The 101 awardees this year, from 40 bureaux and departments, spanned various grades, including professional and technical grades, disciplined services, general grades and Model Scale 1 grades.

Addressing the ceremony, Mr Nip noted that over the past two years, Hong Kong had encountered the double blow of disturbances and riots arising from the legislative exercise of the Fugitive Offenders Bill, as well as the COVID-19 epidemic. He highlighted that during this period, a great majority of civil service colleagues, be they disciplined services officers or civilian officers, had made tremendous efforts and contributions to support and assist the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in coping with these unprecedented challenges, and they truly deserved commendations.

Mr Nip encouraged colleagues to strive ahead with renewed perseverance in the new era, uphold their professionalism and efficiency with flexibility, think from the public’s perspective and go the extra mile in serving the public. He said that with the establishment of the Civil Service College in December 2021, the Civil Service Bureau would further enhance training for civil servants in full swing.

Introduced in 2004, the SCS’s Commendation Award Scheme (the Scheme) aims to commend colleagues who have achieved outstanding performance continuously for at least five years. The Scheme has a meticulous selection process. All nominations from Permanent Secretaries or Heads of Departments/Grades are vetted by an award committee, with the final decision on the awardees’ list being made by SCS.