Commentary by Manuel Silvério
Independent public policy and regional development analyst
(Former senior public official with international experience and a longstanding commitment to public policy and sports development)
I had not intended to comment on this appointment. As it is a temporary arrangement within an already announced restructuring process, I initially thought it more prudent to await the Administrative Regulation that will define the future organisation.
However, some of the reactions that have since emerged suggest that it may be useful to recall a few background details that help explain the present situation.
The merger of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), the Sports Bureau (ID) and the Cultural Development Fund is not a new proposal. Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai announced it when presenting the 2026 Policy Address on November 18, 2025, as part of a broader public administration reform intended, according to the government, to strengthen coordination and improve the effectiveness of governance.
The decision to appoint Deland Leong Wai Man, an architect by profession, as acting president of the Sports Bureau, concurrently with her presidency of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, from September 20 to October 31, should therefore be understood within this planned process.
That is 42 days.
The duration does not appear incidental. Several appointments of Sports Bureau officials expire on October 31, including those of the vice-president, the head of the Sports Development Department and the head of the Sports Associations Support Division.
These coinciding dates suggest an administrative timetable coordinated with the restructuring underway. The 42 days can therefore be understood as a period of preparation and transition. The definitive arrangements will become clear when the relevant Administrative Regulation* is published.
This is also why I find it overly simplistic to focus the entire discussion on whether the appointee “comes from sport”.
In Macau, particularly, I do not believe that a sporting background should be the decisive criterion for leading sports administration. Knowledge of the sector matters, and technically competent professionals within the organisation are indispensable. But leading a public body requires broader abilities: management, leadership, coordination, decision-making and, increasingly, a regional and international outlook.
Macau is a small city, but its sporting ambitions should not be small.
Major events, athlete and youth development, relations with international federations, cooperation with the Chinese mainland and the Greater Bay Area (GBA), the use of facilities, sports tourism, attracting competitions and supporting sports associations all require the ability to work across sectors.
A good leader does not need to replace specialists. A good leader must listen to them, coordinate their work and create the conditions for technical knowledge to become policies, decisions and results.
Leong’s career also deserves consideration before her appointment is judged solely on the absence of a professional background in sport.
She joined the Cultural Affairs Bureau in 2009 and spent much of her career working in cultural heritage, holding management positions before becoming vice-president and, in 2022, president.
Over these years, she has worked within an organisation responsible for complex matters: heritage conservation and management, urban revitalisation, major cultural events, and regional and international cooperation. Leong has also chaired the Cultural Heritage Council in an acting capacity, overseeing discussions on matters including the Historic Centre’s protection and management plan, restoration projects and intangible cultural heritage.
The international dimension has also become more prominent. Macau’s 2025 “Culture City of East Asia” programme provided a platform for cultural cooperation between China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, involving local coordination and regional exchanges. The bureau has also organised international forums, including the International Cultural Forum on the Maritime Silk Road, bringing together institutions and specialists from different parts of the world.
These achievements should not be attributed to the president alone. Public bodies have their own teams and operate under government supervision. They do, however, point to accumulated experience in project management, institutional coordination, heritage, major events and external relations. That experience should also be considered when assessing the choice made for these 42 days.
Two questions must nevertheless be distinguished.
One is how to ensure an administrative transition lasting just over a month. The other is who should lead Macau’s sports development within the new organisation in the years ahead, and how.
It is the second question that concerns me most.
I sincerely hope this restructuring will open better prospects for sport in Macau: for our young people, athletes and associations, and for everyone with experience, contacts, ideas and a willingness to contribute.
The ability to receive and assess proposals for international sporting initiatives also deserves attention.
Good ideas, interested partners and willing counterparts abroad are not enough. Macau must also be able to receive a proposal, assess it, discuss it and reach a timely decision.
Naturally, not every initiative can or should be accepted. The administration has a duty to examine the public interest, feasibility, costs, risks and practical requirements of each proposal.
But between acceptance and refusal lie some essential responsibilities: analysis, dialogue, explanation and a reply.
That is also what I expect of the future organisation.
Administrative procedures are necessary. So is rigour. What must be avoided is a situation in which unnecessary bureaucracy, inadequate coordination or technical capacity, insufficient transparency, a lack of dialogue or delayed replies – sometimes no replies at all – discourage people and projects that could contribute to Macau.
Submitting a serious proposal does not entitle anyone to approval. It should, however, allow them to know whom to contact, which rules apply, what conditions must be met, whether the proposal is viable and, ultimately, to receive a clear answer within a reasonable period.
That, too, is good public administration.
Perhaps this is one of the merger’s greatest opportunities: to create an organisation better able to connect culture, sport, major events, youth, tourism and external relations while preserving the specialist knowledge each field requires. The change should be reflected in working practices and the results achieved.
For sport, this will require good technical professionals. It will also require capable managers, effective decision-making and a vision that reaches beyond Macau towards the Greater Bay Area, the country and the world.
The 42 days are merely a transition.
What truly matters begins afterwards.
Let us await the Administrative Regulation, hoping that the next stage will provide better conditions for those who wish to contribute – for sport, for young people and for Macau.
Macao SAR, September 16, 2026.
End
*An administrative regulation (regulamento administrative/行政法規) in Macau serves a similar legal function to a by-law or secondary legislation in other jurisdictions – it is a subordinate instrument passed by the executive branch to implement and detail primary laws enacted by the legislature. In Macau, unlike a law proposed by the executive, an administrative regulation drafted by the government does not require the legislature’s approval– Gemini/MPD
