Sam Hou Fai (Chinese: 岑浩輝) is a Macau judge and politician who is currently the Chief Executive-elect of Macau and previously served as the 1st President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macau, the highest court in Macau, China.[1][2][3]
Sam Hou Fai | |
|---|---|
岑浩輝 | |
 Sam in 2019 | |
| 4th Chief Executive of Macau | |
| Assuming office 20 December 2024 | |
| President | Xi Jinping |
| Premier | Li Qiang |
| Succeeding | Ho Iat Seng |
| President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macau | |
| In office 20 December 1999 – 28 August 2024 | |
| Appointed by | Edmund Ho |
| Succeeded by | Song Man Lei (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cen Haohui May 1962 (age 62) Zhongshan, Guangdong, China |
| Citizenship | Chinese |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | Macau |
| Education | Peking University (LLB) University of Coimbra |
| Occupation | Judge |
| Sam Hou Fai | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 岑浩輝 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 岑浩辉 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Early life and education
editSam was born in May 1962 in China and raised in Zhongshan. After entering university in 1978 he entered law school in 1981 and earned his bachelor's degree in law from Peking University in Mainland China. After practicing law in China he moved to Macau in 1986, studied at the University of Coimbra and joined the Public Prosecutions Office of Macau in 1995. Sam, alongside important Macanese officials born in Mainland China, including Wong Sio Chak and Cheong Weng Chon, are widely deemed among the 13 officials handpicked by Beijing to be nurtured to become the future governing team for the city.[4]
Legal career
editIn 1997, Sam became a judge at the Court of First Instance and was later elected as member of the Council of Justice.[2]
On 20 December 1999, he was appointed by the Chief Executive as the President of the Court of Final Appeal. He also holds the positions of President of the Council of the Judicial Magistrates, Member of the Independent Commission on the Recommendation of Judges, Member of the Working Committee on Regional Legal Assistance and International Mutual Legal Assistance and Honorable Chairman of the Macao Basic Law Promotional Association.[5] During his tenure he served as the presiding judge for Ao Man Long's corruption case.
Political career
edit
On 26 August 2024, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng announced Sam's resignation as President of the Court of Final Appeal and his intent to run in the 2024 Chief Executive election.[3] He officially announced his intention to run on 28 August 2024.[6]
Sam secured 386 out of 400 nominations from the Electoral Committee before deadline on 12 September, accounting for 96.5% of its members, making him the sole candidate of the chief executive election.[7][8] Sam received 394 out of 400 votes in the election held on 13 October,[9] making him the first chief executive of Macau to be born in Mainland China and without business background.
Political views
editEconomic policy
editSam warned against the dominant role the gaming centres play in Macau's economy, saying that "for a period of time, the tourism and gaming industry developed in a disorderly manner and expanded wildly". He said growth of casinos had strained resources such as manpower and narrowed the career choices for young people, and called for diversifying away from the industry.[10]
Sam promised to support long-term development of local business, and stressed that intergrating into the national development "is the most important policy for Macau’s future development".[11]
References
edit- ^ "Background Note: Macau". US Department of State. Retrieved 4 February 2010.
- ^ a b "Macau News - People 人物 - Sam Hou Fai". www.macaunews.com.mo. Archived from the original on 2015-10-06.
- ^ a b Jeffie, Lam (26 August 2024). "Sam Hou-fai quits Macau's top court ahead of bid to become city's next leader". SCMP. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
- ^ "來自北京的十三太保 下任澳門準特首岑浩輝是甚麼人？". Yahoo News (in Chinese). 26 August 2024.
- ^ "Sam Hou Fai". Macao SAR Government Portal. 28 August 2019. Archived from the original on 26 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
- ^ "Macau judge announces bid to lead world's biggest casino hub". Reuters. 27 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ Wong, Natalie (10 September 2024). "Sam Hou-fai becomes sole candidate for Macau's top job with 383 nominations". South China Morning Post.
- ^ "Sam submits 3 more nominations, now 96.5 pct of CE electors backing him". Macau Post Daily. 13 September 2024.
- ^ "Ex-judge Sam Hou-fai named Macau leader after securing 394 votes in 1-man election". South China Morning Post. 13 October 2024.
- ^ "Macau elects former judge who was wary of casinos as new leader". The Business Times. October 13, 2024.
- ^ "New Macau leader Sam Hou-fai vows support for local business after winning one-man race for city's top office". Hong Kong Free Press. 2024-10-13.
 | This biographical article from Macau is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |