In March 1999, a high-ranking official sought to impress doubters of the political will of the Tung Chee-hwa administration in reforming the bureaucracy by likening a proposed overhaul of the civil service system to surfing. 'When the wave comes,' he said, 'surf out to the sea with no reservations ... Go as far as you can'.
The official spoke as the government outlined in a 27-page consultative document entitled 'Civil Service into the 21st century' its visions to reinvigorate the decades-old ossified and much-criticised system.
Under the 1999 blueprint, only one-third of the civil service would be given permanent terms in 10 to 20 years' time, with the remaining two-thirds on contract terms subject to renewal based on performance and need. Among other things, pay rises would be pegged with performance, outdated allowances reviewed and redundancies of staff simplified.
At a time when the tide of change was high in an era of post-financial turmoil, there was a sense of 'it's now or never' among the government's senior echelon. At a Central Policy Unit conference in April 1999, ex-civil service chief Lam Woon-kwong concluded 'the status quo is not an option'.
More than five years on, the civil service-bashing sentiments have subsided. The fleet of civil servants has been downsized from almost 200,000 to 168,500. The number will be reduced to 160,000 by 2006. More employees are on contracts. A client-oriented culture has embedded in the bureaucracy. A full-scale study on pay is under way.
Last week, the Civil Service Bureau revealed in a paper to the Legislative Council a list of outdated perks and allowances it wanted slightly revised. In a recent letter sent to unionists, the chief executive has indicated the government has no intention of introducing more drastic reforms.