Sam Hou Fai () is a Macau politician and former judge who is currently the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Macau since 2024 and previously served as the 1st President of the

Court of Final Appeal of Macau The Court of Final Appeal of Macau (; ) is the court with the final adjudication power on laws of Macau. Prior to 1999, the highest court was the Higher Court of Justice of Macau and prior to that the Court of Appeal of the Judiciary Distric ...

, the highest court in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Early life and education

Sam was born in May 1962 in China and raised in

Zhongshan Zhongshan ( zh, c=中山 ), alternately romanized via Cantonese as Chungshan, is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is n ...

. After entering university in 1978 he entered law school in 1981 and earned his bachelor's degree in law from

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

. After practicing law in China he moved to Macau in 1986, studied at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...

and joined the Public Prosecutions Office of Macau in 1995. Sam, alongside important Macanese officials born in Mainland China, including

Wong Sio Chak Wong Sio Chak (; born September 1968) is a Macau politician who is the current Secretary for Security of Macau, fourth most senior government official in Macau. Early life Wong was born in Guangdong province in September 1968. He received a bac ...

and

Cheong Weng Chon André Cheong Weng Chon (; ; born September 1966) is the Secretary for Administration and Justice, the second most senior government official in Macau. Early life Cheong Weng Chon was born in Beijing in 1966. He received a Bachelor of Arts in ...

, are widely deemed among the 13 officials handpicked by Beijing to be nurtured to become the future governing team for the city.

Legal career

In 1997, Sam became a judge at the Court of First Instance and was later elected as member of the Council of Justice. On 20 December 1999, he was appointed by the

as the President of the Court of Final Appeal. He also holds the positions of President of the Council of the Judicial Magistrates, Member of the Independent Commission on the Recommendation of Judges, Member of the Working Committee on Regional Legal Assistance and International Mutual Legal Assistance and Honorable Chairman of the Macao Basic Law Promotional Association. During his tenure he served as the presiding judge for

Ao Man Long Ao Man Long (; born in December 1956) was the first Secretary for Transport and Public Works of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, from 20 December 1999 to 6 December 2006. On 8 December 2006, Ao was a ...

's corruption case.

Political career

On 26 August 2024, Chief Executive

Ho Iat Seng Ho Iat Seng (born 12 June 1957) is a Macau politician who served as the third chief executive of Macau from 2019 to 2024. Early life Born in Macau to his parents from Jinhua, Zhejiang, Ho studied at . In 1992, he studied electronic engineering ...

announced Sam's resignation as President of the Court of Final Appeal and his intent to run in the 2024 Chief Executive election. He officially announced his intention to run on 28 August 2024. Sam secured 386 out of 400 nominations from the Electoral Committee before deadline on 12 September, accounting for 96.5% of its members, making him the sole candidate of the chief executive election. Sam received 394 out of 400 votes in the election held on 13 October, making him the first chief executive of Macau to be born in Mainland China and without business background.

Political views

Economic policy

Sam warned against the dominant role the gaming centres play in Macau's economy, saying that "for a period of time, the

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

and gaming industry developed in a disorderly manner and expanded wildly". He said growth of casinos had strained resources such as manpower and narrowed the career choices for young people, and called for diversifying away from the industry. Sam promised to support long-term development of local business, and stressed that integrating into the national development "is the most important policy for Macau’s future development".

References

1962 births Chief executives of Macau Presidents of the Court of Final Appeal (Macau) Living people Peking University alumni University of Coimbra alumni Politicians from Zhongshan {{Asia-law-bio-stub