2 policy secretaries, police head reappointed
The State Council has appointed the nine principal officials and the chief public prosecutor of the incoming government of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), which will be headed by Sam Hou Fai from December 20, with only three reappointed, among them two of the government’s five policy secretaries.
The three reappointed officials are Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak, and Unitary Police Service (SPU) Commissioner-General Leong Man Cheong.
The central government made the appointments of the 10 top officials on Saturday based on their nomination by Chief Executive-designate Sam Hou Fai.
Xinhua released a dispatch about the central government’s appointments of the 10 top officials on Saturday afternoon, shortly after which the local government issued a statement about the appointments via the Government Information Bureau (GCS), which later also published a separate statement about the 10 officials’ CVs.
The new team comprises seven males and three females – the future secretary for social affairs and culture, the commissioner against corruption, and the commissioner of audit.
Sam, 62, will become the MSAR’s sixth-term and fourth chief executive on December 20, the 25th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland.
In the sixth-term MSAR government, André Cheong Weng Chon, 58, has been reappointed as the secretary for administration and justice.
Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) Director Tai Kin Ip, 56, will replace Lei Wai Nong as the secretary for economy and finance.
Wong Sio Chak, 56, has been reappointed as the secretary for security.
Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) Vice President O Lam, 50, will replace Elsie Ao Ieong U as the secretary for social affairs and culture.
O is one of the current two IAM vice-presidents.
Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) Director Raymond Tam Vai Man, 64, will replace Raimundo do Rosário as the secretary for transport and public works.
Ao Ieong Seong, 40, one of the current two assistant, i.e., deputy, commissioners against corruption, has been promoted to the commissioner, replacing Chan Tsz King.
Ao Ieong Seong is the youngest among the 10 top officials of Sam’s incoming administration.
Elsie Ao Ieong U, 56, the current secretary for social affairs and culture, will replace Ho Veng On as the commissioner of audit.
Leong Man Cheong, 60, has been reappointed as the commissioner-general of the Unitary Police Service (SPU).
Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) Director Adriano Marques Ho, aka Ho Hou Hon, 57, will replace Vong Man Chong as the director-general of the Macau Customs Service.
Chan Tsz King, 54, the current commissioner against corruption, will replace Ip Son Sang as the prosecutor-general (chief public prosecutor) of the Public Prosecutions Office (MP).
The Central People’s Government shall appoint or remove the MSAR’s chief executive, principal officials and chief prosecutor, according to Article 15 of the MSAR Basic Law.
According to the MSAR Basic Law’s Article 50, the chief executive “nominates and reports to the Central People’s Government for the appointment” of the MSAR’s principal officials and chief prosecutor, and recommends to the central government their removal.
According to the MSAR Basic Law’s Article 50 and the current structure of the local government, the MSAR’s principal officials comprise the government’s five policy secretaries, anti-graft commissioner, audit commissioner, head of the Unitary Police Service (SPU) and chief of the Macau Customs Service. According to Article 63 of the Basic Law, Macau’s principal officials shall be Chinese nationals who are permanent residents and have ordinarily resided in Macau for a continuous period of no less than 15 years.
The MSAR’s first chief executive, Edmund Ho Hau Wah, served the city for two consecutive five-year terms between December 20, 1999 and December 19, 2009, while his predecessor, Fernando Chui Sai On, also served two consecutive five-year terms, between December 20, 2009 and December 19, 2019. Current Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, who has been serving the MSAR since December 20, 2019, announced in August that for health reasons he had decided not to seek a second five-year terms. According to the MSAR Basic Law, Macau’s chief executive can serve no more than two consecutive five-year terms.
The MSAR was established by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on December 20, 1999.
André Cheong Weng Chon – reappointed administration & justice secretary
Cheong, born in Beijing, had been the director of the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) since 2000 until December 20, 2014 when he became the commissioner against corruption for Chui’s second-term administration. He was appointed as the secretary for administration and justice for the current administration headed by Ho Iat Seng. Cheong, who on Saturday was reappointed for Sam’s incoming administration, holds a bachelor’s degree in Portuguese Language Studies from Beijing Foreign Studies University and a bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies from the University of Macau (UM).
