Former Macau chief justice elected as first Chinese-born leader of China’s casino hub

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MACAO (AP) – Macao’s former top judge, Sam Hou Fai, was named the next leader of China’s casino industry in a widely-celebrated election Sunday, making him the city’s top Chinese-born official.

Almost the entire election committee full of Beijing loyalists – 394 out of 398 – voted for Sam, the sole candidate, in a departure from the old tradition of having top executives born in the former Portuguese colony, often from influential business families. The remaining four were blank votes.

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The city’s leadership shift to someone from the legal profession is likely to create hopes for a decline in influence from business circles, which critics often suspect of collusion with officials, analysts said. They expect Beijing’s urban policy agenda to take precedence.

Sam, 62, is widely seen as having Beijing’s blessings. At the time of the nomination, he already had the approval of the 386 members of the electoral committee who voted in groups in the conference hall on Sunday.

Influential people among the committee of 400 were Shun Tak Holdings’ executive chairman Pansy Ho, daughter of the late casino magnate Stanley Ho, lawyer Angela Leong, one of Ho’s widows, and former executives Edmund Ho and Fernando Chui.

After being announced as the chief executive officer, Sam entered the stage to a standing ovation from the committee members.

“It’s the biggest honor of my life,” said Sam.

He is committed to respecting national sovereignty, accelerating the diversification of the city’s economy and integrating it better into national development plans.

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Sam is expected to take over in December, when the city celebrates 25 years since it was handed over to the Chinese government.

After the election, the Chinese Office of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs, Macao’s incumbent city leader Ho Iat Seng and Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee congratulated Sam in separate statements.

Most of the area’s 687,000 residents do not have voting rights, leading to mixed opinions about the election. Some hope that Sam will listen to public opinion and avoid prioritizing business interests, while others feel disconnected from the electoral process in which they cannot participate.

Still, political observers said many residents were comfortable with Sam’s non-local background in a city that has been home to immigrants for thousands of years.

With Sam’s victory assured, the real challenges await with the hurdles of dominance yet to be overcome.

Macau is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. Beijing has called on the city to diversify its gambling-reliant economy.

Sam promised to speed up the existing government plan to develop tourism and other sectors such as traditional Chinese medicine, finance, exhibitions and trade. However, the city will still need to rely on the gambling industry for government funding to support the city’s welfare and achieve other goals set by Beijing, analysts say.

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China wants Macao to develop into a world-class tourism and leisure center and play a major role as a trade bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

Small local businesses have been hurt by residents spending money in the neighboring city of Zhuhai, which offers a wide selection of good value items. Chinese tourists are also now spending less money than before.

It remains to be seen whether Sam, due to his lack of experience in government leadership, can form a cabinet capable of dealing with these difficult issues.

Sam told reporters on Sunday that Macao’s development cannot be separated from support from China, saying the city will have to “take part” in the development of the Greater Bay Area – Beijing’s plan to integrate the casino center with Hong Kong and others. major Chinese cities in the neighboring province of Guangdong.

Sam said that just because the city has a capitalist economy does not mean that the government should be involved.

“In the future, we must improve the government’s methods of making decisions and such powers,” he said.

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Seafood restaurant operator Ip Weng U, 49, said Macao is facing social and economic problems that cannot be solved quickly. He hopes that Sam will do a better job than his predecessors.

“He was a judge, so people expect from him,” he said.

Sam was born in the neighboring province of Guangdong in 1962. He graduated from the prestigious Peking University law school in Beijing. He also studied Portuguese language, culture and law at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, and once practiced law in China.

When Macao returned to Chinese rule in 1999, Sam was appointed the city’s chief judge, a role he served for nearly 25 years before resigning in August to run for office.

He handled other politically sensitive cases, including refusing a request to ban police from a vigil commemorating the Chinese military’s bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. His court also upheld the decision to bar democratic figures from running in the 2021 legislative elections.

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