Macau's money

It did not take long for the seemingly smooth transition of power in Macau to be rudely interrupted.

What has the potential to escalate into a long-lasting source of rancour is now the talk of China's newest SAR. It is hardly surprising.

At the very least, former Macau governor General Vasco Rocha Vieira's decision to transfer $50 million of public money to a Lisbon-based charitable foundation just two days before the handover, raises some pressing questions. News that Portugal's President, Jorge Sampaio, knew nothing of the transfer will only serve to fuel the growing number of voices raised in outrage.

Macau's new Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah's decision to set up an independent panel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the money transfer is a good first step.

The detailed findings of such an investigation, once made public, may help to quell some of the more vociferous claims being made.

But no investigation that is conducted only by Macau is likely to bring an end to the matter. However innocent the former governor may have been in setting up the foundation, the belief among many people that the furtive way in which the money was transferred - there was no public announcement - indicates that something is very much amiss.