Within a Sky Full of Earth

[...] In regards to the Portuguese Bookshop, which the Orient Foundation announced last month it was planning on selling, Monjardino said the decision had not be made solely by the Foundation.
“The same as with the decision of [relocating] the Portuguese School [to the former Estoril Hotel, opposite Tap Seac Square], it is not the Foundation who makes them,” Monjardino said, adding that such decisions were made by general assemblies of the institutions involved. And even though the Foundation has some take in it, it a “minority,” whereas the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Portugal deals with decisions regarding IPOR, a Portuguese Institute from the Orient, while the Ministry of Education in Portugal deals with issues relating to the Portuguese School.
However, what is being sold is not the bookshop itself, but the premises where the current bookshop is together with the first floor of the building.
“The bookshop will continue existing, and will continue being called the 'Portuguese Bookshop of Macau' slash the name of the other person who will manage the bookshop and is more specialised – if it ends up being him managing the store – in English-language books,” Monjardino said, adding that he thinks both English and Portuguese-language books should be sold in the same space.
“If this is done [having this person manage the bookshop], it will still be located within the city centre,” the president of the Foundation added.
Although no names were mentioned, the Macau Daily Times understands that the person in question is António Falcão, who managed the English-language bookstore Bloom, which was completed flooded when typhoon Hagupit hit the SAR in late September.
Falcão met yesterday morning with Monjardino, who was also scheduled to visit three premises yesterday afternoon with the unnamed person, in order to see which would be a more viable location for the Portuguese Bookshop.
“We will finance the space. We will help support the installation of the new bookshop and during a certain period of time, we will help with the rent and redecorate the building to have a 'proper' look,” the president of the Foundation said.
The new bookshop is also set to house the same sort of features, including an art gallery. [...]
SARA FARR • MACAU DAILY TIMES • 11 DEC 2008