Dear colleagues,

On this first day of my appointment to the office of the Secretary for the Civil Service, I wish to assure you that I will work according to the principles of equity and fairness. I also pledge that I will continue to strengthen communications with the staff associations, departmental management and members of the Civil Service in a frank and open manner.

Since I joined the public service 27 years ago, I have been experiencing first-hand its tremendous changes. I earnestly believe that in terms of integrity, efficiency and public commitment, our Civil Service is among the best in the world. This is a hard-earned achievement which is to be cherished. Our objective should therefore be to maintain and improve on our present quality of service, which is also the community's expectation.

Having gone through carefully the Civil Service Reform documents, I consider the policies concerned both timely and reasonable. It is timely because we are in an unprecedented and rapidly changing age which is knowledge-based and technology-oriented. It must be served by a Civil Service with greater flexibility and efficiency; and it therefore calls for improvements to the existing systems of recruitment, appointment, training and salary structure. It is reasonable because the Government has given the undertaking that no serving officer will be forced to leave the service or will have his or her pay and conditions of service reduced under the pretext of reform.

One of the major tasks of the Civil Service Bureau is to continue to implement various reform initiatives. I know that some of these initiatives have caused anxiety to many colleagues; and I will do my best to allay your concerns. I do hope you will face the changes brought about by the reform measures in a positive spirit. I assure you that in the process of reform careful consideration will be given to your views. I also expect that you will accept the challenge and seek to continuously upgrade your attributes and ability in a steadfast manner.

I will write to you regularly to share with you my views on matters concerning the Civil Service. I will let you know that behind every policy or recommendation, full account has been taken of the interests of civil servants and the keen expectations of the public.

(Joseph W P Wong)
Secretary for the Civil Service