Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U has appointed Cheong Lai San, who was previously a senior official of the Identification Services Bureau (DSI), as a vice-president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) for a one-year term, replacing Chan Kai Chon who took the post in January last year.
Cheong’s new appointment, which took effect on Wednesday, was made by an executive order signed by Ao Ieong last Wednesday and published in the Official Gazette (BO) on Wednesday this week.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau has two vice-presidents. The bureau, which was set up in 1982, is known for its frequent senior staff changes.
According to an announcement signed by IC President Mok Ian Ian last Wednesday and published in this Wednesday’s Official Gazette (BO), the bureau terminated Chan’s position as a vice-president on Wednesday upon his personal request. The announcement did not elaborate on the request. Chan returned to his original position in the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) on the same day, but he continues to work in the Cultural Affairs Bureau as a senior public servant on secondment from the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, according to the announcement.
Before Chan became a vice-president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau in January last year, he had been the director of the Macau Museum of Art (MAM) since May 2017. The Macau Museum of Art, which is part of the Macau Cultural Centre complex in Nape, is run by the Cultural Affairs Bureau.
According to Ao Ieong’s executive order, Cheong, who obtained a bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from the University of Macau (UM), joined the public administration in August 2002. She started to work in the Identification Services Bureau as a public servant in February 2003, before being promoted in April 2008 as the chief of a division tasked with the research and development of ID card technology. She became the chief of a division tasked with ID card production and file management in December 2017, before being appointed as the chief of a division tasked with administrative and financial affairs in March 2018.
According to Ao Ieong’s executive order, Cheong left the Identification Services Bureau in May when she was appointed as an advisor to Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon.
Ao Ieong had headed the Identification Services Bureau since December 2014 before being appointed as the secretary for social affairs and culture of the current government in December last year. Ao Ieong holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from South China University of Technology in Guangzhou and a master’s degree in Software Engineering from the University of Macau.
