Manuel Silverio, Chairman of Macao Fourth East Asian Games Organizing Committee (MEAGOC), said the Macao team has given an excellent performance.

He has worked his head off. He hasn't slept enough for a long time. Maybe, he's waiting for his greatest project to be over. For only then he can have a good, and well deserved, rest. Thankfully, things have been going very well, both for him and the 4th East Asian Games. And he feels a bit relaxed at the moment.

Manuel Silverio is Chairman of Macao Fourth East Asian Games Organizing Committee (MEAGOC). So his tensions and worries are understandable. The Games are mid-way now, and Silverio is "satisfied with what we have done over the past few days".

Addressing a press conference at Macao Stadium yesterday, he said: "Everything is going the way we had planned. Stadiums have been able to meet the requirements of the athletes and sports officials, and all the facilities are of the international level. All three areas (Cotai, Taipa and the Macao Peninsula) of the Games have been running effectively."

Reports of MEAGOC's departments say that all participants and guests have had high words on the preparations. Hospitality, one of the most intractable issues for any multi-sports event, has been praised by most.

"We've tried our best to provide perfect hospitality, including accommodation, food and transportation," Silverio said. "Now, I'm happy to see our efforts pay off."

Chinese star hurdler Liu Xiang yesterday was all praise about MEAGOC's efforts, saying it had made the event perfect.

"It feels like coming home," is how the Athens Olympics champion described Macao. "Everything here is so comfortable, it's so great," Liu said.

Along with the enthusiastic MEAGOC working staff, nine international and local broadcasters from eight countries and regions are covering the Games for 14 channels, with a potential viewing audience of 500 million home.

Among them, China Centre Television, has sent 500 people for its 150-hour TV coverage. Newspapers and agencies from home and abroad, too, have sent the largest contingent of journalists and photographers to an East Asian Games in preparation fo the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Silverio said: "We have put a lot of effort to coordinate with media... The live coverage has been outstanding. It's of Olympic-standard. So far, I don't see anything changing, and what we need to do in the next three days is just following what we've been doing during the past few days."

Till the fifth day of the Games, the Macao team had won eight golds, 13 silvers and 10 bronzes, a sharp contrast to their one gold and three bronzes' performance in the third Games in Osaka four years ago.

"They have given off their best," Silverio said. "It's their excellent performance that has made our home Games all the more sweet."

Silverio talked about Sunday's closing ceremony, too. The two-part event will have a ceremony and a cultural section.

The flag of the East Asian Games Association will be handed over to the next host city, Hong Kong, during the ceremonial presentation. The "Everlasting Friendship" part will have three scenes, including "Lotus in Breeze", "Harmonious Wind of East Asia" and "A Date in the Near Future".

(China Daily 11/04/2005 page3)