Hong Kong Government
Executive Officer
I joined the Hong Kong public service in 1966 when I was about 20. My initial appointment was Clerical Officer III. I was sent to the Fire Services Department, where I was posted to the Auxiliary Fire Services Office. After about 2 years, I was transferred to the Fire Services Headquarters, performing general clerical duties.
At that time, there were around 13,000 Clerical Officers working in the various government departments in Hong Kong. In an effort to promote internal advancement,
Executive Officer
I joined the Hong Kong public service in 1966 when I was about 20. My initial appointment was Clerical Officer III. I was sent to the Fire Services Department, where I was posted to the Auxiliary Fire Services Office. After about 2 years, I was transferred to the Fire Services Headquarters, performing general clerical duties.
At that time, there were around 13,000 Clerical Officers working in the various government departments in Hong Kong. In an effort to promote internal advancement,
a special project was devised to select some existing members of the Clerical Grade to be trained to become Executive Officers in the HK public service.
The corporate hierarchy of the Clerical Grade looked something like this:
Clerical Assistant
Clerical Officer III
Clerical Officer II
Clerical Officer I
Senior Clerical Officer.
Clerical Officers were supervised by members of the Executive Grade which had a separate hierarchy commencing with the rank of Executive Officer II.
When the project was announced. I was extremely interested, so much so that I was bold enough to write to the Departmental Secretary, a Senior Executive Officer, suggesting that I should be given the opportunity. The Departmental Secretary informed me that the scheme did not operate as I had perceived. Instead, possible candidates had to be recommended by Departmental Secretaries of the various Government Departments for consideration by a Panel of Judges, based on the candidates’ previous performance and potential. Basically, he told me in no uncertain terms that he was the decision maker for our Department in recommending potential candidates and he would not be influenced by people volunteering.
a special project was devised to select some existing members of the Clerical Grade to be trained to become Executive Officers in the HK public service.
The corporate hierarchy of the Clerical Grade looked something like this:
Clerical Assistant
Clerical Officer III
Clerical Officer II
Clerical Officer I
Senior Clerical Officer.
a special project was devised to select some existing members of the Clerical Grade to be trained to become Executive Officers in the HK public service.
The corporate hierarchy of the Clerical Grade looked something like this:
Clerical Assistant
Clerical Officer III
Clerical Officer II
Clerical Officer I
Senior Clerical Officer.
When the project was announced. I was extremely interested, so much so that I was bold enough to write to the Departmental Secretary, a Senior Executive Officer, suggesting that I should be given the opportunity. The Departmental Secretary informed me that the scheme did not operate as I had perceived. Instead, possible candidates had to be recommended by Departmental Secretaries of the various Government Departments for consideration by a Panel of Judges, based on the candidates’ previous performance and potential. Basically, he told me in no uncertain terms that he was the decision maker for our Department in recommending potential candidates and he would not be influenced by people volunteering.
I was understandably disappointed, thinking that was a rejection. Just when I was recovering from the embarrassment, I was greatly surprised to find out that I was one of 9 Clerical Officers recommended by our Departmental Secretary to join a total of 99 candidates to appear before the Panel of Judges.
I attended the interview and was the only candidate from the Fire Services Department chosen by the Panel of Judges for a one-year special training course to be conducted in the evenings to become Executive Officer II, if successful.
Later, I found that out of the 99 recommended candidates from all Government Departments in Hong Kong, only 14 were chosen, and I was the one with the least of work experience because quite a number of the 14 were Clerical Officers I and Senior Clerical Officers.
One year later, I survived the training and was promoted to the rank of Executive Officer II on probation at the age of 24. I was ecstatic because it practically meant that I jumped 4 promotions from COIII to EOII, skipping COII, COI and SCO.
I was understandably disappointed, thinking that was a rejection. Just when I was recovering from the embarrassment, I was greatly surprised to find out that I was one of 9 Clerical Officers recommended by our Departmental Secretary to join a total of 99 candidates to appear before the Panel of Judges.
I attended the interview and was the only candidate from the Fire Services Department chosen by the Panel of Judges for a one-year special training course to be conducted in the evenings to become Executive Officer II, if successful.
Later, I found that out of the 99 recommended candidates from all Government Departments in Hong Kong, only 14 were chosen, and I was the one with the least of work experience because quite a number of the 14 were Clerical Officers I and Senior Clerical Officers.
