Every couple of years, the press whips itself into a collective frenzy about the imminent departure of a senior civil servant. Oh no, comes the lament, how can Hong Kong possibly survive without the boundless talent and enormous ability of this individual? Civil service morale will plunge disastrously if they go.
It happened when Peter Tsao Kwang-yung stepped down in 1992 as secretary for home affairs. Life went on without a ripple.
There was shrieking hysteria about collapsing morale within the police force when the former secretary of security, Peter Lai Hing-ling, retired in 1997.
This was a pathetic joke; few policemen knew of his existence and most who had worked with him couldn't stand the man.
When Anson Chan Fang On-sang was deliberating her departure in 2002, it was as if the world was coming to an end; certainly, civilisation as we knew it was threatened if you believed the hand-wringing anxiety. Well, the awesome Anson left, grumbling, and Donald Tsang took over; Hong Kong went on with its business.
That's the way it should be. A public service must studiously groom replacements. It wouldn't much matter if every director of every department retired tomorrow; each has got worthy successors who have for years been patiently preparing to step up the ladder.