Notices issued by two schools asking parents to vote for the Alliance for a Happy Home, No. 11 on the ballot, went viral online over the weekend
The direct and indirect legislative elections will take place next Sunday while the official campaign period runs from September 2 to Friday.
Lawmaker Wong Kit Cheng heads the Alliance for a Happy Home. The electoral group comprises 10 candidates. Wong, a board member of the Macau Women’s General Association (Fu Luen), is running for re-election.
According to a notice issued by the private Keng Peng School to parents which was widely shared on social media starting on Thursday, Ung Sio Lan, one of the candidates of Wong’s group, teaches at the school. The school asked parents to vote for Wong’s list.
Moreover, parents were asked to sign the notices to inform the school whether they are willing to receive the electoral group’s campaign materials.
A similar notice was also issued by Kao Yip Middle School which said that one of its teachers, Iao Weng Man, is on Wong’s list. The
notice also invited parents to join a campaign activity to be held at the school.
Legislative Assembly Electoral Affairs Committee (CAEAL) President Tong Hio Fong said in May during a briefing about the
upcoming direct and indirect legislative elections that campaignrelated activities by governmentowned schools are restricted by
the Legislative Assembly Election Law, adding that staff members of government-owned schools are not allowed to carry out any campaign activities when on duty.
However, even though the law does not cover private schools, Tong said staff members of private schools should also avoid violating the election law, such as campaigning during the cooling-off and polling days.
A teacher at Keng Peng School who asked not to be named told The Macau Post Daily last week that the school had checked the law and not found any articles stating that private schools are not allowed to support certain electoral groups, adding that, therefore, the school decided to carry out campaign activities at the school and issue the notices to parents.
Commenting on the matter on Saturday on the sidelines of the commencement ceremony of Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng said the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau’s (DSEJ) had nothing to do with the notices, adding that, however, the bureau hoped all schools will follow the guidelines set up by the committee.
Tam also said he hoped the election will be fair and clean.
Meanwhile, the New Macau Development Union (NUDM), No. 14 on the ballot, headed by casino executive Angela Leong On Kei, issued a written apology late last week to the Macau United Citizens Association (ACUM), No. 9 on the ballot, for a cartoon depicting several rival candidates, including a figure which resembled ACUM’s first-ranked candidate Si Ka Lon, wearing prison garb behind bars.
Both Leong and Si are running for re-election.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng speaks to reporters Saturday on the sideline of the commencement ceremony of Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST), calling for “fair and clean” elections on the coming Sunday. Photo: IBS
