My Take | Day has finally come to end the myth of civil service neutrality

What’s the difference between impartiality and neutrality? Well, Hong Kong civil servants will soon find out, as political neutrality as one of their core institutional values will be dropped. But they must remain committed to impartiality, another core value.

As a cynical hack, it seems to me both “core values” are just bureaucratese for saying, “Do your job and shut up.” Civil servants can always say they are just following orders. That was the case under British colonial rule; so it remains after the 1997 handover, at least until now.

Interestingly, former chief executive Leung Chun-ying doesn’t think it’s necessary to make the change in the civil service code. Writing on Facebook, he said: “‘Civil servants must be politically neutral.’ Its meaning is perfectly clear and shouldn’t be changed … Civil servants cannot act according to their own political beliefs or affiliations, or refuse work ordered by superiors.”

Indeed! However, it’s highly doubtful Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan would do something like this just on her initiative. After all, what’s all the fuss?

Civil servants are not paid to question policies, but to follow them. They may have opinions, which are best kept to themselves. It’s not their job to question government actions, or to rally and provoke the public, which was what happened with some (former) civil servants who supported the anti-government rioters and protesters in 2019.

Now, they will be asked to show more commitment, say, to patriotism and national education.

After the unprecedented destruction of the 2019 riots and protests, it seems clear that the central government wants to bring the local civil service in line with that on the mainland, which does not describe itself as “politically neutral” as it is under the direct supervision of the party. A bit of history may help better understand Beijing’s changing stances.