Anonymous letters such as one complaining of time-wasting in the civil service will no longer appear in government publications unless they are verified, according to a senior official.
Secretary for Civil Service Joseph Wong Wing-ping also rejected suggestions from a legislator that the letter had been planted by the civil service hierarchy to put pressure on staff.
A 'typist with a conscience' urged in the Finance Bureau's latest newsletter on improved productivity that the 700 remaining government typist positions be scrapped as they had become redundant due to the introduction of computers.
The typist wrote that most of her colleagues idled away the day chatting, reading newspapers or talking on phones.
At a public service panel meeting yesterday, unionist legislator Li Fung-ying asked whether the Government had publicised the letter to put pressure on staff.
But Mr Wong said that in future anonymous letters would be verified by the Civil Service Bureau before publication. The typist's letter was received without a name or address and did not identify the department involved.
If the letter had been sent to newspapers, it would not have been published, he said.