Anson Chan Fang On-sang wrapped up her 38-year civil service career yesterday with her first radio broadcast to the people of Hong Kong, urging them to uphold the values that had made the territory great, while showing compassion to the underprivileged. 'The tradition of a tolerant, cosmopolitan, internationally oriented and broad-minded society is a valuable part of our curious legacy,' she said. 'So are our deeply entrenched institutions of a free society: the rule of law, an independent judiciary, a free press, a clean and accountable government and a civil service grounded in the traditions of meritocracy and political neutrality.' Her pre-recorded message, delivered in English on RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong, was broadcast a day earlier than usual to coincide with her Chinese swansong in Hong Kong Letter. Mrs Chan said that ever since she announced her decision to retire as Chief Secretary for Administration 15 weeks ago, she had been thinking about what it is that made Hong Kong tick. She said Hong Kong's success had given people the confidence to believe they could always make things better. But she added: 'In the past few years I have detected signs of a wobble, even among some of the most stout-hearted.' She put this down to the economic downturn of 1997. 'This is not surprising if you have lost your job, your business has slumped, or you have seen the value of your property fall. None of us underestimate the pain and disruption this has caused to some of our fellow citizens. Certainly the Government has never done so.' She encouraged people not to lose sight of the fact that Hong Kong had come out of tough times in the past and to rediscover 'some of those legendary survival skills' and grab the golden opportunities from China's entry to the World Trade Organisation. But she said the poverty gap needed to be closed and people must take care of the underprivileged and deprived. Self-reliance should be encouraged, but Hong Kong needed to guard against greed. She also stressed the need for it to maintain and enhance its international character and uniqueness. After a meeting with Tung Chee-hwa at the Central Government Offices yesterday morning to wrap up her last day as head of the civil service, she told a media gathering that she and the Chief Executive had never been at odds. But she again refused to say whether she would support him for a second term, saying Mr Tung had yet to announce whether he would stand for the Chief Executive selection to be held next March.