{"id":329002,"date":"2024-08-28T08:56:18","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=329002"},"modified":"2024-08-28T09:01:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T14:01:41","slug":"macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Macau Judge and Casino Critic Likely to be Gambling Hub’s Next Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

Macau\u2019s former top judge has announced his intention to run for the gambling hub\u2019s highest leadership position — chief executive — and he fired a warning shot toward the casino industry on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"Sam
Sam Hou Fai, above, stressed that Macau needs to \u201creform and innovate,\u201d as he announced his intention to stand for chief executive Wednesday. (Image: Xinhua)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sam Hou Fai, 62, stepped down as president of the Court of Final Appeal ahead of his announcement this week. He is expected to be the only candidate to be approved to run for office by a pro-Beijing election panel.<\/p>\n

Macau has its own financial system and a degree of political autonomy as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) under China\u2019s one country, two systems policy. However, candidates for the chief executive role are chosen by the Beijing-approved 400-strong panel comprised of politicians and businessmen. This renders ordinary citizens\u2019 right to vote for their leader almost meaningless.<\/p>\n

\u2018Wild\u2019 Expansion<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Sam\u2019s views on the gaming industry echo Beijing\u2019s policies, which have long sought diversification of the SAR\u2019s economy. The central government is currently engaged in a crackdown on money laundering and capital flight from the mainland, which has moved from targeting the casino junket industry to illegal money-exchange businesses.<\/p>\n

For a period of time, the tourism and gaming industry developed in a disorderly manner and expanded wildly,\u201d Sam said at a press briefing Wednesday, as translated by Bloomberg<\/em>. \u201cHaving one dominant industry is not beneficial for Macau\u2019s long-term development and has had a very negative impact.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The casino industry\u2019s dominance has strained the resources of society such as manpower, and narrowed the career choices of young people, Sam claimed. As such, the city\u2019s economic and political development faced \u201cunavoidable\u201d challenges, and Macau needs to \u201creform and innovate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMacau\u2019s long-term development is only possible with the country\u2019s support,\u201d Sam added, referring essentially to heightened cooperation with Beijing.<\/p>\n

Casino Stock Impact <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Shares in Macau casino operators fell slightly on the news. Sands China Ltd. was down 2.8% Wednesday, while MGM China dropped 2.5%.<\/p>\n

\n

Hailing from Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, in mainland China, Sam would be the first chief executive to be born outside of Macau, if elected this October. He would also be the first chief executive hailing from the legal profession as opposed to the business sector.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

His predecessor, Ho Iat Seng, announced last month that he would not seek a third term as chief executive, citing poor health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macau\u2019s former top judge has announced his intention to run for the gambling hub\u2019s highest leadership position — chief executive — and he fired a warning shot toward the casino industry on Wednesday. Sam Hou Fai, 62, stepped down as president of the Court of Final Appeal ahead of his announcement this week. He is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":329003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,10,61],"tags":[92164,92163,92162],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMacau Judge and Casino Critic Likely to be Gambling Hub's Next Leader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sam Hou Fai, former president of the Court of Final Appeal will run as Macau\u2019s next chief exec and called for gambling industry reform.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Macau Judge and Casino Critic Likely to be Gambling Hub's Next Leader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sam Hou Fai, former president of the Court of Final Appeal will run as Macau\u2019s next chief exec and called for gambling industry reform.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-28T13:56:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-28T14:01:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Sam.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"625\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader\/\",\"name\":\"Macau Judge and Casino Critic Likely to be Gambling Hub's Next Leader\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Sam.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-28T13:56:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-28T14:01:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Sam Hou Fai, former president of the Court of Final Appeal will run as Macau\u2019s next chief exec and called for gambling industry reform.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-judge-and-casino-critic-likely-to-be-gambling-hubs-next-leader\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Sam.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Sam.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":625,\"caption\":\"Sam Hou Fai, above, stressed that Macau needed to \u201creform and innovate,\u201d as he announced his intention to stand for chief executive Wednesday. 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