Fong Soi Kun’s retirement to be reassessed

Fong Soi Kun

The retirement application of the former director of the Macau Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG), Fong Soi Kun, has been revoked for not respecting the legal notice period, the secretary for Administration and Justice, Sónia Chan revealed on October 1.
Chan told the media on the sidelines of the celebrations of China’s National Day that Fong’s application had been revoked and sent back to the Weather Bureau for re-examination.

“A civil servant meets the requirements to retire and submits the application to the public service to which he is connected. After being authorized by the services, the application process is sent to the Pension Fund in order to calculate the amount of the employee’s retirement pension,” Chan explained, when asked about civil servants’ retirement procedures.

In Fong’s case, she said that “having analyzed [the application] with the public services, it was verified that it did not fulfil the requirement [to submit] such applications at least 90 days prior to the date on which the worker intends to [retire].”

The same official explained that the SMG is responsible for authorizing such applications and that the services under her secretariat calculate the amount of pension to which the worker is entitled, adding that the Pension Fund must always respond within 30 days.

Fong resigned following criticism from residents and lawmakers about the bureau’s failure to raise appropriate typhoon warning signals prior to Typhoon Hato on August 23.

The announcement was made the day after the typhoon by Chief Executive Chui Sai On, who said that Fong had retired but was not exempt from investigation.

By request of several entities and individual citizens, the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) is investigating Fong to assess whether the SMG’s typhoon prediction was influenced by external parties.