Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon has urged the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) to revamp its organisational structure with the aim of providing residents with better services, ensuring that Macau will not tarnish its reputation as “a pearl in the palm of the motherland” praised by President Xi Jinping during his inspection visit to Macau last month.
Cheong made the remarks in a speech during a ceremony on Thursday where he administered the oath of office of the newly appointed president of the bureau, Chao Wai Ieng, and newly appointed vice-president, Mak Kim Meng, according to an IAM statement on Friday.
Cheong’s portfolio oversees the bureau, which did not invite the media to cover the ceremony, but announced its information in Friday’s statement.
Chao and Mak’s one-year appointments started on New Year’s Day.
According to the statement, Cheong noted in his speech that the IAM tasks are closely related to the population’s well-being, urging Chao and Mak to lead the bureau’s staff members in meeting their challenges with new attitudes and new mindsets, in close collaboration with other senior officials of the bureau.
Cheong said that the bureau’s senior officials should seriously study how to revamp the bureau’s organisational structure, functions, and personnel system, with the aim of enabling the bureau to provide residents with better municipal services.
Chao has succeeded José Fonseca Tavares as the president of the bureau’s top Administrative Committee who retired on Wednesday last week. Chao had headed the Identification Services Bureau (DSI) since March 2023 before his new appointment to the Municipal Affairs Bureau.
Mak, who had been a member of the bureau’s Administrative Committee since 2010, has been promoted to a vice-president of the committee, effective from Wednesday last week.
Currently, the bureau has only one vice-president, although its organisational structure allows the appointment of up to two vice-presidents.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon (centre) poses for a group photo with newly appointed Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) President Chao Wai Ieng (third from right) and IAM Vice President Mak Kim Meng (second from left), as well as other officials, on the sidelines of Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony of Chao and Mak. – Photo: IAM
