In the era since the handover, the virtues of the respected civil service have not been quite so apparent as they were in the past.
The administration has been tested under conditions which were completely unforeseen and unprecedented, but they cannot be said to have emerged with flying colours. It is not just the bird flu crisis, or the red tide problem which showed up flaws in the system. Take a less dramatic event, such as the recent flooding of Mongkok. This was blamed on mistakes by four departments - the Works Bureau, the Territory Development Department, Drainage Services and Highways Department - suggesting both a failure in the lines of communication and less diligence than the public is entitled to expect.
The mix-up of cough syrup with mouthwash at the dispensing clinic at Cheung Sha Wan which resulted in children getting the wrong medicine, was compounded by the way the Department of Health handled the crisis. And the row over mother-tongue teaching showed a lack of insight into the views of the community. These and numerous other examples suggest that the system does not always work as efficiently as it should.
And yet, unlike the private sector, where heads are quick to roll if things go wrong or if duties are not carried out efficiently, unsatisfactory members of the civil service are kept on for the best part of a year, while the leisurely bureaucratic ritual of removing them from office is carried out.
This is the procedure which the Civil Service Bureau is trying to streamline. Sensitive to increased criticism, and working to make the system more transparent, the bureau is aware of a need to enhance standards of professionalism and show that the 180,000 civil servants deserve the generous pay and conditions which they enjoy. It is time this review was undertaken.
The huge civil service wage bill is paid by the taxpayers, and the best terms and working conditions should be reserved for the highest calibre of recruit. There can be no place for staff who are incompetent or lacking in motivation.
