Secretary for Transport and Public Works of the Macao SAR since 20 December 2024. Born in Macao in 1960, he holds a BSc in Civil Engineering with an Urban Planning minor from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, a Master of Laws in Public Administration from Sun Yat-sen University, and an MSc in Civil Engineering (Environmental and Hydraulic) from the University of Macau. He joined the Macao Municipal Council in 1988 and rose through the civic-administration apparatus to chair the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) Management Committee from 2007 to March 2016, then served as Director of the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) until December 2024 — concurrently as acting Director of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) for a year after Typhoon Hato (September 2017 – September 2018). As Secretary he oversees land, public works, transport, housing, maritime affairs and water, and cartography, and chairs the Urban Renewal Committee — handling the Hengqin LRT line, the Qingmao checkpoint, the Urban Master Plan revision, urban renewal, taxi and ride-hailing legislation, and the new Maritime Areas Law.

Thirty-six years in Macao's civic apparatus, two bureau-directorships across municipal services and environmental protection, and a year running the Meteorological Bureau after Typhoon Hato — Tam Vai Man brings the steady cadence of a career engineer to the most infrastructure-heavy portfolio in Sam Hou Fai's cabinet.

Tam Vai Man (譚偉文; in English often Raymond Tam) is Secretary for Transport and Public Works of the Macao SAR (since 20 December 2024). A civil engineer by training, he joined the Macao Municipal Council in 1988 and chaired the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) Management Committee from 2007 to 2016, then served as Director of the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) from 2016 to 2024, concurrently as acting Director of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) for the year after Typhoon Hato. Macao and international press (Macau Business, Macao News, Macao Magazine) read him as the "continuity and experience" face of the Sam cabinet — 36 unbroken years inside Macao's municipal, environmental and public-services apparatus, with no legislative seat, no business career, and no Beijing pipeline appointments — the most typical "Macao locally-cultivated civic-services" Secretary of the five principal officials.

Profile

  • Chinese Name: 譚偉文
  • English Name: Tam Vai Man (commonly signs Raymond Tam in English)
  • Born: 1960 (Macao)
  • Domains: Politics
  • Industry: Public administration · Civil engineering · Environmental protection · Urban planning
  • Subject type: Official (Secretary for Transport and Public Works)
  • Education: BSc in Civil Engineering (minor in Urban Planning) from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan; Master of Laws in Public Administration from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou; MSc in Civil Engineering (Environmental and Hydraulic) from the University of Macau
  • Sworn in (current role): 20 December 2024

Background

Tam was born in Macao in 1960 and is married. His education and career are entirely anchored in Macao's local civic apparatus: a Civil Engineering degree from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, a Master of Laws in Public Administration from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, and an MSc in Civil Engineering (Environmental and Hydraulic) from the University of Macau — three degrees, all directly relevant to his subsequent work in public administration, environmental policy and infrastructure. He entered public service in 1988, and his entire 36-year career spans the late Portuguese era through three decades of the SAR, all within the same Macao municipal, environmental and public-services system — a trajectory that distinguishes him sharply from the other Sam Hou Fai principal officials, whose backgrounds run to law, prosecution, foreign-economic affairs, or Beijing-pipeline appointments.

The public record on family is minimal — only that he is married; no spouse or children information is on the gov.mo bio or in mainstream coverage.

Note on the record. In June 2013, while serving as Chairman of the IACM Management Committee, Tam was charged with malfeasance ("瀆職罪") in the so-called "Cemetery Gate" case, alongside three other IACM officials (one of whom was Lei Wai Nong, later Secretary for Economy and Finance in the Ho Iat Seng cabinet). In July 2014 the Court of First Instance acquitted all four officials. He returned to IACM as a senior technician, was promoted to Director of the Environmental Protection Bureau in March 2016, and elevated to the cabinet in December 2024 — neither move was affected by the case.

Career

I. Thirty-six years in the civic apparatus (1988–2016)

Tam joined the Macao Municipal Council in 1988 as a second-class technician and rose through division head and acting department head; after the SAR was established in December 1999 he was reassigned as a division head of the Provisional Municipal Council. From January 2002 he worked in the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) — as senior technician, member, and Vice-Chair of the Management Committee — and from May 2007 he chaired the IACM Management Committee for almost nine years, with responsibility for streets, parks, recreation, sanitation, markets, food safety, animal management, and part of Macao's heritage portfolio — the most directly resident-facing layer of "Macao people governing Macao". The most publicly contested episode of this period was the 2013–2014 "Cemetery Gate" case, in which he and three other IACM officials were charged with malfeasance — and acquitted by the Court of First Instance in July 2014.

