This year’s annual Open Day of the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday drew a total of 4,300 visits, the legislature said.
Located near Macau Tower, the Legislative Assembly building was open to members of the public between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. yesterday.
In both 2024 and 2025, the legislature held its one-day Open Day in January.
This year’s number of visits to the Open Day represented an increase of 62.3 percent from the 2,649 recorded in last year’s Open Day.
The legislature’s 2024 Open Day drew 2,340 visits.
During yesterday’s Open Day event, members of the public were able to visit the building’s atrium, the hemicycle used for plenary sessions, the multi-purpose hall, and the three meeting rooms used for committee meetings, where information panels were set up for presentations, while legislators and Legislative Assembly staff members were there to provide explanations.
The local legislature consists of 33 members.
Legislative Assembly President André Cheong Weng Chon, Vice President Alan Ho Ion Sang, and other lawmakers were present during yesterday’s Open Day to greet and talk to visitors, some of whom took photos with them.
Speaking to reporters during yesterday’s Open Day, Cheong noted that the Open Day event aimed to enable residents to gain a better understanding of the legislature’s facilities and operations.
Cheong underlined that residents’ enhanced understanding of its operations can help the legislature better exercise its legislative and supervisory duties and play its role as a bridge between them and the government.
The current, eighth term of the Macau Special Administrative Region’s (MSAR) Legislative Assembly commenced on October 16 last year.
Cheong is a newcomer to the legislature after serving as the MSAR’s secretary for administration and justice between December 20, 2019 and October 15 last year. Cheong is one of the seven members whom Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai appointed to the 33-member legislature. Cheong was unanimously elected by his peers as the hemicycle’s speaker during the new legislative term’s first plenary session on October 16 last year.
Cheong also said yesterday that the current-term legislature has launched a new programme, enabling schools, community associations, and residents in general who are unable to visit the Legislative Assembly building on the Open Day to book a visit on other days throughout the year.
Cheong also said that the government’s stronger cooperation has enabled the current-term legislature to complete reviewing bills submitted by the government more quickly.
After the passage of its outline during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle, a bill submitted by the government will be passed to one of the legislature’s standing committees for an article-by-article review between legislators and government officials, after which it will be resubmitted to another plenary session for its second and final debate and article-by-article vote. Afterwards, the bill will be promulgated in the Official Gazette (BO) to become law.
Since the current-term legislature started on October 16 last year, seven bills have been passed in their second and final reading, Cheong noted.
During yesterday’s Open Day event, the School of Music and the School of Dance of the Macao Conservatory operated under the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), as well as Pui Ching Middle School, arranged for their students to perform at various locations in the Legislative Assembly building.
In addition, the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) set up an information and game booth to disseminate information on the nation’s Constitution, the Macau Basic Law, and the local Law on Safeguarding National Security, while the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) set up two self-service kiosks used for voter registration with the aim of promoting voter registration.
Visitors take photos of a singing performance in the legislature’s hemicycle during yesterday’s Open Day. – Photo: Tony Wong
