Policy Address
Strengthening the Governing Team
34. Having put in place an enhanced government structure for more effective governance, what we also need is a professional and highly efficient governing team consisting of people devoted and loyal to the country and Hong Kong, adept at policy making as well as execution, and driven by a strong sense of responsibility and commitment to serving the people of Hong Kong with assiduity. I have served for three terms of the HKSAR Government as Director of Bureau, Chief Secretary for Administration and now the Chief Executive. I fully recognise and have actually come across the difficulties in attracting talents to join this “hot kitchen”. I hope that with an improved electoral system, more patriots who love Hong Kong and who have the aspirations, ability and commitment will be willing to accept the challenges and join the governing team to make contributions to Hong Kong and the country.
35. In addition, directorate civil servants including Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments, who are at the core and highest echelons of the civil service, also play a critical role in the effective implementation of policies in the HKSAR. I have asked the Secretary for the Civil Service to review the existing selection and appointment mechanism for the senior levels of the civil service in the coming months in accordance with the principle of meritocracy, with a view to appointing the most visionary and competent officers to the most suitable positions. I will invite the Public Service Commission to participate in the related work.
Advocating Dedicated Positions with Specific Responsibilities
36. Concerning manpower deployment of the public sector, I have in recent years encouraged colleagues to play an “advocacy” role in certain specific areas. In this respect, the work of creating dedicated commissioner posts with specific responsibilities, such as Commissioner for Heritage, Commissioner for Sports and Commissioner for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, is bearing fruit. The dedicated commissioner posts serve to highlight the importance the Government attaches to the relevant policy areas. Also, the undesirable situation of fragmentation of responsibilities among different departments or that people have nowhere to turn to for assistance could be avoided. I have suggested to Directors of Bureaux that they may make greater use of commissioner posts to take forward the relevant work. The post of Commissioner for Children, for example, should be conducive to helping the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB) promote child protection, whereas the post of Commissioner for Harbourfront should facilitate the beautification of the harbourfront by the DEVB, both within and outside the Government.
Enhancing Government’s Capability in Information Dissemination and Public Communication
37. In this era of information explosion, an important aspect of governance is effective dissemination of government information so that the public can better and more quickly understand the policies of the government and the latest situation. I must admit this is an area that warrants the HKSAR Government’s immediate improvements. Many people have told me from time to time that the contents of Government press releases are too technical and not easily communicated to the public. The old-fashioned approach in message delivery has also failed to draw the attention of the community or allay public concerns promptly. The malicious attacks on or biased reports against the Government over the past two years have highlighted that there is much room to improve our capability to communicate with the public. I have requested all Secretaries of Departments and Directors of Bureaux, with the support of the Director of Information Services and his team, to place more emphasis on information dissemination and public communication on government policies.
