Alex Vong Iao Lek appointed new Customs director

By
Kam Leong

Alex Vong Iao Lek has been appointed the new Director-General of the Macao Customs Service from his position as President of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM).
Mr. Vong’s appointment was announced by the Chinese State Council last Friday following the Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On submitting his nomination to Beijing at the end of January.
Mr. Chui said in a press briefing last Saturday that Mr. Vong’s nomination was made after careful consideration of the official’s capabilities, such as planning, management and leadership skills.
The previous Customs Director-General, Lai Man Wa, was declared to have committed suicide last October. Following her death, the Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, temporarily took up the tasks to head the Customs.
As the new head of the security body, Mr. Vong will manage the city’s newly demarcated 85 square kilometres of maritime waters in addition to helping the Special Administrative Region become a commercial and trade co-operation service platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries.
From sports and public administration
In fact, the new Customs leader’s profile indicates that he has never been in the field of security since he joined the government in 1994.
Holding a PhD degree in education from Beijing Sport University, Mr.
Vong primarily served the city’s Sports Bureau and IACM before.
Prior to his previous position as IACM president since 2014, Mr. Vong was the acting head of the Bureau in 2013 and vice president between 2002 and 2003. Meanwhile, from 2003 to 2008, he served the Sports Bureau as acting director and was promoted to the director’s post in 2008.
The Secretary for Security claimed on Saturday that he believes that Mr.
Vong’s leadership and management skills can successfully lead the Customs despite his lack of experience in the Customs field.
Asked by reporters why the government had not promoted someone within the Customs for the position, the Secretary said that such a decision was well accepted by all staff of the Customs, indicating all public bodies are part of the same team, and all have the same duty to carry out the Government’s policies.
Following Mr. Vong’s new appointment, the director of the Sports Bureau, José Maria da Fonseca Tavares, is to take up the position of president of IACM. Meanwhile, the vice-head of the Sports Bureau, Pun Weng Kun, has been promoted to the position of new director of the sports department.