Tai Kin Ip – new economy & finance secretary
Tai, born in Macau, began working for the Economic Services Bureau (DSE), the predecessor of the current Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT), in 1995 where he was an acting deputy director between 2000 and 2009, when he was appointed as a deputy director, a position which he held until 2016 when he became the bureau’s director. Tai holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Catholic University of Portugal and a master’s degree in Government Studies from Macau’s Catholic University of Saint Joseph (USJ).
Wong Sio Chak – reappointed security secretary
Wong, born in Guangdong Province, began working in the Judiciary Police (PJ) in 1994 and became a prosecutor in 1997. He became a deputy PJ director in 1998. Wong became an assistant prosecutor-general in March 2000. He was appointed as the director of the Judiciary Police in November 2000 while holding the rank of an assistant prosecutor-general. He was appointed as the secretary for security for Chui’s second-term administration which started almost a decade ago, before he was reappointed for Ho’s current administration. This time is his second reappointment as the secretary for security. Wong holds a doctoral degree in Legal Studies from Peking University.
O Lam – new social affairs & culture secretary
O, born in Guangdong Province, worked at the Sports Bureau between 2000 and 2009 where she was promoted to a vice-president, before working as an advisor to the chief executive office during Chui’s first-term administration from December 2009 to December 2014. During Chui’s second-term administration she was his chief-of-cabinet, after which she became an IAM vice-president on December 20, 2019 when Ho’s current administration started. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International Finance and Economics from Jinan University in Guangzhou and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the American Graduate School of Business in Switzerland.
Raymond Tam Vai Man – new transport & public works secretary
Tam, born in Macau, joined the public administration in 1988 when he started to work for the then temporary Portuguese administration’s Municipal Council, which was later converted into the now-defunct Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) after the establishment of the MSAR in December 1999. IACM was replaced by the current Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) in 2019.
Tam, a civil engineer by profession, headed the then IACM between 2007 and 2014, after which he has headed the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) since March 2016. He also concurrently headed the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG), the city’s weather station, between September 2017 and September 2018.
Tam holds two master’s degrees, one in Legal Studies from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and one in Civil Engineering from the University of Macau (UM).
Ao Ieong Seong – new anti-graft commissioner
Ao Ieong Seong, the youngest in Sam’s team, has been an assistant commissioner against corruption since December 20, 2019 when Ho’s current administration started.
Ao Ieong Seong, born in Macau, holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Legal Studies from the University of Macau (UM). She worked as an investigator for the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) between July and September 2007, after which she had worked as an instructor for the UM until 2011. She became a prosecutor in 2013 and had worked for the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) until December 2019.
Elsie Ao Ieong U – new audit commissioner
Elsie Ao Ieong U, born in Guangdong Province, had headed the Identification Services Bureau (DSI) since December 2014 before her appointment as the secretary for social affairs and culture for Ho’s current administration started almost five years ago.
She, who holds master’s degrees in Computer Science and Comparative Legal Studies, joined the public administration in 1994 when she started to work in the Judiciary Police (PJ) before starting to work for the Identification Services Bureau in 2000.
Leong Man Cheong – reappointed Unitary Police Service head
Leong, born in Macau, joined the Public Security Police (PSP) in 1988, which he had headed since December 2014, before his appointment as the commissioner-general of the Unitary Police Service (SPU) for Ho’s current administration started on December 20, 2019.
Adriano Marques Ho – new customs chief
Ho has headed the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) since June 2020. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), and started to work for the Judiciary Police (PJ) as a criminal investigator in 1988, where he was promoted to a department chief in 2010. He worked as an advisor to Wong Sio Chak’s office between December 2014 and June 2020.
Chan Tsz King – new chief prosecutor
Chan, born in Hong Kong, was first appointed as the commissioner against corruption for Ho’s current administration which started almost five years ago, but now he has been appointed as the prosecutor-general of the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for Sam’s incoming administration, returning to where he previously worked.
Chan became a prosecutor in 1997, before being appointed as an assistant prosecutor-general in 2000. Chan holds a bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies from Portugal’s Autonomous University of Lisbon.
Journalists attend yesterday’s press conference when Sam presented the 10 top officials of his incoming administration. – Photo: GCS
