Wong Sio Chak dismisses rumors, says investigation points to Customs head suicide

Wong Sio Chak (center), accompanied by police top agents and government officials

Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak dismissed public speculation surrounding the death of Customs service head Lai Man Wa, asserting that no information was withheld from the public on Lai’s death.
During a press conference yesterday afternoon, Wong stressed that the police’s inquiry into the top official’s death is being carried out in line with “scientific and international standards.” Yet so far the investigation has yet to figure out any motive for Lai’s apparent suicide.
Claims published in social media hinted that the official was killed in a public lavatory, 200 meters from her Ocean Gardens residential block. It has been argued that her death could be linked to the gaming industry and internal scuffles at the agency.
However, Wong ruled out all claims that raised any doubts on the official explanation, and said that suicide cases were different from each other. He added that the authorities would release more details in the future as the ongoing inquiry progressed.
According to him, the late official was driven home by her chauffeur at 13.24 p.m. She was captured on nearby surveillance cameras leaving her residence around one hour later in casual wear, carrying the handbag later seen lying next to her at the scene.
It was not until 15.30 p.m. that the authorities received a call from a female cleaner who discovered the body. The official was pronounced dead at 16.41 p.m. at the public hospital after being rushed there by ambulance. Asked why Lai was not accompanied by her G4 security entourage along the way, Wong said that it depended on actual needs.
It was said that the official had been online using the Whatsapp messaging service right up until 15.28 p.m. However, according to the authorities, Lai’s cellphone was found soaked in urine on the site, which required a lengthy time for investigators to access its operations history before it went dead.
The investigators were yet to receive court approval to access the deceased official’s medical history in order to ascertain whether she had been taking the Benzodiazepine-based tranquilizers found in her handbag.
The bureaucrat’s abrupt death has come as a shock to the public, and many refuse to believe the authorities’ claims. According lawmaker Au Kam San’s statements published in Hoje Macau, “It’s impossible that a person who wants to commit suicide cuts her wrists and neck and then places the knife on her bag afterwards. (…) And how did she find time to take a pill if supposedly she covered her face with a bag?” Another lawmaker, Pereira Coutinho, also told the same newspaper that he had “a lot of reservations” about the official version.
Lai Man Wa’s funeral service is set to take place today at the Kiang Wu funeral parlor. Her body will be buried at the São Miguel Arcanjo cemetery tomorrow.