman and UTM Council Vice-Chairman Francis Lui Yiu Tung addresses yesterday’s naming ceremony for the public university’s Yiu Tung Building on its Taipa campus.
The photo taken yesterday shows one of the renovated classrooms at the public University of Tourism (UTM) Yiu Tung Building on its Taipa campus. – Photos: Ida Cheong
