Macau, 17 January 2014

CEM and Macao Special Olympics (MSO) have jointly organized the “CEM Brightening Stars” internship program for four consecutive years. The closing ceremony of the internship program in 2013 was held today at Hotel Royal. A total of seven members joined and completed the internship program, and were awarded the graduation certificates by CEM at the ceremony. They also shared their experiences and feelings during the internship, and presented souvenirs to CEM colleagues who supervised and guided them.

The attending guests included Margaret Mang, Head of Labour Affairs Bureau Employment Promotion Division, Choi Io Chan, Functional Head of Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, Mariana Lok, representative of Social Welfare Bureau, as well as legislators José Pereira Coutinho, Mak Soi Kun and Leong Veng Chai, members of the Commission for Rehabilitation Affairs, Lei Chi Fong, Vice President of CEM Customer Liaison Committee, MSO Chairlady Ada Lo, MSO National Director Hetzer Siu, CEM Executive Director João Travassos. Family members of the trainees were also invited to the ceremony.

A total of 27 members have completed the “CEM Brightening Stars” internship program since it was launched in 2010. This year’s internship began in September last year and lasted for four months. Seven trainees worked in Human Resources Department; Safety, Health, Environment & Quality Office, Information Systems Department; Network Operations & Maintenance Department; Procurement & Logistics Department; Power & Networks Dispatch Department and Communications & Public Affairs Office. CEM and MSO hope the internship program will further enrich the work experience of the intellectually-disabled after they receive vocational training, increase opportunities to showcase their talents, boost their confidence in working and communicating with colleagues, and review the room for improvement.

Travassos expressed his sincere gratitude to MSO for joining hands with CEM to launch this meaningful internship program. CEM hope the internship program allows students to learn interpersonal and working skills, enrich their knowledge and enhance their competitiveness, training the members to be capable of taking up an occupation. Travassos wished CEM will play a leading role to inspire the others by urging more local institutions to provide employment opportunities for those with special needs, as the internship experience and employment opportunities are precious for the intellectually-disabled, and can make a big impact on their career path and become a turning point of their lives. Ada Lo extended her gratitude towards CEM for actively fulfilling corporate social responsibility by providing internships to the mentally-disabled people. The program helped them to start a career, gain work experience, learn from work and grow up in mistakes. The internship is of great help for them to boost their confidence in future employment. The company’s coordination, including the attitude of co-workers and the setting of the working environment are also very important. Hence, Ada Lo wished more companies will realize the capabilities of the mentally-handicapped and set up a good environment for them if possible to keep their work efficiency consistent, in a bid to contribute to the company’s development. She also believed such a win-win situation will be welcomed by everybody.

Chin Chong Hang, a trainee who worked in Information Systems Department, shared his internship experience on behalf of all interns. He thanked CEM for providing the internship, in which he received warmly support of each staff. He hoped to find a job in the future to leverage on the experience obtained from the internship, and appreciated CEM’s instructions and support during the internship.