7 October 2014, Macau

CEM and Macau Special Olympics (MSO) jointly organized the “CEM Brightening Stars” internship program for the fifth consecutive year. The program will last for ten weeks, and a total of six trainees will work at CEM Network Operations & Maintenance Department, Power and Networks Dispatch Department, Procurement and Logistics Department, Human Resources Department, Information Systems Department, and Communications and Public Affairs Office. CEM and MSO hope to boost the self-confidence and adaptability of the mentally-disabled by offering working and training opportunities.

The launching ceremony of the internship program kicked off in the CEM Building at 3:30 p.m. today. Guests of honor include Lin Danhong, representative of the Social Work Department of Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Macao SAR, Angela Leong, Leong Veng Chai, Wong Kit Cheng, members of the Macao SAR Legislative Assembly, Lau Wai Meng, Deputy Director of Labour Affairs Bureau, Lok Lai Wun, representative of Social Welfare Bureau, Leonardo, representative of Youth Affairs Bureau, Vong Kok Seng and Lei Chi Fong, President and Vice-President of CEM Customer Liaison Committee, member of the Commission for Rehabilitation Affairs, Ada Lo Chairlady of MSO as well as Hetzer Siu Yu Hong, MSO National Director and Shi Yulin, Executive Director of CEM, etc.

Shi Yulin said in his speech that CEM, as an organization which embraces corporate responsibility, must undertake social responsibility and commit itself to serving Macau’s communities in addition to providing reliable and quality power supply service to the residents. From 2010 to date, a total of 33 trainees have participated in the program. He also hoped to encourage more local institutions to provide employment opportunities for people with special needs in helping them integrate better in our society. The internship program is marked with encouraging outcome, for CEM has recruited two interns with good performance as their contract employees. To further add to the joyous and enormous achievement of CEM, an employee named Lei Man Hok won in the "Ten outstanding disabled employees in Macau" election held by the Labour Affairs Bureau and the Social Welfare Bureau of MSAR Government this year, which demonstrated that the trainees can also be competent in the job market with continuous efforts.

Ada Lo acknowledged CEM’s enthusiasm and the participants’ continuous efforts as the key to the success of the internship program over the past four years. In order to effectively place participants at appropriate internship positions, vocational evaluation was added to the recruitment procedures. Professional occupational therapists will assess the participants and have an understanding of their capabilities prior to the interview. After the interview with the supervisors, participants will be allocated to different internship positions. It is believed that the interns can gain valuable experience at the internship positions provided by CEM and are well qualified for the jobs arranged for them. Ada thank CEM for its long term cooperation and commitment to fulfill their corporate social responsibility, adding that the meaningful internship program for the mentally disabled will garner public support and recognition, and contribute to the creation of the ideal workplace for everyone.

During the ceremony, trainees and a host of guests picked six areas of improvement for future career, including communication skills, patience, concentration, initiative, work enthusiasm and sense of responsibility, etc. CEM hoped that the six trainees can work hard and achieve the goals. The atmosphere was warm and moving.

CEM has been cooperating with MSO since 1996. In addition to the “CEM Brightening Stars” internship program, CEM also recruited trainees with intellectual disability by the referral of MSO for vehicle cleaning services. Staff of CEM fleet division praise their concentration and attention to details at work.