AL candidate arrested for operating mahjong parlor

Social media was flooded with “rumors” yesterday morning about the arrest of workers’ rights icon Wong Wai Man, while the Judiciary Police (PJ) confirmed later that day they had arrested a 61-year-old construction worker with the surname Wong for illegally operating a mahjong parlor, whose identity matches Wong’s.

Yesterday morning, social media platforms buzzed with news that Wong, leader of the “Mutual Help Grassroots” group and a candidate in this year’s Legislative Assembly (AL) direct elections, had lost contact since Wednesday evening.

Accompanying this news was a letter titled “Public Prosecutions Office/Chief Executive’s Office Petition Delivery Action and Press Conference,” signed by a member of the nomination committee, demanding the immediate release of Wong, the group’s trustee, and a suspension of his case until the election has concluded.

Many netizens speculated about the reasons behind Wong’s arrest, with some questioning, “Was it because of those few signatures he forged?”

Only nine teams submitted nomination forms by the deadline for this year’s Legislative Assembly direct elections, with “Mutual Help Grassroots” among them.

Wong, head of a local construction bar-bender trade union, previously ran for the Assembly on behalf of the group in both 2017 and 2021, but could not participate in the 2021 election due to failing to secure the required 300 nominations.

This year’s AL is scheduled for September 14, and Wong is once again a candidate, having submitted 395 voter signatures to the Electoral Affairs Commission for the Legislative Assembly Election (CAEAL) on June 5, just before the nomination period closed.

At the time, he told the media that he was running for election to address employment issues and fulfill his social obligations, stating that whether he was elected or not was unimportant; his primary goal was to help the poor rather than all citizens of Macau.

He even asserted that his influence was greater than that of any member of the Legislative Assembly.

According to the AL election law, each voter may sign as a member of only one nomination committee; if a voter supports multiple committees, all their signatures will be invalid.

Of the 395 nominations submitted by Wong, only 222 were deemed eligible after verification, leaving him 78 nominations short of the 300 required to qualify for the election. These additional signatures needed to be secured by today.

During a media interview on Monday, he expressed his determination to obtain the necessary nominations through various channels, leveraging his network of contacts and over 10 years of work experience. Subsequently, social media platforms were flooded with posts urging voters to go to Wong’s association office in Areia Preta to sign the nomination.

The PJ announced yesterday afternoon the details of a case involving illegal mahjong operations they had uncovered.

They revealed that they had received a tip-off about a ground-floor shop in a residential complex in the northern district, where illegal mahjong activities were occurring during the evenings and early mornings, attracting a mix of people and posing a security risk.

“At the address above, individuals were engaged in illegal mahjong operations. Our officers put them under surveillance on the evening of June 10 and took action around midnight on June 11, apprehending the shop owner, a man surnamed Wong, who is the suspect in this case,” stated a PJ spokesperson.

The suspect reportedly refused to cooperate but is believed to have operated the illegal mahjong parlor for about three months, earning at least MOP8,800 to date.

The authorities noted that no further information is available regarding whether the suspect is a candidate in the AL election.

Further, the Public Prosecutions Office said in a statement last night that it “will continue to lead the follow-up criminal investigation.

“Due to strong indications that the case involves the crime of illegal mahjong operation as stipulated and penalized under Article 14 of Law No. 20/2024 on Combating Illegal Gambling Activities, the Public Prosecutions Office recommended that the criminal court impose bail conditions on the suspect,” the statement read.