Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng has appointed Chan Kai Chon, who is currently the director of the Macau Museum of Art (MAM), as a vice-president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) effective from Saturday, replacing Kent Ieong Chi Kin, the bureau said in a statement yesterday.
The bureau has two vice-presidents.
The statement merely said that the bureau terminated Ieong’s position as a vice-president on January 1 upon his personal request. It did not elaborate on the request.
The statement said that Chan will be tasked with supervising the running of the bureau’s museums, the organisation of cultural and creative events and the promotion of the cultural and creative industries’ development, as well as arts education.
The other vice-president of the bureau, Leong Wai Man, is tasked with supervising the city’s cultural heritage protection measures.
According to the statement, Chan first joined the public administration in 1992 when he started to work in the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ). He was promoted to head the bureau’s Continuing Education Division in 1994, a position he held until 2003.
Chan, who was appointed as the director of the Macau Museum of Art (MAM) in 2017, obtained his master’s degree and doctoral degree in Fine Arts from Nanjing Normal University (NNU) and the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing respectively, according to the statement. Chan also holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Jinan University in Guangzhou.
Yesterday’s IC statement did not mention what jobs Chan had between 2003 and 2017.
However, according to an announcement for his appointment for the MAM director published in the Official Gazette (BO) in May 2017, Chan continued to work as a senior public servant in the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau after ending his position as the bureau’s Continuing Education Division chief in August 2003, before being appointed as MAM director.
The Macau Museum of Art, which is part of the Macau Cultural Centre complex in Nape, is run by the Cultural Affairs Bureau. Yesterday’s statement did not say who will head the museum after Chan takes up his new vice-presidential post.
The government appointed Ieong, who then headed the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s Performing Arts Development Department, as a vice-president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau in February 2017.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau has been headed by Mok Ian Ian since February 2018. The bureau, which was set up in 1982, is known for its frequent senior staff changes.
This undated file photo published in the 126th issue of the Chinese version of Macao Magazine – a magazine published by the Government Information Bureau (GCS) – in November last year shows MAM Director Chan Kai Chon posing during an interview with the magazine.
