ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the functions of the anti-corruption body, and the internal and external limitations that may hinder it in combating corruption. Ethical problems and corruption in the public sector are crucial issues in almost every country regardless of its political system. Public ethics and corruption can become a stumbling stone to governance and undermine government authority. Macao has been fighting corruption since the early 1990s when it was under Portuguese governance. The Macao administration enacted rules regulating the behaviors of public servants to maintain a high standard of ethics and clean government when it was under the Portuguese rule. The Macao Special Administrative Region, established on December 20, 1999, provided an opportunity for structural reform to the former “Portuguese Colony.” Some civil servants in Macao choose to tolerate and accept the administrative “deviations” as usual practices.
