Kapok: the malediction of the second term

To paraphrase Scott Chiang, the president of the New Macau Association (NMA), talking to the press after the rather suspicious circumstances of the “suicide by asphyxiation” of the head of customs, Mandy Lai Man Wa, in late October last year: “you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in Macao who actually believes in the version of the government”. Except this time, it has nothing to do with Mrs Lai, but the less dramatic and yet possibly equally traumatizing arrest on February 27 of former prosecutor-general Ho Chio Meng on charges of fraud, abuse of power and document forgery.
The authentic feeling of disbelief is not really that the man who was the executive’s embodiment of the law for fifteen years could be corrupt and had abused his power to skim some 2,000 public contracts with the complicity of some of his staff and indelicate profit-prone local businessmen – only buffoons on TV get excited by the numbers. But rather that the government would be so intent on stressing that Mr Ho’s misdemeanor was unconnected with his expedition of justice, and thus the fulfillment of his duties was untainted.
The issues connected to procurement in Macao, that Sonia Chan, the secretary for administration and justice, is willing to tackle and legally resolve “within a year” – this yearly horizon being the new fad – should easily gather consensus, although independent legislator José Pereira Coutinho, who also heads the biggest would-be civil service union, ATFPM, already pointed out that the discretionary awarding of public contracts from the top was the norm rather than the exception in Macao; thus the Ho “case” was “just the tip of the iceberg”. This is another way of saying that the fish rots from the head down…
At the very distant end of the political spectrum, there seems to be another consensus that “there is more to it”. Jorge Neto Valente, the rather pro-establishment president of the Macao Lawyers Association, could not help emphasizing that the whole affair was casting doubts on the entire judicial system, especially because there had been persistent rumors of “influence peddling” – about whom to prosecute and when – within the public ministry when Ho was in charge. For Mr Valente, the corruption charges regarding procurement almost seem secondary. Then, far away from Mr Valente – politically speaking of course! – Scott Chiang and Jason Chao, the vice-president of NMA, voiced their skepticism that Ho’s judicial responsibilities had been entirely shaded from his alleged misconduct for personal enrichment. Their question is simple: why break the law for a poorly remunerated paint job when you can break it for high return power meddling? He that will steal a pin will break a pound…
This “controversy” is now gathering additional momentum. Prominent lawyers and even a legal advisor of the Legislative Assembly started looking at the affair from a broader perspective. If we leave aside infatuated comments of one lawyer annoyed at a system that now prevents the boundless hiring of cheap and competent labor from Portugal for law firms, most of the remarks that were made (and hopefully will continue to be) deserve our whole attention. First of all because they concern the rule of law in Macao and the upholding of a “second system” that rests on clearly defined norms, due respect for processes and infused consideration for both the letter and the spirit of the law and the protection of individual rights. Second because they raise a core question related to the “independence” of our justice: the very fact that again Mr Ho will be denied his right to appeal – just like the case of Ao Man Long – is more than problematic: it is in contradiction with the Basic Law.
Lack of resolve in tackling this issue will be a litmus test of what is to become of the “one country, two systems” formula in Macao. Let it not become a malediction of the second term of the Chief Executive.

