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23 July 2002
Dear Colleagues,
Reinforcing Communication within the Civil Service
I am writing to inform you of the initiatives to reinforce my communication network within the civil service.
When I first took up the office of the Secretary for the Civil Service on August 1, 2000, I pledged to step up the Administration's communication with the staff associations, departmental management and members of the civil service. In the past 24 months, I have had regular meetings with the staff sides of the central consultative councils, and held discussion sessions with major staff associations on important policy reviews. I have also visited one department every week on average to keep in touch with departmental staff associations and frontline staff, and written to individual colleagues whenever there are matters of their concern.
Under the Accountability System, I am committed to strengthening both the breadth and the depth of my communication network with civil servants. I shall work closely with all civil service staff associations and provide new avenues for you to tender your views directly to me and the Civil Service Bureau. Starting from August, I shall introduce two new initiatives :
(a) To provide an opportunity for individual colleagues to have face-to-face discussions with me on matters of common concern, meetings with the Secretary for the Civil Service (the forums) will be held bi-weekly at Government offices in different districts. During the 75-minute face-to-face discussion forum, I shall update colleagues of the latest development in civil service policy and management, listen to your views and answer your questions. Proceedings of the forums will be recorded and uploaded to the Civil Service Bureau website for the benefits of colleagues who cannot attend. Details of the forums will be announced shortly and the first forum will be held on August 22, 2002 at the North Point Government Offices. Do watch out for our announcement and register promptly.
(b) Apart from my regular meetings with the staff sides of the central consultative councils and main staff associations, I shall meet with all the other staff associations within the civil service. I shall have a weekly programme to meet with these associations.
Let me emphasise that these two new initiatives will be introduced on top of the existing communication channels which have been in place. My objective is simple : to reach out to more civil service staff associations and colleagues directly for a frank exchange of views on civil service matters.
Apart from strengthening the communication network between myself and civil servants, I have also asked Heads of Departments to explore new means which can further improve the staff consultative machinery within their departments. You are aware that the Chief Executive attaches great importance to a dedicated and well-motivated civil service and it is incumbent on me and all the other principal officials to maintain an effective communication and working relationship with civil servants. I shall keep you posted of any new developments in this respect.
Before closing, I would like to share with you the encouraging remarks by Mr James Hughes-Hallett, Chairman of the Swire Group on the Hong Kong Civil Service in a recent television programme "View from the Top" on July 19, 2002 :
"It has become fashionable in the last few years to knock Hong Kong's civil service. I have worked in a number of countries over my life and can say, absolutely, that we have the best civil service of any country that I have worked in. It is accessible, fantastically professional, properly paid - which is important - and the corruption level is intangible; you know it just is not there compared to anywhere else that I have worked. So there is a huge plus for Hong Kong."
Let us continue to put in our best for the people of Hong Kong and face future challenges with pride and confidence.
Yours sincerely,
(Joseph W P Wong)
Secretary for the Civil Service
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