Gov’t initiates investigations into culture heads

Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng has proposed to initiate disciplinary procedures against the previous president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Guilherme Ung Vai Men, as well as the Bureau’s incumbent president and vice president Leung Hio Meng and Chan Peng Fai, for the Bureau’s illegal method of recruiting workers from 2010 to 2015.
The Secretary disclosed yesterday that there are signs proving that the then president and the current heads of the Bureau had acted contrary to the obligations of leadership and civil servants, adding the decision was made based upon studies with the entire team and legal consultants.
The result of the investigations against the three will be announced to the public when available, said the Secretary.
Leung Hio Meng and Chan Peng Fai were both vice presidents of the Bureau during the period.
The illegal recruitment methods adapted by the Cultural Affairs Bureau were revealed by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) in an investigation report last month. The report said the Bureau had been avoiding launching open or central recruitment systems to hire its workers in a regulated way, doing so instead via the acquisition of services.
On Monday, Mr. Leung said in a press briefing that the recruitments were not related to any transfer of benefits or other illegal activities, adding such methods of recruitment had long been a norm during his administrative career since the previous Portuguese Administration.