President Xi Jinping put forward "four points of hope" in his July 1 speech. The first point is to "focus on improving the level of governance".
Chief Executive Li Jiachao proposed civil service reform in the "Policy Address" as a response, but he was not qualified because he did not face the core issue - the effectiveness of administrative officials.
If the government does not carry out reforms on administrative officials, but only on middle and low-level civil servants, the reforms will be ineffective.
The successful implementation of Li Jiachao's "Policy Address" depends on the practical and effective implementation of about 750 administrative officials.
Deputy Financial Secretary Wong Wai Lun, Director of the Development Bureau Ning Hanhao, Director of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau Yang Runxiong and many other directors are all from the political officer system. The Permanent Secretary who is directly responsible for policy implementation is also a political officer, and it is also a political officer who leads policy research. .
These 750 administrative officers are the chips of the Hong Kong SAR government.
How to implement the over 100 projects proposed by the Chief Executive is of course the focus of everyone's attention, and how to improve the governance effectiveness of these 750 administrative officials is also an important issue.
Twenty-five years after the return of Hong Kong, the administrative officer system is basically the core of the core of governance power. Administrative officers who retire or leave the government also enter different types of commercial organizations to hold important positions.
Although the administrative officials are not a political party, they have formed a political interest group; the quality of this system directly affects the effectiveness of Hong Kong's governance.
Singapore's administrative officer system was originally similar to Hong Kong's. Later, Lee Kuan Yew began to reform and promote two kinds of administrative officer systems: professional administrative officers and administrative secretary-type administrative officers.
At present, the administrative officers in Hong Kong are all administrative secretaries, lacking professional knowledge, and they are transferred every three years.
Moreover, in the political affairs official culture, it is excellent to be responsible for financial affairs, and it is "chicken" to be responsible for sports policy and cultural policy. I hope to be transferred as soon as possible.
This kind of mentality is very problematic, and the practice of adjusting once every three years makes it difficult for administrative officials to deal with the current complex situation without the basis for accumulating professional skills and experience.
The series of reforms proposed by the Chief Executive did not seem to address this governance problem and dilemma.
At present, there are 33 figures with the background of administrative officials making decisions in major government departments or semi-official and public institutions, including a number of accountability officials, the permanent secretaries of policy bureaus, as well as the Trade Development Bureau, Vocational Training Bureau, Monetary Authority, Western Head of the Kowloon Cultural District Authority, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Urban Renewal Authority and the Airport Authority.
Administrative officers or the teams of administrative officers have the most resources in Hong Kong and have a certain influence on the administration of the SAR government.
Therefore, it is necessary to optimize and reform government officials to make the system of government officials more complete.
Name
of job title in government department or semi-official or public sector
1
Deputy Financial Secretary
Wong Wai Lun
2 Director of the
Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau,
Yang Runxiong
3Liu
Zhen
, Deputy Director of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau
4
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Hui Zhengyu
5The
Deputy Director of the Environment and Ecology Bureau,
Huang Shuxian
6
Development Bureau Director
Ning Hanhao
7
Secretary for the Civil Service,
Yeung Ho Pei-yin
8
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Sun Yuhan
9 Cheng Chung-
wai
, Permanent Secretary of the Chief Executive's Office
10Civil
Service Bureau Permanent Secretary
Leung Cheuk -man
11Permanent
Secretary for Home Affairs and Youth Affairs
Lam Sul Lai
12Li
Baiquan,
Permanent Secretary for Security
13Fu
Xiaohui
, Permanent Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
14The
Permanent Secretary of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau,
Huang Zhizu
15Chen
Songqing
, Permanent Secretary of the Medical and Health Bureau
16Permanent
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Treasury)
Zhu Manling
17Permanent
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services)
Yan Meiwei
18Li
Minzhen
, Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
19Li
Meichang
, Permanent Secretary of the Education Bureau
20Mak
Tak Wai
, Permanent Secretary of the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau
21Liu
Yan
, Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare
22Permanent
Secretary for Development (Planning and Lands)
Ho Pei Ling
23Wong
Tin
-yu, Permanent Secretary for Housing and Director of Housing
24
Chan Mei Po
, Permanent Secretary of Transport and Logistics Bureau
25 Tse Siu-wah
, Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Environment) and Director of Environmental
Protection
26Liu
Liqun
, Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Food)
27
Fong Shunwen
, President of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council
28
Tang Zhiqiang
, Executive Director of the Vocational Training Council
29
Yu Weiwen
, President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority
30
Fung Cheng Shuk Yee
, Chief Executive Officer of the Board of Directors of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority
31
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Executive Director
Tan Zhiyuan
32
Urban Renewal Authority Executive Director
Wei Zhicheng
33
Lam Tin Fook
, Chief Executive Officer, Airport Authority Hong Kong
Ye Liu Shuyi, the convener of the Executive Council, was also a political officer.
