USJ, Macau Business Press Release – People rate the government’s performance in improving the quality of life in Macau as “neutral”, according to the latest Macau Business Quality of Life report (4th quarter, 2011), conducted by the University of Saint Joseph for the monthly magazine published by De Ficcao - Projectos Multimedia.

The specific topic of this survey – a project started in 2007 – was “Priorities for improvement”. And when asked what should be the priority areas for improvement, respondents clearly highlight housing, inflation and public transportation, in agreement with other recent studies in Macau. Other important areas mentioned include health services, education and the environment.

More specifically, recommendations pointed out the following measures in need:

- To control prices in the housing market, by increasing the number of affordable housing, and enacting regulation to reduce speculation;

- To increase competition throughout the different economic sectors and to peg the MOP to the RMB, to reduce inflation;

- To reduce the amount of disruptive work in Macau’s roads; to increase  the numbers, and quality, of buses and taxis, as well as of parking spaces, and to decrease the amount of motorcycles;

- Building more hospitals, hiring more health specialists, standardizing the local educational system, reducing the traffic, and increasing the amount of green spaces in Macau.

Moderate satisfaction

As usual, we continue to monitor Macau people’s satisfaction with their lives and with the overall living conditions in Macau, through the application of internationally established wellbeing indicators, namely the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) and the National Wellbeing Index (NWI), which are slightly lower than these in previous surveys.

People in Macau are moderately satisfied with their lives, and with living conditions. As in previous studies, people are more satisfied with their personal relationships, safety and health than with their achievements in life, future security and community connectedness. On the other hand, regarding living conditions in Macau, people point out the government and environment as the least positive areas, whereas the security of the territory, the economy, and business conditions are generally seen more favorably.

Results are a little lower than the averages gathered in previous surveys, but higher than the lowest values registered during the 2008 financial crisis.

The society sector with higher levels of education and income is generally more satisfied with their lives, but more critical of living conditions in Macau; the exact opposite of people in lower education / income brackets.

Data from this survey will be analyzed in the coming weeks, and will be published in a yearly book at the end of the series. The second survey of this series will be carried out in the 1st Quarter of 2012.

RELATED PRESS CLIPPINGS:

USJ Press Release – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) hosted this morning the Ceremony of Commencement 2011, solemnly awarding c. 190 licentiate degrees. The ceremony took place at the Cathedral and was chaired by The Most Reverend Bishop of Macau, D. José Lai.  

USJ conferred licentiate degrees in Business Administration (69); Social Work (51); Government Studies (36); Psychology (24); Christian Studies (8) and Design (2).

Macau’s Cathedral was crowded with more than four hundred people, amongst graduands and their relatives; academics; and dozens of dignitaries and guests.

Last Saturday (Oct. 8) the University of Saint Joseph graduated six Doctors and 82 Masters, in a ceremony in which The Reverend Father Luís Sequeira SJ was awarded a Doctorate of Religious Studies Honoris Causa. In the same occasion, Professor Ruben de Freitas Cabral was inaugurated as Rector of the University for a new quadriennium.

USJ Press release, June 16, 2011 – “1911-2011: From Revolution to Reforms – Characterizing MADE-IN-CHINA Transition Paradigms” is the generic title of the international conference USJ is organizing and hosting Thursday and Friday. 

The conference is bringing academics from all over the world to discuss six “transition paradigms” of China's Republic. The speakers – grouped in six panels – are all scholars studying contemporary China, some renowned and quite established in their respective fields. Chinese from the mainland and from Taiwan, European, American, American-Chinese, with diverse academic background will get together for a comprehensive debate on China's developmental model in the social sciences theories.

According to Professor Ivo Carneiro de Sousa, this initiative falls within the USJ scientific research strategy aiming to understand the new territories of the process of globalization “taking China as a key example of emergent power in the context of globalization.”

China history from the Republican Revolution to the Reforms frames a complex historical process merging economy, social and political important changes, said the vice-rector for Research and International Relations stressing that “it is a clear case of change in tradition that must be researched off any Eurocentric perspectives, therefore demanding a transcultural approach.”

“Rather than commemorating by looking at the past, this conference takes the opportunity of the 100th anniversary to look at the future by asking this mind-challenging question for all social scientists: is there a China model?,” said Professor Emilie Tran, executive coordinator of USJ Center for Global and Strategic Studies.

For Professor Tran “Macao is a very appropriate venue to explore this topic since Sun Yat-sen was based here for some time and was politically active – that is our tribute to the memory and history. Macao's recent development is also quite unique and remarkable, creating some areas for social scientists to explore.”

The two-day international conference has the support of several local and international entities and more than 20 participants. Admission is free.

(Group photo of participants and guests in the Opening Ceremony this morning, above.)

USJ Press release, May 31, 2011 – This year USJ Career Day has attracted 19 companies, from 13 last year. Corporations range from small to medium and large size, from local to internationally renowned brands, and represent diverse and vital sectors of Macau’s economy. The event took place today, at the university campus, between 2pm-4:30pm.

174 graduating year 4 students have engaged in workshops, job interviews, CV presentations – activities aimed to prepare them to pursue a career in the future.

“What we teach must be relevant to the context in which it is taught. It must be relevant to the future requirements of our community. A Career Day such as this gives us the space and time to stop and listen to the needs from some of the community stakeholders – the organisations who employ our students,” said the USJ Career Centre coordinator, Professor Leanda Lee, in the opening speech, pointing out that “we are all here to learn from each other.”

The centre coordinator added that the students have been preparing their resumes and researching the participating companies for the past few weeks. “For our graduating students this is the opportunity to discuss career options and to learn about companies or industries that they may not have considered to date,” said Dr Lee.

According to Professor Lee, “our students understand the need to develop further skills, and we want to imbue in them a love of learning, a passion and engagement in life and a sense of excellence”.

Students of licentiate programs of Business Administration (80), Government Studies (37), Psychology (23), Social Work (23) and Design (11) are graduating in 2011, and another c. 250 will graduate in 2012.

Participating companies/orgs:
AIA
Association of Rehabilitation of Drug Abuse of Macao
Bank of China
BNU
CEM
CESL Asia
CTM
DFS
Evolution HR
Galaxy
Grand Hyatt
Ikon Solutions Ltd
Manetic
Mass Mutual
Melco Crown
Netcraft
Talent Group
Venetian
Wynn Macau

USJ Press release, April 20, 2011 – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) conferred today the degree of Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa to Vasco Pereira da Costa, a distinguished man of letters and culture from the Azores and Portugal.