One year later, I survived the training and was promoted to the rank of Executive Officer II on probation at the age of 24. I was ecstatic because it practically meant that I jumped 4 promotions from COIII to EOII, skipping COII, COI and SCO.
While on probation as EOII, I was posted to the Medical & Health Department where I took up the appointments of:
1) Assistant Secretary (Terminations)
2) Assistant Secretary (Appointments)
3) Assistant Secretary (General).
The Medical & Health Department at that time was the government department responsible for the overall management of all government and subvented hospitals, clinics and related medical and health services in Hong Kong, which had a population of around 3 million. The Department employed around 14,000 medical and health staff including doctors, dentists, nurses and a substantial number of medical and paramedical grades including chemists, dispensers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, hospital secretaries and a lot of hospital supporting staffs such as telephone operators, cooks, kitchen hands, hospital orderlies, cleaners and an assortment of minor staff. The functions of the administrative duties of the Department were headed by an Assistant Director (Administration) who was a senior member of the Administrative Grade.
He was assisted by a Senior Treasury Accountant, looking after the financial aspects of the Department, including salary and wages, and a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), looking after the general administrative and personnel functions. The CEO was assisted by a Deputy Departmental Secretary (a Senior Executive Officer, SEO) and several Assistant Secretaries (Executive Officers, EOs).
My first job in the Medical & Health Department was Assistant Secretary (Terminations) whose responsibilities comprised of processing of the following administrative duties relating to:
Resignations
Disciplinary Actions
Termination of Service
Retirement.
My second job in the Medical Headquarters was Assistant Secretary (Appointments), a job which required me to sit on selection boards for various recruitment exercises for general, para-medical and professional appointments, apart from doctors and nurses. I was in charge of a group of Clerical Officers to perform recruitment duties including:
All professional medical & health appointments, including Hospital Secretary, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist, Pharmacist, Dispensers, Medical Social Worker, Dietitian, Medical Technologist, and Radiographer, etc.
All auxiliary supporting staff, such as Dental Assistant, Medical Laboratory Technician, and Telephone Operator, etc.
My third job in the Medical Headquarters was Assistant Secretary (General), with duties consisting of:
1) Maintaining the filing system of all records relating to the administration of the Department, including all confidential and general files of all the employees of the Department; supported by 1 SCO and 9 Filing Clerks (COs) and a team of Messengers whose duty was to move the files physically from one officer to another.
2) Supervising the Typing Pool, headed by a Senior Typist and around 20 Typists, providing typing support to all members of the Department working in the Medical Headquarters.
3) Supervising a team of minor staff consisting of telephone operators, office attendants, drivers, messengers and cleaners.
While on probation as EOII, I was posted to the Medical & Health Department where I took up the appointments of:
1) Assistant Secretary (Terminations)
2) Assistant Secretary (Appointments)
3) Assistant Secretary (General).
The Medical & Health Department at that time was the government department responsible for the overall management of all government and subvented hospitals, clinics and related medical and health services in Hong Kong, which had a population of around 3 million. The Department employed around 14,000 medical and health staff including doctors, dentists, nurses and a substantial number of medical and paramedical grades including chemists, dispensers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, hospital secretaries and a lot of hospital supporting staffs such as telephone operators, cooks, kitchen hands, hospital orderlies, cleaners and an assortment of minor staff. The functions of the administrative duties of the Department were headed by an Assistant Director (Administration) who was a senior member of the Administrative Grade.
He was assisted by a Senior Treasury Accountant, looking after the financial aspects of the Department, including salary and wages, and a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), looking after the general administrative and personnel functions. The CEO was assisted by a Deputy Departmental Secretary (a Senior Executive Officer, SEO) and several Assistant Secretaries (Executive Officers, EOs).
My first job in the Medical & Health Department was Assistant Secretary (Terminations) whose responsibilities comprised of processing of the following administrative duties relating to:
Resignations
Disciplinary Actions
Termination of Service
Retirement.
My second job in the Medical Headquarters was Assistant Secretary (Appointments), a job which required me to sit on selection boards for various recruitment exercises for general, para-medical and professional appointments, apart from doctors and nurses. I was in charge of a group of Clerical Officers to perform recruitment duties including:
All professional medical & health appointments, including Hospital Secretary, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist, Speech Therapist, Pharmacist, Dispensers, Medical Social Worker, Dietitian, Medical Technologist, and Radiographer, etc.
