Hong Kong chief executive candidate John Lee to ‘take aim at civil service work culture, adopt new system of reward and punishment’
- Political heavyweight Tam Yiu-chung says civil service ‘fell short of public expectations’ during Covid-19 pandemic, with staff ‘very used to current culture’
- Source says Lee to host large-scale campaign rally on May 6, with hundreds of supporters expected to attend
Hong Kong’s only chief executive candidate, John Lee Ka-chiu, has pledged to reform the city’s civil service work culture, including using measures such as the creation of a reward and punishment system to encourage problem-solving, his campaign chief revealed on Monday.
Pro-Beijing heavyweight Tam Yiu-chung also said Lee, in the run-up to election day on May 8, would hold a large-scale campaign rally at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on Friday afternoon based on his slogan of “starting a new chapter together”.
Hundreds are expected to attend including members of the Election Committee that will pick the next leader, as well as Lee’s campaign advisers and those in his “presidium”, or council of chairpersons. The government had earlier exempted candidates from social-distancing rules, allowing them to hold indoor “election gatherings with the public”.
Tam told a radio programme that the civil service had faced criticism because of its recent performance in combating the spread of the coronavirus.
“Many departments are being criticised for a lack of coordination [during the pandemic] and how they fell short of public expectations,” he said. “Calling for changes is difficult as civil servants may have got very used to the current culture.”