Published in Macau Daily Times, March 11 2016

Kapok: Pluto-mediocracy

It was indeed a small piece of news: a local tycoon’s construction company being granted a renovation work contract for a government building without having to go through a public tender. This is not illegal: the laws that apply make room for exceptions to “public tendering,” and in this case the justification given for the MOP27 million contract was that “security issues” were involved, as the renovation work would take place next to the government headquarters, thus requiring “special and confidential” treatment. Yet I could not help reminding myself what Au Kam San, a democrat legislator, once had said: “exceptions have become the rule in Macao,” giving evidence that out of a few hundred construction and renovation projects that should have gone through public tendering, only a handful had actually complied. In that particular case, the company involved, Man Kan Ltd., had already been granted at least four such contracts by the government, as reported by Hoje Macau, and “all the renovation works for government buildings since the handover” if we trust José Pereira Coutinho, another vocal and independent legislator. Moreover, Man Kan Ltd. is not run by any mini-tycoon… its chairman of the board is none other than Fong Chi Keong, who happens to be also the president of the Association of Building Contractors and Developers, the vice-president of the Macao Chamber of Commerce, the chairperson of the Kiang Wu Charitable Association (founded in 1871) that runs the Kiang Wu Hospital, the chairman of the Macao Daily Readers’ Charity Fund that is behind the charity “Walk for a Million”… and also a legislator, sitting as one of the four indirectly-elected legislators representing the business interests in Macao.
Mr Fong is a well-known figure, and he claims ancestry in the territory over some 200 years, and thus has formed connections that cut across the hold of the four main families (the two Ho, Ma and Chui). A round face adorned with a crew cut and a sharp gaze behind large metal-framed spectacles, he is also known for his coarse language, so much so that a Youtube channel called the “Cannon Channel” 大砲頻道 is dedicated to his many blunders and less than subtle passing judgments. Many times over he has felt threatened by youth, questioning the sanity of young “agent provocateurs” manipulated by old democrats or characterizing young people daring to voice out their frustrations as “losers”. Of course all this is compensated by lavish charity spending in several youth-oriented ventures, as Mr Fong has allegedly given away a hundred million yuan to the Nanhai district for educational purposes—all the more commendable for a man who barely finished high school. For sure Mr Fong does not really approve of the concept of accountability, and he often reacts very buoyantly albeit senselessly when his stewardship is being questioned, whether it concerns the final destination of the money raised by the “Walk for a Million”, the discrepancy in salary raises at Kiang Wu Hospital or even his excessive absenteeism in the legislature… Only his Man Kan Ltd. dealings manage to keep him quiet!
A mere “edit (slightly) and paste” of what was once noted by the great German sociologist Max Weber perfectly applies to Mr Fong: “There are two ways of making politics one’s vocation: Either one lives ‘for’ politics or one lives ‘off’ politics”. In fact, the two often come together: one who lives for a cause also lives off that cause. The problem arises when one exclusively lives “off” politics!

Published in Macau Daily Times, May 24th 2013

Kapok: Meaningfulness

Here we go – September 15 is the date for the next legislative elections. As reported by newspapers, the campaign has already started. Legislators are becoming extremely visible and outspoken, asking for all sorts of ever-more-pressing laws to be pushed through before the end of the legislative term and complaining about the slow and/or inadequate responses by the government regarding their queries and objections. Even those who are not directly elected and who did not face any competition last time around (in 2009 there was only one list of candidates, who filled the exact number of seats in each of the four functional constituencies, hence my being reluctant to call that an election for the so-called “indirectly elected” legislators) have been vocal about their commitment to the job, positioning themselves as champions of the have-nots and defenders of the spoiled majority. One of them, a seasoned pro-government businessman, even expressed bold critiques of a real-estate developer for being too eager to brandish the Basic Law and the protection of private property to defend his right to disfigure our “green lung” and vandalize our heritage in Seac Pai Van. It is quite a balancing act to secure the rights enshrined in the mini-constitution and yet make sure these rights are consistent with the original intent of protecting the community.
Concerned citizens have been on the move too. In the very same week, two associations, the Tri-Decade Action and Macau Conscience, have respectively petitioned the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) and the newly formed Legislative Elections Affairs Commission to ask for “cleaner” elections. They have vehemently requested these reputable institutions come up with clearer guidelines as to what constitutes vote buying, and more generally speaking electoral malpractices, and of course toughen their act pertaining to these debilitating diseases of our underdeveloped democracy. This is of course of extreme importance, and yet I have serious doubts that this will be conducive to any significant change. First of all, because the CCAC was allegedly given the power to investigate vote-buying starting with the 2001 elections precisely because the 1996 had translated into, according to the official statement, “[a] huge public concern surrounding rumors of bribery and misconduct.” By any account, the 1996 elections, with the handover in perspective, were by far the most dubious to occur in our territory. Some, far too easily, put the blame on the outgoing Portuguese colonial administration. Certainly, fighting electoral corruption might not have had top priority back in 1996, but if one looks at the composition of the legislature that was then sworn in, one might be surprised to discover that some of the legislators exposed at the time are still legislators today — directly or by proxy — and for those who are not anymore, still constitute what we could describe as the highly respectable establishment of our community. There was continuity, after somewhat of an improvement for the 2001 and 2005 elections, when corruption kicked back very hard in 2009, despite the fact that the Electoral Affairs Commission had made the fight against such inadmissible practices its top priority. At the time, that led me to characterize the commission as “the biggest loser of the elections”. Today, one can see giant posters of elected members of the Assembly already in full campaign gear pinned on the façade of our central districts, despite the fact that it is illegal according to the electoral law. What is the Electoral Affairs Commission doing about it?
Once more, what would really help eradicate corruption is to be found in “meaning”: if elections were truly competitive and gave the chance for political platforms to contend, and if the legislature really mattered and was a tangible check on the executive branch, then the voters, the citizens, might be tempted to make their vote count. But then, if there is no meaning, why not take the cash, enjoy the dinner, go to a concert or benefit from a bit of extra money when Chinese New Year comes?