Scott Chiang (L) and Sulu Sou
Sulu Sou, the president of Macau’s pro-democracy group, the New Macau Association (ANM), has announced his decision to resign from his post in order to pursue further education in Taiwan. The group’s current vice-president, Scott Chiang, will assume the role next month, deferring his university study to commit full-time to the civic group.
Sou was elected the ANM leader a year ago, after the group jointly initiated a remarkably large protest that pressured the government into retracting an egregious compensation bill for top officials. Succeeding young activist Jason Chao as president, the then 23-year old pledged he would participate more in social movements and would strive to unite the association, which dates back to 1992.
Referring to his experience in ANM as “the first window for him to learn about Macau society,” Sulu Sou explained that “the past two years participating in the group were like a practical before attending courses at the National Taiwan University’s Department of Political Science.” He claimed he hoped to “continue contributing to the association and to the general public after returning from the study with deepened knowledge and enhanced organizational skills.”
In 2013, the then-fresh graduate partnered with ANM’s incumbent lawmaker Au Kam San to run the Legislative Assembly’s direct election, while his alumnus Scott Chiang teamed up with Jason Chao. Sou said he had to twice defer his admission to National Taiwan University’s Masters program, firstly for being eager to probe the AL election, and later for deciding to “take over the hot potato when the ANM’s leadership transition was experiencing turbulence.”
“Luckily, my admission has been retained, but it cannot wait indefinitely,” he explained of the resignation. He stated he believes that the time is now to pick up the postponed study opportunity, as the association’s operations have “gradually gotten on track, despite facing many challenges from both inside and outside.”
“Some people might think there’s nothing special about the ANM, as it’s only one of the thousands of associations in Macau. But if the association disappears, it will be a big loss to civil society,” the young leader concluded, suggesting that differences within the group would take time to rectify while the priority should be to renew a commitment to act in the public interest.
To fill in the remaining year of Sou’s tenure, Scott Chiang, a 34-year old who has been a member of the association for over a decade, will head the ANM starting next month. Aiming to be fully engaged in the association’s operations, Chiang has decided to defer his current undergraduate study in International Relations. In addition, Jason Chao, who currently holds no post in the association, announced yesterday that he would run for the by-election of vice-president, to be held in the upcoming weeks.
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