After election victory, Ho says Macau never had it so good

The sole candidate of the Chief Executive election, Ho Iat Seng, was elected yesterday morning at the Macau East Asian Games Dome, with 392 out of the 400 electors backing him.

Of the eight “missing” votes, seven were blank votes and one ambiguous, which was subsequently deemed invalid by the president of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Song Man Lei.

The program commenced at 10 a.m. sharp yesterday. After a brief three-minute introduction, the voting process started. A total of 16 minutes were given for all electors to cast their votes, while the counting process took around five minutes.

After his victory was declared, Ho held a press conference that lasted about two hours. The candidate said that upon learning he was elected, he felt an enormous pressure because what lies ahead of him is a massive task.

‘Fake environmental protection’

Concerns were raised with regards to the small reference to environmental protection in the Chief Executive-elect’s manifesto. Ho said it was a misunderstanding.

He opined that the main problem with sorted waste disposal in Macau is that the government has no idea where the sorted waste should be stored. He said that he has been in related businesses for more than 30 years, and he knows about this issue.

“Some countries export their waste to other countries, and they think it’s environmental protection,” exclaimed Ho. “I call this ‘fake environmental protection!’”

“All work of environmental protection should start with one’s self,” Ho said. The winner gave hints to the city about how he may address these issues. “We are collecting disposable plastics, but we export them for recycling,” he said. “We should take care of our own recycling.”

He encouraged individuals at the press conference to use tap water instead of bottled water, noting that the election used at least 400 bottles of water as the bottles were placed on the desk of each of the 400 electors.

Opening tenders

is delicate work

Responding to a question on the city’s concern about public construction work, the election winner told the press that he will show how he can manage the implementation of public constructions.

“Opening tenders is delicate work. Previously, some tenders were opened after the release of the budget, then every bidder approached the limit,” he explained. “Some might have benefited from the practice as they might not have planned to quote that much.”

He added that some people recommended he refer to the mechanism on the mainland, which he said is more transparent as it involves the participation of international professionals.

He also addressed Macau’s falling birth rate, which he attributed to three main reasons: high property prices, 24-hour rotation of shifts for some, and the high divorce rate.

He pledged that local people would not be sent to the mainland for legal trials, responding to a question related to possible extradition laws.

The problems of a 24-hour city

Ho acknowledged that his weakness falls within social welfare issues, as he is not specifically familiar with such issues. However, he said he is eager to learn about related matters.

“Eleven percent of the local population, which is more than 70,000 people, are senior citizens; while 2% of the population is mentally disadvantaged to various degrees. I also saw that annually there are more than 10,000 calls to the Life Hotline [counter-suicide helpline],” said Ho. “This is the illustration of the problems faced by this 24-hour casino city.”

Ho said that there are many complaints about the Macau government’s input on social welfare. “After the handover, it has improved significantly, but there are still problems,” he said. “For example, some bureaus are not familiar with the concept of ‘social enterprise’. As a result, these bureaus put them through normal procedures instead of those for charities.”

As for the most difficult task, he is certain that it is urban regeneration. “With just one household opposed, the entire project or section shall be halted,” he said.

Ho has stressed on previous occasions that he considers urban regeneration a priority and he reemphasized this at the press conference: “Because some old buildings may not stand [for] another five years. It may cause danger to the community when hit by heavy rains or typhoons.”

Macau never had it so good

Journalists were also concerned about Macau’s freedom of expression and assembly. On this, Ho stressed that these rights are protected by the Basic Law. The recent “silent protest”, which was set to take place at Senado Square but was denied authorization, was taken as an example. “When such activity is opposed by the police, the organizer has the right to appeal to the Court. This is stipulated in the law,” Ho responded. “But the organizer has the right to decide whether to appeal or not.”

He also stressed that the entire Chief Executive election mechanism must be respected as it is governed by the law.

“My generation lived through the Handover, and I can say that Macau has never seen as much freedom as it has now,” Ho noted.

A diligent team, corruption-free

When questioned about the qualities he is looking for in potential senior officials, he said he wants them to be diligent candidates and free from corruption.

The willingness to communicate with the general public is also a quality he is looking for. In his manifesto, he put a significant emphasis on improvement on public governance, especially in terms of efficiency. The Chief Executive-elect said he is aiming to build a service-oriented government.

Ho stressed that in the previous month he focused on collecting comments and suggestions from all walks of life, therefore he did not have time to make up his mind as to who would be the next senior officials. He hopes the public can spare him time to pick the right people.

“We have heard about public feedback on the current officials,” said Ho, and he later added, “some people may not be happy about our choice.”

He was later asked whether he is not happy with the performance of the current officials, as there are claims that “they have not been diligent.” Ho stressed that their actions cannot be interpreted that way, clarifying, “so when I said I want clean candidates, I didn’t mean the current ones are all corrupt.”

Speaking about diligence, Ho is aware of his needs to be so. “Even though I won the election with this number of votes, I still need to be diligent at my work,” he said.

Questions about the accountability system were also raised. The Chief Executive-elect expressed confidence in his future team, specifically the ability to deliver satisfactory work. “It is not only what people I pick to work in the government, but also how the team is led,” said Ho, putting the emphasis on leadership. Anthony Lam