II. Environmental Protection Bureau Director and acting Meteorological Bureau Director (2016–2024)

On 2 March 2016 Tam was sworn in as Director of the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) — his first cross-portfolio bureau directorship — with responsibility for air quality, the marine environment, solid-waste management, environmental-impact assessment, renewable energy, and carbon-emission policy. On 23 August 2017 Super Typhoon Hato struck Macao directly, killing ten and injuring 244; in the aftermath, Meteorological Bureau Director Fong Soi Kun resigned within 24 hours over the failure to upgrade typhoon signals from his home, and on 20 September 2017 Tam was appointed acting Director of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) — concurrently with his DSPA role — running the bureau's internal restructuring, signal-system reform, and personnel rebuild for one year, until 19 September 2018. This "dual director" arrangement was a rare instance in the SAR's post-Handover record and gave Tam direct involvement in the 2017–2018 civil-protection reform — an institutional credit that helped position him for the Transport and Public Works portfolio (which oversees SMG) in 2024. He stayed at the Environmental Protection Bureau until 19 December 2024 — a nine-year tenure there.

III. Secretary for Transport and Public Works (20 December 2024–present)

On 30 November 2024 the State Council, on Chief Executive-elect Sam Hou Fai's nomination, appointed Tam Secretary for Transport and Public Works of the 6th-term MSAR Government; he was sworn in on 20 December 2024, succeeding Raimundo Arrais do Rosário (Portuguese-descended engineer; Secretary 2014–2024 across the Chui Sai On and Ho Iat Seng administrations). The portfolio covers the Land, Public Works and Construction Bureau (DSSOPT), the Transport Bureau (DSAT), the Maritime and Water Bureau (DSAMA), the Cartography and Cadastre Bureau (DSCC), the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG), the Housing Bureau (IH), the Infrastructure Development Office (GDI) and the Transport Infrastructure Office (GIT); ex officio under the Basic Law he sits on the Executive Council and chairs the Urban Renewal Committee. The major workstreams of his tenure to date include the commercial operation of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) Hengqin Line on 2 December 2024 (technically completed under Rosário but operationalised by him from Day 1), feasibility studies for the LRT West Line (Qingmao checkpoint–Fai Chi Kei–Inner Harbour–Barra) and East Line (HZMB Macao checkpoint–Zone A–Nam Van–Sai Van) aimed at a long-term "circle route", the first revision of the 2022 Urban Master Plan, urban renewal, taxi and ride-hailing legislation, the first Maritime Areas Law (passed first reading in the Legislative Assembly in May 2026), and cross-border infrastructure coordination with the Guangdong-Macao Hengqin Cooperation Zone.

Defining Moments

1. Typhoon Hato and the acting Meteorological Bureau Director year (September 2017 – September 2018)

On 23 August 2017 Super Typhoon Hato killed ten people in Macao, injured 244, and caused around MOP 11 billion in damage — the worst natural disaster the city had faced in half a century. The Commission Against Corruption opened an investigation into the Meteorological Bureau's decision process; Director Fong Soi Kun resigned within 24 hours, and Deputy Director Vong Sok Iun stepped down half a year later. On 20 September 2017 Tam was appointed acting Director of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau, while continuing as DSPA Director, running the bureau's internal restructuring, signal-system reform, and external emergency coordination for one year until 19 September 2018. This "dual director" arrangement placed him at the operational heart of Macao's 2017–2018 civil-protection reform, and laid the political and institutional credit on which his elevation to the Transport and Public Works portfolio (which now oversees SMG) was built six years later.

2. Commercial operation of the LRT Hengqin Line and the "circle route" studies (from December 2024)

The day before Tam took office (2 December 2024), the LRT Hengqin Line began commercial operation, linking Taipa Station with the Hengqin Port checkpoint — the first cross-border light-rail line in the Greater Bay Area; the Seac Pai Van extension opened in parallel. On 1 May 2025 Tam publicly committed in the Legislative Assembly that the government would "continue to expand Macao's LRT network", and disclosed that feasibility studies had begun on the West Line (Qingmao checkpoint–Fai Chi Kei–Inner Harbour–Barra) and the East Line (HZMB Macao checkpoint–Zone A–Nam Van–Sai Van), with the long-term goal of forming a "circle route". Macau Post Daily described his remarks as the first time since the Handover that a Secretary for Transport and Public Works has explicitly committed the LRT to becoming Macao's primary public-transport mode.

3. Taxi and ride-hailing legislation; urban-renewal public consultation (from 2025)

In the second half of 2025, as Chairman of the Urban Renewal Committee, Tam launched the first revision of the 2022 Urban Master Plan and opened a public consultation; he openly acknowledged that "Macao's sluggish property market is currently one of the biggest challenges for urban renewal" and proposed tax incentives and registration-fee exemptions as tools to unblock the redevelopment of old-district condominiums (Macau Business). On the transport side, he announced that the Taxi Regulation would be amended in 2026 to "create favourable conditions for ride-hailing taxis", with plans to add some 800 taxis in phases (taking the fleet above 2,000), to expand accessible taxis from 7 to 28, and to roll out new LRT payment-gate methods in Q3 2026.