Is it possible to study the administrative officer system in Singapore and other places under the leadership of the Executive Council and lead by Yip Liu Shuyi, as a reference for the reform of the administrative officer in Hong Kong?
Senior government officials like Ye Liu Shuyi and former guild member Luo Fan Chiufen understand the specific operation of the government, and it is more appropriate for them to lead the study of reform plans.
In addition, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National School of Administration should conduct in-depth analysis to explore how to integrate government functions into national development.
At present, Hong Kong government officials have a very superficial and superficial understanding of the country. They do not understand the operation of the mainland, such as the work of the Organization Department and the Central Propaganda Department, and they are not clear about the mechanisms of other major government departments.
The officials of the economic and trade offices dispatched overseas lack diplomatic training, and I am afraid they may not necessarily know what their functions as representatives of the economic and trade offices are. Most of the time, they just hold some events and lack strategic thinking.
Administrative officials are an important asset of Hong Kong. It is impossible to deny them all, but to affirm and strengthen them.
The administrative officer system should have a 2.0 model.
At present, this system has not been reformed for decades, and the only reform may be the welfare part, but the operation mode of "one adjustment every three years" is still the same.
If this system is not changed, it will be difficult for Hong Kong to achieve good governance and good governance, and it will be difficult for Hong Kong to meet the requirements of President Xi Jinping's July 1 speech.
To create a harmonious society, political officials play an important leading role.
At present, political officials seem to only like to deal with dignitaries, celebrities and business circles, and have little interest in contacting other professionals in science, culture, and sports, perhaps because it is not helpful for their own promotion.
As a result, many of the current policies of the Hong Kong government are out of touch with reality.
For example, other cities in Asia, such as Bangkok and Seoul, have a complete set of market hawker policies, but Hong Kong does not have them. Political officials give the impression that formulating these policies is very troublesome, so they give up.
Another classic example is the police "copying" (the procedure for issuing fixed penalty notices to violating vehicles), which has not changed since it was established in the 1970s. The only change is that the tickets can now be printed out with a printer. .
Hong Kong's administrative officials are often not dealing with policy issues, but with committees and PR issues.
The training of middle and low-level administrative officials is also insufficient, lack of professional knowledge, and it is difficult to cope with complex situations.
This is especially evident in I&T. The front-line administrative officers lack knowledge and experience in I&T, and they just negotiate among committee members. They have not established a close cooperative relationship with industry players who are fighting on the I&T frontline, so as to formulate in-depth policies. policy.
This is a serious problem in the current governance of Hong Kong. If we do not face it seriously and solve it, the Chief Executive's governance will only become more difficult. He will only repeat the investment of hundreds of billions of dollars every year as his political achievements, and we will not be able to show any real achievements. Come.
The administrators themselves should also discuss their own strengths, weaknesses and future.
If the Civil Service Academy only targets middle and low-level civil servants, its role is limited.
To improve the government's governance capacity, the most important thing is to reform the top-level building.
President Xi has repeatedly raised the issue of the solidified interests of top-floor buildings in Hong Kong.
If we do not reform the administrative officer system, the entrenched interests will only continue to exist, and the quality of governance will not be able to achieve a breakthrough improvement.
The author Hu Enwei is a member of the National Hong Kong and Macao Research Association, a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Political Consultative Conference, and Zuni.
Icosahedron United Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer.
The article is only the opinion of the author and does not represent the position of Hong Kong 01.
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