May 25, 2021  – Galaxy Entertainment Group Foundation (“the Foundation”) launched the “GEG Cultural & Academic Fund” early this year to support the Portuguese Institute of the Orient (“IPOR”) in organizing activities to promote Portuguese language and culture in Macau. The scheme aims to deepen the cultural exchanges between Macau and Portuguese-speaking countries, cultivate talents for the related fields, highlight Macau’s unique advantage as the bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and to better align Macau with the overall development plans of the nation. The “GEG Cultural & Academic Fund” debuted with the launch of a literary and cultural festival, the “‘Alphabets & Friends’ – Feet on Earth and Head in the Air”, which covered various cultural, arts and environmental protection activities that were delivered in the Portuguese language. The festival was successfully concluded earlier, and received strong support and feedback from the participants.

The “GEG Cultural & Academic Fund” is anchored with 3 main public goals: to create, curate and promote the exchange, visibility and prestige of international artistic projects by Portuguese artists and cultural agents of the Portuguese-speaking countries; to deepen the relations between artists of the Portuguese-speaking countries and Macau and to bring together the creative and artistic experiences of these countries so as to create an impact on the digital applied arts, leisure activities and creative industries for its residents; and to promote Portuguese as a foreign Language in specialized professional areas such as law, business, health and medicine, journalism and public administration in Portuguese-speaking countries, while offering grant programs to young people in Macau who are specializing in technological and scientific areas in Portugal.

Last month, the “‘Alphabets & Friends’ – Feet on Earth and Head in the Air” literary and cultural festival hosted activities such as puppet theatre shows, shadow show, exhibitions, cinema sessions, presentations of books, and thematic workshops. Through these activities, the festival attracted more than 5,000 participants, promoted the Portuguese language, culture and literature to children and people of all age groups, and helped promote the integration of Macau’s Chinese and Portuguese communities. With the support of the Education and Youth Development Bureau of the Macau SAR Government, the literary and cultural festival joined hands with local schools and held related activities on 5 campuses. In addition, one of the activities, the "Living Among What's Left Behind" exhibition was open to the public for free at the gallery of the Municipal Affairs Bureau of the Macau SAR Government. The award-winning works of Portuguese photographer Mário Cruz were displayed with introductions in 3 languages including Chinese, English and Portuguese. A sharing session of the exhibition was also held to discuss the integration of environmental protection in the education of young people in Macau, attracting many citizens to participate. Dr. Joaquim Ramos, Director of IPOR said, “Portuguese language and culture has been an important part of Macau’s profound cultural heritage for many years. As we are looking for opportunities to cooperate with organizations in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, the promotion of Portuguese language and culture to the community becomes more important than ever. We are very grateful to the Foundation in having initiated the GEG Cultural Academic Fund as part of its active support in promoting the Portuguese language and culture in Macau. With the main public goals and related initiatives, we believe that the scheme will help Macau to deepen its role as a bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in communication and cultural exchanges.”

The Foundation focuses on philanthropic activities that nurture young people’s positive life values, education and employment. To fulfil its commitment in corporate social responsibility, the Foundation initiates multi-year projects since its establishment in 2015, covering sectors from promotion of art and culture, to education and social welfare, with programs such as the GEG Chinese Music Promotion Scheme, GEG Intangible Cultural Heritage Scheme, GEG Chinese Literacy Development Scheme and GEG Parenting Education Scheme.