4. The 2026 Policy Address sectoral debate: housing, maritime, the airport (1–2 December 2025)

On 1–2 December 2025 Tam ran an unusually long (more than eight hours over two days) Legislative Assembly debate on the Transport and Public Works sector of the 2026 Policy Address. On housing, he committed to study allocating two-bedroom social-housing units to two-person households, to shorten wait times, to activate existing replacement and temporary housing stock, and to re-evaluate the northern parcel of Iao Hon Son Lei House for either affordable housing or a different use. On maritime affairs, the first Maritime Areas Law passed its first reading in the Legislative Assembly in May 2026 — the most consequential domestic legislation since Macao was granted jurisdiction over 85 km² of maritime areas in 2015. On the airport, Tam represented the Chief Executive at the Macao International Airport's 30th anniversary and joined the discussion of its expansion. Macau Daily Times summed up his style: "Tam answers in technical detail, not grand political rhetoric — consistent with his engineering background".

Public Character

Press coverage of Tam clusters tightly on the same descriptors: technical, engineer, low-profile, process-oriented, locally cultivated within the civic apparatus, "continuity and experience". Macao News' cabinet-formation framing — that the Sam cabinet "reflects a focus on continuity and experience, with all the selected candidates being career civil servants" — fits Tam most directly: 36 years inside one system, never leaving the Macao municipal, environmental and public-services apparatus. Macau Business notes that the workload his predecessor Raimundo Rosário left behind (LRT, urban renewal, the airport) is "the most concretely measurable infrastructure portfolio of the Sam Hou Fai government", and reads Tam's appointment as a choice for an official with proven ability to carry long-running public-works programmes across multiple administrations.

Assessment splits two ways. Favourable views stress stability and execution: pro-establishment and business circles describe his cadence on the Maritime Areas Law, the LRT Hengqin Line operationalisation, and urban-renewal consultation as "predictable and methodical", and treat his engineering background as a credible indicator of "understanding what projects can actually be delivered". Reserved views come from local independent press. AAMacau / 論盡媒體 has run sustained questioning of his housing-policy timetable, LRT completion schedule, and urban-renewal pace. Macau Daily Times uses notably flat framings — "Tam answers in technical detail, not grand political rhetoric", "Sluggish property market slows urban renewal, says Raymond Tam", "Secretary urges caution over replacement housing resources" — that implicitly read him as "managing decline rather than driving change". At the central level, Xi Jinping's December 2025 written verdict on the Sam cabinet did not single Tam out by name, but the cross-border Hengqin infrastructure and Greater Bay Area integration work in his portfolio are explicit priorities of Beijing's "Macao-Hengqin integration" framework.

Comparatively: predecessor Raimundo Rosário (2014–2024), a Portuguese-descended engineer brought into the Chui Sai On cabinet from the presidency of the University of Macau, served 10 years across two CEs and completed the LRT Taipa Line, Seac Pai Van extension, and Hengqin Line; Tam Vai Man is a locally cultivated Macao engineer who inherits "all of Rosário's long-running projects" and adds new local legislation (Maritime Areas Law, urban renewal, taxi and ride-hailing) — the overall cadence is closer to a local civic-services official than to Rosário's Lusophone-engineer register.

Key Achievements

  • Secretary for Transport and Public Works of the 6th-term MSAR Government (from 20 December 2024) — oversees land, public works, transport, housing, maritime and water affairs, and cartography; concurrently a member of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Urban Renewal Committee
  • Director of the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) (2 March 2016 – 19 December 2024; almost 9 years) — air quality, marine environment, solid-waste management, EIA, and renewable-energy policy
  • Acting Director of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) (20 September 2017 – 19 September 2018) — succeeded the post-Hato leadership vacuum, ran a year of internal restructuring and signal-system reform; a rare "dual director" arrangement in the post-Handover SAR
  • Chairman of the IACM Management Committee (May 2007 – March 2016; almost 9 years) — Macao's municipal services, markets, parks, recreation, sanitation, and food safety
  • Lead Secretary for the 2 December 2024 commercial operation of the LRT Hengqin Line — the first cross-border light-rail line in the Greater Bay Area
  • Lead Secretary for the first Maritime Areas Law (passed first reading in the Legislative Assembly, May 2026) — the SAR's most consequential domestic legislation since being granted jurisdiction over 85 km² of maritime areas in 2015
  • Lead Secretary for 2026 taxi and ride-hailing legislation, urban renewal, and the first revision of the 2022 Urban Master Plan
  • 2014 Cemetery Gate case acquittal — charged in 2013 with malfeasance as IACM Management Committee Chairman alongside three other IACM officials; all four acquitted by the Court of First Instance in July 2014

Information compiled from gov.mo (Chinese and English principal-officials pages), the Government Information Bureau (gcs.gov.mo), Macau Daily Times, Macau Post Daily, Macao News, Macao Magazine, Macau Business, Plataforma Media, Hoje Macau, AAMacau / 論盡媒體, Lik Pou (exmoo.com), Railway Gazette, and Legislative Assembly (al.gov.mo) records, among other publicly available sources. Cross-check methodology: see docs/PROFILE_RESEARCH_STANDARD.md. If anything is inaccurate or needs updating, please contact us — we aim to respond within 48 hours.