Civil servants share thoughts before being decorated

Maria da Silva Hung

Some of the 36 individuals and organizations who will be decorated by the government this week met with journalists yesterday to share their feelings on the recognition they are about to receive.

The decorations, medals and certificates of merit awarded for 2016 by the government are granted according to the recommendations from the Committee of Nomination of Medals and Honorary Titles that will be delivered by the Chief Executive (CE) in a ceremony to be held tomorrow at the Cultural Center.

On the section dedicated to the ones receiving the Medal for Distinguished Service – Medal for Dedication – we find three exemplary officials: Maria do Céu Dourado Amorim da Silva Hung, Vicente João Monteiro and Porfírio Zeferino de Souza.

Vicente João Monteiro is a former registrar of the Land Registry Office and copywriter of many of the Registry and Notary Codes in Macau.

With a long career in the Civic Services both in the region and in Portugal, Monteiro acknowledges that the receipt of such an award means the recognition of work that he has been developing for a long time.

Having all but reached the top of his field in Macau during his initial tenure between January 1994 and August 2000, Monteiro returned to the region in 2011 by invitation of the MSAR government to continue his work in the registry and notary fields.

The author of several legal works, Monteiro sees the opportunity to continue to publish works in this area as one of his main incentives to continue to work and live in the region.

Vincente Monteiro

“One of the incentives that makes me stay in Macau is exactly the opportunity that has been given to me of leaving some legacy in the registry and notary fields,” he said.

Remarking on his working field, Monteiro believes that the region will face a big challenge that relates to the rapid shifting from Portuguese to Chinese dominance on matters that require a notary  due to the rise on the number of lawyers from a Chinese-speaking background who want to follow career as private notaries too. According to him, this situation will “involve a bigger effort from the Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) for the profession of the Private Notary activities,” adding “obviously this involves the recruitment of bilingual professionals and this is really the big challenge arising at this moment.”

Another of the challenges he pointed to is the “electronization of the procedures and services [from DSAJ] and especially in what concerns interdepartmental communication from the services to the users.” This is a topic in which he thinks Portugal can serve as a good example for the MSAR government to follow.

At 65-years-old, Monteiro says, “Time will be the reason for my return [to Portugal]. I have no projects at this level [for the time being]. I will stay until it is necessary and as long as I consider my work useful to Macau.”

Feeling a great pride and an honor for the award he received was Porfírio Zeferino de Souza, the Judiciary Police (PJ) Inspector and Chief on the Department of Crimes Against People. He said: “The award is a recognition of my work in this force; work I’ll continue to develop in the same way in order to serve the PJ and the population.”

Having worked within the police force for 33 years, the inspector highlighted the differences between the old and the current days, saying “I remember that when I entered the force we had only eight officers [within his department] divided in two teams of four. Now I have a total of 28 inspectors in three permanent teams of at least eight people.”

Porfírio de Sousa

Another of the differences between the old and current days is that “crimes now are more complex and the criminals smarter demanding more from the inspectors and the force.”

As the most touching moment of his career so far, de Souza highlighted a case from approximately two years ago when his team managed to rescue two underage people. He also recalled a case when the whole team had to work for 15 days in a row in order to solve a homicide.

Leading the department that also deals with the cases of domestic violence, de Souza says that the most common cases that the department deals with are related to simple offenses and threats.

Regarding domestic violence cases, he said: “In many cases, and after investigation, we conclude that in fact they aren’t crimes [of this kind]. Maybe the population is still not aware of what is included under the crimes of domestic violence.”

Working in the civic services since 1987, always in interpretation and translation, is Maria da Silva Hung, one of the most trusted translators and interpreters from the CE. She was very happy to have been chosen for this award.

“Once or twice I thought when would be my turn, or maybe this will never happen. This year it was finally my turn and I’m very happy about it,” she said, adding that she receives this award at a personal level but also in the name of all translators and interpreters.

“I receive the accolade in the name of all translators and interpreters. Our roles are becoming more visible and important in Macau,” Hung said.

When questioned by the Times on the most difficult moment that she experienced in the performance of her duties, she recalled a job done on a boat when she felt very uncomfortable.

Humorously Hung said rather than what usually happens, tomorrow she will not be the master of ceremonies (MC) of the event but instead, one of the honoured guests.