All auxiliary supporting staff, such as Dental Assistant, Medical Laboratory Technician, and Telephone Operator, etc.
My third job in the Medical Headquarters was Assistant Secretary (General), with duties consisting of:
1) Maintaining the filing system of all records relating to the administration of the Department, including all confidential and general files of all the employees of the Department; supported by 1 SCO and 9 Filing Clerks (COs) and a team of Messengers whose duty was to move the files physically from one officer to another.
2) Supervising the Typing Pool, headed by a Senior Typist and around 20 Typists, providing typing support to all members of the Department working in the Medical Headquarters.
I was a young man of 26, and I had to supervise over 40 members of staff, including 9 Filing Clerks, 20 Typists, 2 Confidential Assistants, and a number of Minor Staff, such as messengers and cleaners.
While I could easily breeze through my duties as a Clerical Officer, I found it challenging to cope with my duties as an Executive Officer. As a Clerical Officer, I was generally considered someone with above-average English skills. However, Executive Officers were a different species with different skill expectations. I remembered I was warned by the Deputy Departmental Secretary that my performance had been erratic and that there was room for improvement in my English. Obviously, I followed his advice and started to pay more attention to my writing skills. Later I was lucky enough to pass the one-year probation and be formally promoted to the rank of Executive Officer II in due course.
It was the Hong Kong Government Policy to practise job rotation and after working in the Medical & Health Department for 4 years, I was transferred to the Urban Services Department to look after Hawkers Control in an office in the New Territories.
I was a young man of 26, and I had to supervise over 40 members of staff, including 9 Filing Clerks, 20 Typists, 2 Confidential Assistants, and a number of Minor Staff, such as messengers and cleaners.
While I could easily breeze through my duties as a Clerical Officer, I found it challenging to cope with my duties as an Executive Officer. As a Clerical Officer, I was generally considered someone with above-average English skills. However, Executive Officers were a different species with different skill expectations. I remembered I was warned by the Deputy Departmental Secretary that my performance had been erratic and that there was room for improvement in my English. Obviously, I followed his advice and started to pay more attention to my writing skills. Later I was lucky enough to pass the one-year probation and be formally promoted to the rank of Executive Officer II in due course.
It was the Hong Kong Government Policy to practise job rotation and after working in the Medical & Health Department for 4 years, I was transferred to the Urban Services Department to look after Hawkers Control in an office in the New Territories.
Back in those days, HK had to deal with a lot of hawkers. A lot of unemployed people tried to earn a living by selling daily necessities or food items, and most of them did not have a license. It was the responsibility of the Urban Services Department to control these hawkers, because despite being taken to court for hawking without a licence by the police, a substantial number of them would just accept the fines handed down by the court, considering the nominal sum as a price to pay, but continuing to sell illegally.
To deter such practice, the Urban Services Department established the Hawkers Control Unit, put under the supervision of an Executive Officer in charge of a couple of Overseers supported by a number of Labourers whose duty was to physically seize the products being sold and the cooking equipment of the hawkers. I had 2 Teams, which we jokingly called ‘armies’. It was an extremely disturbing experience for me.
Back in those days, HK had to deal with a lot of hawkers. A lot of unemployed people tried to earn a living by selling daily necessities or food items, and most of them did not have a license. It was the responsibility of the Urban Services Department to control these hawkers, because despite being taken to court for hawking without a licence by the police, a substantial number of them would just accept the fines handed down by the court, considering the nominal sum as a price to pay, but continuing to sell illegally.
To deter such practice, the Urban Services Department established the Hawkers Control Unit, put under the supervision of an Executive Officer in charge of a couple of Overseers supported by a number of Labourers whose duty was to physically seize the products being sold and the cooking equipment of the hawkers. I had 2 Teams, which we jokingly called ‘armies’. It was an extremely disturbing experience for me.
My Father, who used to be a hawker selling fruits, learned of my duties in the Hawkers Control Unit, seriously talked with me many times, stressing the point that I must be lenient to the hawkers because they were human beings forced to hawk for survival. In my childhood, I helped my parents run a stall selling fruits. We were lucky enough to have a permanent stall with a license.
Therefore, hawking is not a strange thing to me. I must admit that I spent many sleepless nights, and I must have been applying for the position of Chinese Interpreter & Welfare Officer for the Nauruan Government, partly as an attempt to seek refuge from the dilemma I was in, while working for the Urban Services Department.
