Former civil service chief Paul Tang can work as speaker for educational group, government panel says

The city’s former civil service chief is set to work as a speaker for an educational organisation, after the government’s advisers said this would not cause any conflict of interest.

Paul Tang Kwok-wai joined the government in 1978, and worked as Secretary for the Civil Service until being abruptly replaced by Clement Cheung Wan-ching in July last year. There was speculation that Tang was forced to resign, but he cited “unforeseeable family circumstances” as the reason for the decision.

The government revealed in a statement on Tuesday that Tang, who had kept a low profile since a radio interview in August last year, had proposed to accept employment by the Hong Kong Financial Services Institute as a speaker at a talk.

An advisory committee, which specialises in post-office employment for former chief executives and principal officials, advised that Tang’s new job “would not cause any potential conflict of interest”. The committee also “does not anticipate adverse public reaction ... arising from the proposed employment”, the statement reads. Tang could not be reached for comment.

According to the Hong Kong Financial Services Institute’s website, the institute was established in 1999 to provide training on public administration and financial management. It also cooperates with two universities in Shanghai and Hubei on postgraduate studies.