The rigid rules of international protocol are a prickly maze of diplomatic niceties traced back to the royal courts of medieval Europe. To find your way unerringly through this intricate system usually calls for intense study and an apprenticeship lasting years. Lillian Wong Tai Wai-yin had 19 days. When she was named director of protocol last June, the civil service executive officer was whisked out of Treasury at short notice. As Hong Kong changed sovereignty on July 1, the experienced Vivian Warrington, OBE, departed. He had been director of protocol for a decade, a kindly, courtly and widely admired man with the aplomb of a senior ambassador. How on earth was a public servant with no prior knowledge of these rarefied skills supposed to instantly replace him? Those who favour the conspiracy theory of history believe the devious British deliberately left the selection of a new chief of official etiquette until the last minute, so the incoming SAR would be born with an embarrassing social gap. Not so. As usual, it was a gaffe rather than a plot. The former administration had advertised widely both within the civil service and the business world for a new director of protocol. When it found no one suitable, the Government turned, in the dying gasp of British rule, to the 45-year-old principal executive officer, Ms Wong. Not surprisingly, there was criticism about the appointment. She had no experience, some complained. True, and Ms Wong is the first to admit it. 'I had no background at all in protocol,' she says. As it turns out, she has not needed professional skills. Apart from a couple of hitches, highlighted by hostile press, she has handled the role adroitly. That is largely because the protocol job calls for common sense and natural good manners - and she has plenty of both. 'It's 80 per cent organisation and 20 per cent protocol,' is how Ms Wong explains it. Her job has now taken on new dimensions. As a part of China, we are now seeing heads of states and chiefs of governments passing through Hong Kong after visits to Beijing. Ms Wong this week travels to the mainland, where she is seeing how places like Shanghai look after state visitors who have been to meet the national leaders in Beijing. These official heads of state visits have to be handled with extreme delicacy and tact; such visitors are invited by the Central Government, and, in looking after them here, we are acting as hosts not only for Hong Kong, but all of China. This is partly why the staff of the protocol office has been increased from three officers last year to a current establishment of seven. Much of their work is focused on the new airport and its costly, and controversial, VIP facilities; as well as the establishment of a scheme to replace the former royal honours system. Any Hong Kong taxpayer standing in a queue at the Kai Tak airport taxi rank or crammed into the arrival hall waiting for friends coming from overseas could be forgiven for being indignant at the thought of pampered politicians, bureaucrats and visiting tycoons being whisked in comfort through special channels. Why should some judge or bishop enjoy privilege and privacy in a well-padded armchair in the VIP lounge while the people who pay the bills, the taxpayers, have to carry their own bags and edge interminably along a queue for a taxi? I went full of fighting spirit to query Ms Wong about this. She came back with swift and detailed answers and explanations; I was disarmed completely. The plush new $66 million VIP suite has eight self-contained VIP rooms and an open lounge. Together, these can accommodate more than 20 VIP parties at the same time as staff handle customs and immigration procedures. Basically, it will fulfil the same role as the existing lounge at Kai Tak. The flood of global leaders around the transition and for the World Bank conference last September showed expanded VIP facilities were needed. Hong Kong can hardly keep trying to attract the world's top conferences unless we have the infrastructure. Impressive airport reception areas for VIPs are part of that. And it would be ridiculous if we didn't make provision for a busier tomorrow. It was pleasing to learn that stringent rules govern who can use the VIP channel, which is restricted to 300 Hong Kongers. The chief executive, chief justice, chief secretary, financial secretary, and secretary for justice get whisked through, as do others on the official precedence list. This includes all Exco members and the head of Legco. After them, the government secretaries and some other top civil servants gain access to the luxury lounges; along with more judges than you could care to count; Legco members and consul-generals. Local members of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee are admitted, but not Chinese members. Nothing controversial so far. It's when the VIP list gets to China that things get interesting. Ministers of state from Beijing are ushered through, in the same way as their British counterparts used to be officially welcomed. So are the governors of Chinese provinces. If we lay out the red carpet for the consul-general of Uruguay, shouldn't we do the same for the governor of Guangdong with its 76 million people and its immense impact on every aspect of our life? Of course we should. The main aim of the welcoming facility is to usher foreign VIPs into Hong Kong. I think it's money well spent, as long as it is not abused. It's also common politeness; if you invite someone to your home - as is the case with official visitors - you treat them nicely. But the luxury suites are not to pamper local dignitaries. That's the danger. A host of optimistic upwardly mobile politicians and power-grabbers are jostling at the gateway of the Chek Lap Kok VIP lounge demanding entry. If barriers are lowered and all are allowed to use the lounge, it will torpedo the purpose of the facility, which is to impress foreign visitors. The chairmen of urban and regional councils gain admittance; there have been demands that all members of those bodies be allowed in, along with their families, and even district board members are claiming they are VIPs of sufficient standing to gain access. Stand firm, Lillian Wong.
