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A proposed 'sunshine law' requiring Macau officials to disclose their wealth faces a hurdle in the form of complex business interests at high levels of the government, analysts say.
Chief Executive Dr Fernando Chui Sai-on said last week he was considering a sunshine bill, echoing President Hu Jintao's call for a cleaner Macau government.
Jose Coutinho, a legislator and head of the Macau Civil Servants Association, said the biggest challenge facing enactment of such a law came from within the government.
It would be difficult to introduce because some people may not want their assets to be disclosed, he said. 'Full disclosure will prompt questions about their sources of income.'
Under Macau's existing asset declaration law, top officials only need to report their wealth to the Court of Final Appeal, and the public is barred from accessing the files on their assets.
Political commentator Professor Larry So Man-yum of the Macau Polytechnic Institute said the plan to enact a sunshine law in Macau was ultimately driven by the central government. 'Clearly, there's the central government's will behind it, as President Hu's call was followed by a quick response from Macau,' So said.
Building a clean and efficient government was among the 'four hopes' expressed by the president when he attended the inauguration of the new Macau government last month.
Chui mentioned his plan for a sunshine law when he met academics and experts on various social issues on Tuesday last week, in a meeting seen as part of the preparations for his policy address in March.
He said he would increase the transparency of officials' assets, which should be made 'adequately open' to the public. He said he was considering making such information on officials' wealth accessible to the public.
Chui said he had discussed the plan to improve transparency with Fong Man-chong,  Macau's new Commissioner Against Corruption.
Macau is a tiny and close-knit city with the interests of its influential citizens often interlinked. Chui's family, one of Macau's ruling clans, has widespread business interests in the city, covering property, construction, tourism and commodities. 
When he ran for chief executive in an uncontested race in July last year, Chui tried to convince the public that he could avoid conflicts of interest arising from his family business background. 
'It's hard for one to choose one's family background, but after getting educated and serving society, one can obey the law,' he said in May last year.
In a controversial land deal in 2006, a company associated with Chui Sai-cheong  - the chief executive's elder brother and a legislator - acquired a 100,000 square metre site on Taipa island from the government for below market price. The company acquired the site for 231 million patacas, which property consultants said was half its market value.
So said successful enactment of a sunshine law would help ease the public's doubts over Chui's impartiality. 
But he said the devil was in the details and the law must come with clauses ensuring full disclosure and high accessibility of information disclosed. 'We'll have to see whether the law will apply to an official's spouse, what types of assets will be subject to disclosure and whether the public can access the information,' So said.
Coutinho said a sunshine law alone was not enough and an accountability system must be introduced to ensure a clean government.
In April last year, former secretary for transport and public works Ao Man-long  was jailed for 28 years and six months on 81 counts of bribe-taking, money laundering and other crimes involving hundreds of millions of patacas. 
The scandal fuelled campaigns against 'businesspeople ruling Macau' - a play on the phrase 'Macau people ruling Macau', enshrined in the city's Basic Law.



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Macau

Top officials' business interests pose hurdle to 'sunshine law' in Macau