Civil Service Newsletter Issue 122

Promoting gold market development to further
expand the financial services sector

Accolades for exemplary civil servants and outstanding civil service volunteers

Explanation of WCAG 2.0 Level Double-A Conformance

Civil Service Bureau

The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee Ka-chiu (first row, seventh right); the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan (first row, seventh left); the Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Ms Maisie Cheng Mei-sze (first row, sixth right); and the Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service, Ms Shirley Lam Shuet-lai (first row, fifth right), were pictured with award recipients of the Secretary for the Civil Service’s Commendation Award Scheme.

At the Secretary for the Civil Service (SCS)’s Commendation Award and Civil Service Volunteer Commendation Award Presentation Ceremony 2025 held on 12 March 2026, Mrs Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan, SCS, commended civil servants with consistently exemplary performance, and recognised civil service volunteer teams and individuals for their outstanding performance and contributions in participating in and promoting volunteer service. The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee Ka-chiu, also attended the ceremony to extend his congratulations to the award recipients.

Mrs Yeung congratulated the awardees at the ceremony and thanked them for their dedication to serving the public through their work or volunteer services, setting an excellent example for the entire civil service. She said that all civil servants should take the initiative to understand the content of the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan and actively reflect on how to align their work with it and contribute to Hong Kong’s alignment with the 15th Five-Year Plan, thereby enabling Hong Kong to better integrate into and serve the overall national development. She expressed confidence that civil servants would continue to uphold a strong sense of responsibility and mission, coupled with an innovative mindset, to enhance public service standards with a view to enabling Hong Kong to achieve high-quality development.

Speaking at the ceremony, SCS, Mrs Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan, thanked the award winners for demonstrating the spirit of dedication to serving the public through their work or volunteer services, setting an excellent example for the entire civil service.

SCS’s Commendation Award Scheme

The SCS’s Commendation Award Scheme was introduced in 2004 to commend staff members who have achieved exemplary work performance continuously in the last five years or above. The scheme has a rigorous selection process requiring nominations from Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Departments or Heads of Grades and adjudication by a high-level selection committee of the Government; the final decision on the awardees’ list is made by the SCS.

A total of 100 civil servants received commendation in 2025. They are from 39 bureaux and departments across 55 grades, including professional and technical grades, disciplined services and general grades (see the list of award recipients on pages 11 to 12). The Civil Service Bureau has lifted, since 2024, the requirement that award recipients must have 20 years of service to be eligible for a travel award such that all awardees could benefit regardless of their length of service. Among the awardees in 2025, 16 have less than 20 years of service, which fully demonstrates the departments’ readiness to commend colleagues with outstanding performances with varied lengths of service as an encouragement and as a role model.

Civil Service Volunteer Commendation Scheme

Launched in 2024, the Civil Service Volunteer Commendation Scheme includes awards for volunteer teams and individuals. Serving civil servants, government contract staff and retired civil servants are eligible for nomination for the awards. In 2025, six government departments received the Outstanding Volunteer Team Award, seven volunteer teams received the Meritorious Volunteer Service Award, and 435 staff received individual awards (see the list of award recipients on page 12), a nearly 30% increase compared to the last round, and the total volunteer service hours also rose by about 11 000 hours to 53 000 hours, highlighting a significant surge in civil servants’ commitment and enthusiasm for volunteer services.

Two civil servants who received the SCS’s Commendation Award, Senior Scientific Officer (Forecast Development) of the Hong Kong Observatory Mr Wong Wai-kin (first left), and Chief Customs Officer of the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department Mr Wong Chi-ming (second left), were pictured with the two representatives from the winning teams of the Civil Service Volunteer Commendation Award, Assistant Officer I of the Correctional Services Department Mr Chui Man-lung (first right), and Senior Inspector of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department Mr Chan Man-tak (second right).