Good governance depends on well-kept records
Yan-yan Yip says poorly kept public records are a matter of great concern because the consequences can be fatal, and there's no excuse not to act
We know how quickly the government can act if there is enough public pressure and it has the will to do so. Take parallel trading of baby formula as an example. Officials put forward, within weeks, measures to limit the amount of the product people could take across the border. Of course, for some parents, action should have been taken yesterday.
However, for issues that are neither on the government's agenda nor on the public's radar, it may take months or years to see any progress. Public records management is probably one of them.
Today, the government relies on its administrative guidelines to ensure "proper" public records management within bureaus and departments.
Nonetheless, in 2011, the Audit Commission released a report pointing out the problems associated with public records management in Hong Kong, such as the fact that many bureaus and departments had not implemented certain key mandatory records management provisions. If these mandatory guidelines had been effective, we would have got a very different picture from the commission's report.
Hong Kong urgently needs an archives law to ensure public records are kept and managed properly, and to allow the public access to the records. Back in November 2011, then legislator Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee moved a motion in the Legislative Council on enacting an archives law. It was disappointing that the motion was defeated due to inadequate support from functional constituency legislators. Half of the 50 legislators present abstained, while one cast a "no" vote.
If the same motion were to be put to the current crop of lawmakers, what would the result be? How many legislators have paid attention to this issue? Sadly, just a few.