SECRETARY for Health and Welfare Elizabeth Wong Chien Chi-lien will stay on in Hong Kong after her forced retirement this autumn. But Financial Secretary Sir Hamish Macleod plans to leave: he has already told friends he will return to Britain after stepping down from his post, most likely next year.
Other top civil servants are talking of returning to the territory after they retire. Former Chief Secretary Sir David Ford and ex-Secretary for the Civil Service Barrie Wiggham have both said they may spend their remaining years in the territory, after completing their present postings as heads of the Hong Kong Government offices in London and Washington respectively.
The temptations are all too obvious. For, in Hong Kong, retirement from the civil service can often mark the start of a new - more lucrative - career.
Former Financial Secretary Sir Piers Jacobs and ex-Secretary for Education and Manpower John Chan Cho-chak have both made the transition to the private sector with success. Sir Piers is now vice-chairman of China Light and Power while Mr Chan is managingdirector of Kowloon Motor Bus. Both are reputed to have received compensation packages (perks and income) in the region of $5 million a year; more than the civil service could ever offer them.
With such high sums available, it is scarcely surprising that large numbers of expatriates choose to stay on in the territory after leaving the civil service.
It was not always like this. In the old days, expatriates high up in Government were expected to return home to allow their successors to carry out their duties without looking over their shoulders or fearing comparisons. For example, former Chief Secretary Sir Philip Haddon-Cave returned to Britain after he retired in 1986 and to this day refuses to comment on Hong Kong affairs.