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SCMP Reporter

WHEN Michael Leung Man-kin sits down behind his desk this week as Commissioner of the ICAC, he could be excused for taking a deep breath and pausing to brood over what lies ahead.

  Mr Leung, 56, is no stranger to pressure, but he will need all the strength he can muster to steer a government agency which has become far more than a law enforcement body, far more than a cure for Hong Kong's once chronic graft.

  It has also become a key means of bolstering public confidence.

  Many times his predecessor Bertrand de Speville, who stands down tomorrow, has tried to allay fears over the China factor by relaying messages from the authorities north of the border - that all will be well after 1997. Hong Kong's proposed autonomy will be respected, corruption need not manifest itself if carefully monitored and the territory can be confident its legal system is safe under the Basic Law.

  Mr Leung was, to many, a highly unlikely candidate for the post which brings a monthly salary of $154,000.

  Only two weeks before the announcement that he was taking the job, he had retired from government after 30 years' service.

  Just 12 months before that he was suffering from health problems.

  He has no legal or law enforcement background and was reported to have turned down the job on at least one occasion.

  When told of the appointment last year, legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing said: 'Poor Michael.'   Mr Leung joined the civil service in 1965 and, after appointments in the then Home Affairs Department and the Finance Branch, rose to the rank of Secretary, Government Secretariat in 1988.

  He has been Deputy Director Home Affairs and the Deputy Director and Director of Education.

  As Secretary for Transport, he stumbled on rough ground trying to resurrect the controversial electronic road pricing scheme.

  However, he will be best remembered at his last post, as Secretary for Education and Manpower. A head on clash with Lau Chin-shek over the Employment (Amendment) Bill led to the legislator's dramatic resignation.

  The bill, aimed at improving long service payments, was eventually withdrawn by the administration.

  Mr Leung was also burdened with the task of selling the Government's Old Age Pension Scheme.

  He was forced to step aside due to an illness spanning several months, which has never been explained.

  Not known to be the most receptive of negotiators, he is described as being a typical bureaucrat 'of an old era', firm, efficient and experienced. The more cynical would probably call him plain and uninteresting.

  'His relationship with legislators is sometimes strained,' said Eric Li Ka-cheung, a legislator and member of the ICAC's top watchdog body, the Advisory Committee on Corruption.

  'He's very stern and has got his own way of dealing with things.'   Mr Leung made use of a recent two-week induction to make himself known to many of the faces behind the commission's work.

  He met a large number of staff - from directorate level to chief investigator and below - and appeared keen to start navigating his way through the reams of alien and often complex legislation which provides the foundation of the ICAC's work.

   Much of Mr Leung's introductory fortnight was spent being piloted through the statute books, which normally takes up a considerable chunk of an ICAC officer's 12-week initial induction.

  'He asked a lot of questions and was keen to learn the workings of the organisation,' an observer said.

  Other staff were pleasantly surprised at Mr Leung's demeanour.

  One said: 'He's a sharp guy and he's got a sense of humour.

  'Maybe he doesn't come across too well in the press or on TV.'   An image problem is less than helpful when joining a body already being forced to hang out much of its dirty linen.

  Two years after open war broke out between the ICAC and its sacked Deputy Director of Operations Alex Tsui Ka-kit, the agency still carries many of the wounds from a battle which started in November 1993 when Mr de Speville decided he no longer had faith in his most senior local officer.

  During a five-month public hearing into the dismissal, Mr Tsui dropped a series of bombshells, alleging that the ICAC had bugged the telephones of prominent figures for political purposes and was fast becoming 'another secret service'.

  The claims were hotly denied, but set in motion events that would prise open the doors of the ICAC and remove some of its long-standing layers of secrecy.

  In a farewell briefing to the press last week, Mr de Speville did little to underplay the gravity of the affair.

  'I think it did quite a lot of damage. Being a man in his position, he decided to make public allegations against the ICAC which were subsequently proved to be totally unfounded. Nevertheless, when they come from a man in his position, the natural thing is to say 'Oh there must be something in this'.'   The public hearing concluded by supporting Mr de Speville in his decision to dismiss Mr Tsui.

  But Security Panel members were not convinced all staff were treated fairly, referring to the earlier case of an expatriate investigator accused of sexual harassment who was allowed to serve out his contract.

  Mr Tsui maintains the hearing was largely a farce and said 'history will tell'.

  Legislator Mr Li believes that despite the hearing and the work of a Governor-appointed ICAC Review Committee, the ICAC still suffers from an image problem.

  'The PR aspect needs to be looked at very carefully,' he said.

  'Not only the community relations of the ICAC, but also the internal image which is sometimes quite hard-nosed.

  'I think there's still quite a bit of secrecy surrounding the way they work compared with the police.'   The law which forbids disclosure of an ICAC investigation before an arrest has been made is one part of its formidable armoury which has been challenged under the Bill of Rights.

  The Court of Appeal's decision that Section 30 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance was consistent with the Bill is currently under appeal to the Privy Council. But it is perhaps the legal platform for the ICAC's growing ties with the mainland that will be Mr Leung's main focus in the coming months.

  Mr de Speville, who knows only too well the importance of China's help in combatting cross border corruption, also fully understands the gaping differences between the two legal systems.

  He said surveillance operations in Hong Kong by mainland officers may come in the future, something which would follow on the heels of a string of visits by Chinese graft fighters to interview witnesses in the territory.

  James To Kun-sun, Democratic Party legislator and Security Panel chairman, warned if the two sides were to become closer, both should develop clear guidelines on specified crimes and investigation procedures to allay public concern.

  The outgoing Mr de Speville, 54, has commanded a substantial degree of respect from those who have worked with him, and is reported to be at ease speaking to staff regardless of their rank.

  Some said the relatively short period - 15 years - he has served in the Hong Kong Government meant he was less hindered by the shackles of officialdom which have troubled other top individuals in the civil service.

  A lawyer by profession, Mr de Speville trained and practised in London before coming to Hong Kong in 1981 as a legal adviser to the Government.

  He became Solicitor-General in 1992 and was appointed ICAC Commissioner in February 1993.

  Colleagues said he earned respect during the period when he was forced to double up as Head of Operations while Jim Buckle was away.

  Unfortunately for Mr Leung, Mr Buckle retires in February.

  He has already had to postpone the move once - at the personal request of the Governor.

  Sir Jack Cater, who was the first ICAC chief after its 1974 inception, said: 'There is no doubt that [Mr Leung] will have a lot of support from the Operations Department.

  'But it is a pity, of course, that two senior people are going at the same time.'   They are not the only key personnel going.

  In August, the Director of Intelligence and Support, Peter Graham, is due to leave.

  And the Director of Corruption Prevention, Tony Scott, is expected to bid the ICAC farewell in October.

  Mr Leung may by then find it a little lonely at the top.



A new man heads fight against graft