People-oriented benevolent governance is best solution

雨露甘霑

People-orientedbenevolent governance is best solution

ByThomas Yeung Kwan Ho

May 8,2012 - 10:36am http://www.chinadailyapac.com

China Daily  

On April28, Fanny Law, director of the Chief Executive-Elect’s Office, said the line-upof key officials in the new government would be finalized in the next couple ofweeks.

IncomingChief Executive Leung Chun-ying has proposed creating two deputies posts, underthe Chief Secretary and the Financial Secretary. He is also on record asproposing the addition of two new bureaus.

Theexisting structure assigns the same rank and accountability in the peckingorder to the “Big Three” – Chief Secretary for Administration (CS), FinancialSecretary (FS) and Secretary for Justice (SJ). When the Chief Executive (CE) isabsent from his daily work, the pecking order for acting CE is CS, FS and SJ, apractice inherited from the days when there were three million people underBritish colonial rule.

Thepopulation now stands at over seven million. The gross domestic product (GDP)is a hundred times higher than in the old days. Today, there are multiple,integrated and highly accelerated demands and responses from people, thanks tothe Internet and wireless communication. “People-oriented benevolentgovernance” is the only way to resolve the deep-rooted conflicts and disputesin Hong Kong society, harmoniously and efficiently. At the same time we shouldrevive the rich South China cultural heritage passed down through generations,as demonstrated in the life of the leading character in the multiple awardwinning movie “A Simple Life”.

While itis correct to create the new posts of Deputy Chief Secretary (DCS) and DeputyFinancial Secretary (DFS), and add the new Cultural Bureau and The Informationand Technology Bureau, overall coordination power should be given to CS and DCSover other secretaries. It is they who should set the policies and guide theactivities of the administration bearing on frequent contact with the generalpublic at large. This is the best means of achieving people-oriented,benevolent governance.

Forinstance, the policies on transportation and housing are put under FS, yettheir administration and effect on daily life are addressed by staff from theCS-DCS team. In fact from the view point of the general public, there must be acentrally empowered team in the CS-DCS structure to oversee, integrate, andcoordinate policies and to carry out benevolent daily administration over thegeneral public. This will eliminate common complaints about problems floatingaround government bureaus that have led to an accumulation of deeply rootedconflicts and disputes.

The FaYuen Street fire of last November is a situation in point. The tragedy possiblycould have been avoided if a centrally empowered team were assigned toadminister it years ahead. People who bought the old buildings 50 years agowere not faced with fixed hawkers’ kiosks. Back then hawkers’ stalls weremobile and smaller, having fewer combustibles than today. The changes in thenumbers, dimensions and the introduction of more combustible contents athawkers’ kiosks were outside the control of owners of the old buildings. Evenworse, some of the flats of the old buildings were partitioned into severalsmall rooms, accommodating unexpectedly large numbers of residents. When peopleexited the buildings via staircases, it was only a short distance from theexits to fixed kiosks made from combustible material. This situation was beyondthe expectations of the original owners of 50 years ago.

There isno demonstrable path as to how situations similar to Fa Yuen can be effectivelyresolved within the new structure, unless a central, empowered team under CS isassigned to oversee all the issues relating to government departments andbureaus. Only with such a team could the government deal affirmatively with thesituation. This is the key to uprooting deeply rooted conflicts and disputes.

In thisperspective, the CS and the DCS will be the first assistant and the secondassistant to the CE. So when the CE is not in the office, the CS, DCS, then theFS, DFS would be deputized in according to a hierarchy based upon priority andaccountability. The SJ, holding a unique role on Justice, in fact should notdeputize the CE. The SJ is not supposed to be sufficiently experienced in thecomplicated issues administered by the CS, DCS, FS and DFS.

Nowthere will be four secretaries to be deputized in order and priority, one morethan at present. And the SJ will clearly hold his unique and outstanding roleon justice, which is a significant and basic constituent to our basic corevalues.

The author is theConvener of Policy Research, City Think Tank.