Our Ref. : BP 6/25 3 August 2004
Dear Colleagues,
Hong Kong Civil Service Continues to Impress
Regular readers of my letter may recall that in February 2002, I informed you of the results of a survey of expatriates working in Asia on their perception of the civil service in various places. According to the most recent survey by the same institution, the Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd, Hong Kong continues to have the best reputation for holding bureaucracy to a minimum. However, the perception of the efficiency of the Hong Kong civil service has deteriorated slightly since 2002. The complete score chart covering twelve places for the years 2001 to 2004 is as follows :
Rating Asian Civil Servants
|
Bureaucracy/red tape |
Civil service efficiency |
|
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
| China |
7.63 |
8.50 |
7.75 |
8.69 |
6.50 |
7.67 |
7.67 |
6.03 |
| Hong Kong |
3.07 |
3.64 |
3.11 |
1.90 |
4.00 |
3.26 |
3.39 |
3.50 |
| India |
8.88 |
9.67 |
9.00 |
8.90 |
6.80 |
7.83 |
8.00 |
8.15 |
| Indonesia |
8.33 |
9.33 |
8.25 |
7.57 |
9.50 |
8.33 |
8.50 |
7.25 |
| Japan |
5.50 |
7.00 |
7.05 |
7.00 |
4.00 |
4.33 |
4.25 |
2.05 |
| Malaysia |
6.50 |
7.00 |
6.60 |
5.67 |
6.00 |
6.86 |
5.67 |
7.00 |
| Philippines |
8.00 |
8.08 |
8.00 |
7.25 |
6.50 |
8.25 |
7.33 |
7.42 |
| Singapore |
3.83 |
3.10 |
2.80 |
2.50 |
2.80 |
1.70 |
0.57 |
1.63 |
| South Korea |
6.33 |
5.50 |
5.65 |
5.17 |
5.00 |
5.50 |
5.00 |
6.33 |
| Taiwan |
6.38 |
6.17 |
6.00 |
6.13 |
5.71 |
6.17 |
5.50 |
5.50 |
| Thailand |
8.18 |
7.89 |
8.00 |
7.17 |
7.90 |
7.56 |
7.60 |
7.83 |
| Vietnam |
9.50 |
8.13 |
7.75 |
8.57 |
9.75 |
7.88 |
8.25 |
8.14 |
Grades range from zero to 10, with zero being the best grade possible and 10 the worst.
While we should take pride in the high rating achieved in the survey, there is no room for complacency. We should continue to work together to improve the efficiency of our civil service. An Announcement in the Public Interest promoting the customer-oriented culture of the civil service will be broadcast on television and radio stations starting this evening. I hope it will encourage you to consider what suggestion you can put to your departmental management and the Civil Service Bureau to improve the efficiency and quality of our public service.
I value your views.
Yours sincerely,
(Joseph W P Wong)
Secretary for the Civil Service
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