Dear colleagues,

You may have learnt from the media that Mr Leung Kam-kwong, Senior Immigration Officer, passed away yesterday after suffering serious injuries in the course of performing his duties.

Mr Leung was an dedicated officer who always cared for his colleagues and enjoyed living a full life. All of us in the Civil Service, including the staff of the Immigration Department and myself, have been saddened by his death. We are arranging a funeral of the highest honour for Mr Leung. We sincerely extend our condolences to Mrs Leung and her family and will do all we can to help them go through this period of sadness and difficulties.

The Chief Executive Mr Tung Chee Hwa has praised Mr Leung as representing the best amongst civil servants. Throughout his precious life, Mr Leung has displayed an excellent civil servant's commitment and attitude towards life and work. His meticulousness in work has won him commendation from his superiors and respect from his subordinates. He discharged his duties impartially, remained calm during emergencies, and was always the first to react in a crisis situation, putting the interests of his colleagues before his own. Mr Leung spent his leisure time with his family, friends and took part in many activities.

The arson tragedy has resulted in the death of Mr Leung and injury to a number of other colleagues, some of whom are still in hospital. We condemn the perpetrators for this savage act and believe that they will eventually be brought to justice.

Although the incident has a tremendous emotional impact on our Immigration colleagues, we, as well as members of the public, are grateful that they remain a professional and disciplined service and continue to discharge their duties calmly and impartially in accordance with the law and government policies.

Colleagues who have been working closely with Mr Leung over the years are grieved by his passing away. Yet, I am confident that they would follow Mr Leung's example and demonstrate the same professionalism, not allowing their work and their service to the community to be affected by their sadness.

I hope that Mr Leung's passing away would remind colleagues as well as the public of the fact that the civil service is a cornerstone for maintaining Hong Kong's stability. We are dedicated to our job and committed to discharging our duties without fear or favour. We will continue to act with fairness, professionalism and impartiality in delivering our services and win the whole-hearted support of the community.

Let us once again pay our respects to Mr Leung and offer our sincerest condolences to his family.