Dear Colleagues,

Compliments from the Chief Executive

The Chief Executive hosted a reception with more than one hundred representatives from the civil service on 24 September.  You will be pleased to note that he gave full recognition and compliment to the contributions from the civil service.

The reception was held in the Government House and joined by staff representatives from the central consultative councils, major service-wide staff associations and 84 Departmental Consultative Committees. During the reception, the Chief Executive said that he had always regarded the civil service as the most important asset of the Special Administrative Region Government and took pride in being surrounded by a world-class team of professional and efficient civil servants.  He attributed the successful implementation of 'One Country, Two Systems' after the handover and the launch of various government policies to the dedication and contribution of civil servants.

It was the first time that the Chief Executive had met with representatives from Departmental Consultative Committees.  He appealed to all civil servants that both the management and staff sides must work in partnership to ride out the challenges and to ensure a more effective and efficient government.  He also asked the civil servants to join hands with the community to tackle the two top priorities on Government's agenda, i.e. revitalizing the economy and reducing the fiscal deficit.  Please visit our website at http://www.csb.gov.hk where you will find the address by the Chief Executive.

During the reception, the Chief Executive had frank exchange of views with colleagues from various departments.  He listened to staff concerns relating to outsourcing, increased workload, manpower deployment, rising expectation of the public in service delivery etc.  Colleagues were encouraged to fully cooperate with their departmental management and provide better service to the community.  He also assured colleagues that the Government would take the views of staff into account when implementing cost-saving measures.

Let us display the quality of the civil service, go the extra mile, and help Hong Kong overcome the present difficulties and scale new heights.

Yours sincerely,

(Joseph W P Wong)
Secretary for the Civil Service