Lai Minhua (; January 1959 – 30 October 2015) was a police officer from

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 ...

, who was Director General of Macau Customs Service. According to official sources, she died by suicide in 2015; however, doubt has been cast over this verdict.

Early life and education

Lai was born in January 1959 in

, but her family originate from

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

. She graduated from

Macau Security Force The Public Security Forces Affairs Bureau of Macau (, ) is government department of the Macau Government, it is responsible for public security, civil defence, and protection of persons and property. Its predecessor is the Macau Security Forces ...

Higher School with a BA in police science and went on study for a MA in Public Administration from

Sun Yat-sen University Sun Yat-sen University (; SYSU) is a public university in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education, SASTIND, and Guangdong Provincial Government. The university is p ...

Career

Lai joined the Macau Public Security Police Force in April 1984. She moved to the Marine Police Inspection Team the following year as a second-class officer. In June 1986, she was promoted to Deputy Sheriff; in October 1990, she was promoted to Sheriff. She was appointed Deputy Superintendent of Police in January 1995, and then rose to the position of Chief Police Officer. In March 1999, she was appointed deputy director of the Marine Police Inspection Bureau and deputy director of Customs. At the time of her death, she was Director General of the Macao Customs Service.

Death

On 30 October 2015, she was found dead in a public toilet next to a private housing estate in

Taipa Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; , ) is an area in Macau, connected to Coloane through the area known as Cotai, which is largely built from reclaimed land. Located on the northern half of the island, Taipa's population is mostly suburban. Administrativ ...

. According to the police, Lai had taken sleeping pills and had cuts on her right neck and wrists; in addition, a plastic bag had been placed on her head. The wounds on her body were consistent with self-infliction, but the utility knife apparently used was found neatly stored in the deceased's handbag. Initially the possibility of suicide was ruled out, as no suicide note was found at the scene, and she was scheduled to go to

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

that day to discuss anti-smuggling work with the local police. Later, the Judiciary Police ruled out the possibility of murder, so she was suspected of committing suicide. However, according to the Macau

Commission Against Corruption The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC; zh, 廉政公署; ) is the statutory independent anti-corruption body of Macau with the primary objective of combating corruption, bribery, and other illicit activities in both the public and private s ...

, Lai was not the target of a commission investigation, and there was no known reason for suicide. On the day the news of Lai's death was posted, some netizens questioned the veracity of the claim of suicide, and citing whether the deceased could cut other parts of the body and use a plastic bag to cover their head, whilst under the influence of drugs, with multiple wounds. Hong Kong cartoonist Bai Shui expressed this question in cartoons in his satirical comic work "Warm Shui Theater".

Legacy

According to official sources, Lai was the first senior official to commit suicide in office since Macau was handed over to the People's Republic of China in 1999. Her death, and its subsequent reporting, has been used as a case study on media use in Macau and in particular how mainstream media was reluctant to report on her death.

References

{{Authority control 1959 births 2015 deaths Macau women in politics Sun Yat-sen University alumni Macau people Women police officers 21st-century police officers 20th-century police officers Drug-related deaths in China Deaths by stabbing in China