Colonial holiday rules persist

Tung Chee-hwa has managed to sidestep old colonial rules which still apply to senior colleagues on where leave can be spent.

Mr Tung, who is not a government official, is entitled to 55.5 days' leave a year and may go wherever he likes.

But officials on Directorate 4 or above who receive the same amount of leave have to spend 10.5 days in Hong Kong or Macau and the remaining 45 days overseas.

The rules date back to when senior expatriate officers were given longer holidays to renew family ties. In the mid-1980s local officers were given the same benefits.

Overseas leave spent locally would lead to some being forfeited. A Civil Service Bureau spokesman said it was reviewing the rules.

Leung Chiu-chiu, chairman of the Senior Non-Expatriate Officers' Association, said the restriction was unreasonable.