Lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho has slammed Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng’s act of appointing his son to the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT), but the fund defended the legality of the decision in a statement.
The appointment of Jason Ho Kin Tong, the son of the head of the government, was announced in an Executive Dispatch dated August 26. The designation took effect yesterday according to the same dispatch.
On the matter, the lawmaker made a post on his social media page to mock the decision, adding that Ho Hoi Kei, the daughter of Ho Iat Seng, was assigned to the Youth Affairs Committee on May 27, 2022 in the capacity of member of the Industrial Association of Macau. The daughter’s appointment was effective June 10.
Coutinho dramatized the situation by imagining future appointments of the Ho grandchildren, nephews, cousins, etc. to different government bodies.
In addition to the alleged nepotism pointed out by Coutinho, neither appointment came with résumés that could act as supporting evidence of suitability or justification for the appointments.
Information available online shows that Jason Ho graduated from the University of Southern California in 2016 with a Master’s Degree in engineering management. He is said to have founded Forte Inc. of Hangzhou in 2018.
The website of the Southern University of Science and Technology, meanwhile, published an interview with Jason Ho dated January 22 this year. Ho is referred to as the president of the Macau Technology General Association.
Coincidentally, the chief executive has suddenly referenced the emerging idea of the metaverse in his latest parliamentary speech. He said Macau should prepare for “Gaming Tourism 2.0”, so as to realize the metaverse experience in combination with gaming, tourism and consumption.
Global businesses such as Nike, Adidas, Louis Vuitton and Gucci have reportedly been preparing or have commenced filing for patents in relation to selling merchandise on the metaverse. This merchandise does not come in a physical form and can only be circulated virtually.
FDCT defends
appointmentís legality
The FDCT has issued a statement defending the decision to appoint Jason Ho Kin Tong to the FDCT, citing Executive Regulation No 14/2004, which is the Charter of the FDCT. Article 7 of the Charter provides that the Board of Trustees have seven to 11 members and is presided over by the Secretary for Economy and Finance.
“The other members must be residents of the Macao Special Administrative Region who are publicly recognized for their outstanding achievements, prestige and ability in the field of technology and innovation,” the fund added in the statement.
Trustees are to be appointed by the Chief Executive under the recommendation of the Secretary for Economy and Finance. The job is not paid, the fund emphasized.
The fund also emphasized that the appointment is completely legal, given the fact that there is no legal requirement to avoid conflicts of interest.
Furthermore, the fund highlighted that it had “sufficiently considered” the competence of the appointees before making recommendations to the president of the Board of Trustees.
Citing its own purpose, the FDCT notes in the statement that it is set to issue funds to projects that “will help to enhance the scientific research strength, innovation capability and competitiveness” of Macau. Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees is expected to monitor whether the fund is moving towards its purpose. The fund used this as justification to include more experienced and young entrepreneurs in its Board of Trustees.
