Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has sent an e-mail urging Hong Kong's civil servants to support the Harbour Fest.
Mr Tsang sent the e-mail last week, with details of the entertainment line-up attached.
The move came after a member of the taskforce in charging of the post-Sars relaunch suggested that a senior government official make a personal appeal to the 180,000 staff for support.
The president of the Federation of Civil Service Unions, Leung Chau-ting, who claimed he had not received the e-mail, said senior civil servants might feel they were being pressured by Mr Tsang. But he believed lower-ranking civil servants would not be moved by the appeal.
'I just think the whole event is a waste of manpower and resources. Now that things go wrong, civil servants are being asked to clear up the mess,' Mr Leung said.
Peter Chan Pak-fong, chairman of the Senior Non-Expatriate Officers Association, said he planned to buy tickets anyway. He rejected claims that the staff would be disturbed by Mr Tsang's e-mail.
