Chui must modernise his approach to governing Macau

Although Fernando Chui Sai-on has been re-elected as chief executive in Macau with 380 out of the 396 votes cast by Election Committee members, his paternalistic government faces daunting challenges in the next five years.

First and foremost, his "new" government will have to tackle livelihood issues in a more forceful and effective way. While residents and tourists complain about the absence of satisfactory transport services, local casino employees and citizens have been grumbling about the difficulties in applying for public housing units.

Chui's campaign team put livelihood issues at the top of his agenda, but it remains to be seen how the government will address these issues.

All these problems reflect bureaucratic problems in Macau. Civil service reforms need to focus not just on salary increases and improvements in fringe benefits, they will also have to target better departmental leadership, coordination and crisis management.

Macau's bureaucrats have been characterised by complacency, an inability to anticipate crises, and clumsiness in responding to public and media criticism. Worse, the apparently hardline treatment of a minority of political dissidents who orchestrated the so-called referendum movement has raised concern.

Although Macau remains characterised by paternalistic rule, its disciplinary forces are expected to be more tolerant of dissent, and more skilful in dealing with those of the post-90s generation who believe that Macau should have a more democratic political system.

All bureaucrats should ideally undergo training to develop a more open-minded attitude towards dissenting views.