My TakeCarrie Lam and John Lee playing good cop/bad cop

One way to look at the big pay rise for civil servants is that the incoming chief executive wants to placate the service’s elite as many are unhappy at the appointment of a former policeman. But Lee still wants to be the tough guy – and that’s where the outgoing CE plays her part

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Incumbent Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, left, with Chief Executive-elect John Lee Ka-chiu this month. Photo: SCMP/ Sam Tsang

Published: 11:22pm, 22 May 2022Updated: 6:41pm, 24 May 2022

Corrected [5:24pm, 24 May, 2022]

[5:24pm, 24 May, 2022]
When this column was first published, Tommy Cheung Yu-yan was named as having been campaign manager for chief executive-elect John Lee Ka-chiu. Tam Yiu-chung was in fact the director of Lee’s campaign office.

Say what you like about Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the retiring chief executive and former career civil servant does take care of her own.

The city’s 180,000 civil servants are set to get a big raise. The salary increases could range from 2.04 per cent for junior staff to 7.26 per cent for those at the top. If approved, the suggested 7.26 increase would be the most generous since the 1997 handover.

Some government insiders are upset. Executive Council member and one-time chief executive-wannabe Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said she was “shocked” and that such big raises would be difficult for the public to accept as more than 200,000 people were either unemployed or underemployed.

Fellow councillors Ip Kwok-him, Ronny Tong Ka-wah and Tommy Cheung Yu-yan have also expressed concerns, though they are more amenable to raising wages for those in the lower ranks.

Civil servants back to work at the Central Government Offices (CGO), Tamar, this month. Photo: SCMP / Nora Tam

Others have argued that such a big decision should be made by the incoming chief executive, rather than by Lam. That’s one way to look at it.