May 16, 2009

Galaxy Entertainment Group (“Galaxy”) Dragon Boat Team rises to the challenge again this year by entering its men’s dragon boat teams, the “Galaxy Stars,” “Galaxy Universe” and “Galaxy Glamour”, in three competitions at the 2009 Macau International Dragon Boat Races. In addition, this year will also be the first that Galaxy assembles two women’s dragon boat teams, the “Galaxy Phoenix” and “Galaxy Pearl”, to compete in the Macau Small Dragon Boat Race Open - 250m Women and the Macau Standard Dragon Boat Race Open - 500m Women challenge. Members of the five teams were joined by Galaxy senior executives at Nam Van Lake today for a launching ceremony which involved appealing for their success and good fortunes again in this year’s races.

Mr. Michael Mecca, President and Chief Operating Officer of Galaxy Entertainment Group, along with other Galaxy senior management executives, including Mr. Ciaran Carruthers, team leader of the men’s team and Chief Operating Officer of StarWorld Hotel and Casino, and Mr. Steven Wolstenholme, team leader of the women’s team and Chief Operating Officer of Galaxy Macau, led the traditional blessings of the dragon boats by dotting the dragons’ eyes. Mr. Mecca said, “Galaxy is committed to the development of Macau’s sports culture and we greatly encourage our employees to participate in sports, which helps them to uncover their personal strengths. Our men’s team achieved huge success in past competitions by exerting their teamwork and strong team spirits. To attract participation of more staff members, the Dragon Boat Team spent a lot of time last year identifying staff members with great interests in healthy activities, which, resulted in the formation of the women’s team. I believe that after a full year of relentless and disciplined training, the Galaxy Dragon team will continue to establish the strong spirit which will help them shine through the races and achieve even better results.”

Team Captain, Tyson Hoi, the most experienced paddler in the team and a pit manager of StarWorld Casino, believes that the bonding between team members and the unified team spirit they developed are the greatest achievements in the races. “Our team members, include more than 50 women and men, come from different backgrounds and job positions. During this year’s intensive trainings, we encouraged each other and endeavored together. We were not familiar with each another at the very beginning, but now, we are like a big family. Our Dragon Boat Team is very special to me because we have brought together partners with the same hobby and enthusiasm. The Dragon Boat Team serves not only as a platform to strengthen our health; it is also a friendship wall between co-workers.” In addition, Tyson stressed that when paddling, all paddlers must row on the same stroke and at the same time. That is what teamwork is, and it is this team spirit that lies at the core of the Galaxy Dragon Boat Team.

Most of the members of the ladies team joined the Dragon Boat Team for the first time, and they had endured a lot of tough training. Sophia Pang, one of the paddlers and dealer of StarWorld Casino said, “We practiced persistently almost every day this year, and underwent training as harsh as the men’s team. It is most memorable that we had to train under severe winter weather in near freezing conditions. We strongly believe that as long as we have a unifying team spirit and work together, we are able to succeed.”

“Galaxy Glamour,” “Galaxy Universe” and “Galaxy Phoenix” will participate in the Macau Small Dragon Boat Race Open 250m – Open and the Macau Small Dragon Boat Race Open 250m – Women competitions on May 23 at Nam Van Lake. On the same day, “Galaxy Stars” will compete at the Macau Standard Dragon Boat Race Open 2000m – Open. Then on May 24, “Galaxy Stars” and “Galaxy Pearl” will participate in the Macau Standard Dragon Boat Races Open 500m – Open and Macau Standard Dragon Boat Race Open 500m – Women competitions.