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Acting Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service, Ms Anissa Wong, said today (February 20) that a clean and efficient civil service was essential to every community, laying the foundation upon which stability and prosperity were built and steady development was made.
Her remark was made while officiating at the Opening Ceremony of the Exhibition on Outstanding Customer Service at the Hong Kong Central Library.
Ms Wong said: "Evaluation of the civil service should not be based on its pay level but should be made in the context of its overall performance, particularly the efficiency and standard in the delivery of public services."
Quoting the findings of a professional and comprehensive public opinion poll commissioned by Civil Service Bureau in October 2002, she said: "Over 70 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with the performance and service attitude of civil servants, and almost 80 per cent considered that, when compared with the pre-1997 level, the standard of our performance remained unchanged or even improved.
"I am confident that these findings also reflect what members of the public think and feel about civil servants in their day-to-day contact with various departments," she added.
The Civil Service Customer Service Award Scheme has been organized for the four consecutive years since 1999 to recognize the efforts of civil servants in customer service. The focus of the award this year is on the overall performance of the departments that cultivate team spirit and leadership skills.
This year, the Land Registry is the champion of the Small Group Category while both the Department of Health and the Hongkong Post are awarded the Grand Prize of the Large Group Category.
Apart from the 23 departments which participated in the Service Award Scheme, 25 other bureaux/departments have also set up booths at the Exhibition on Outstanding Customer Service to introduce to the public their achievement in customer services.
A full list of the winning departments of the Scheme is as follows:
Award Large Group Small Group
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Grand Prize Department of Health Land Registry
Hongkong Post
Quality Award Hongkong Post Land Registry
Efficiency Award Immigration Companies
Department Registry
Cost-Effectiveness Department of Health Land Registry
Award
Improvement Award Housing Department Land Registry
Best Public Image Award
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Gold Award Fire Services Department
Silver Award Hong Kong Police Force
Bronze Award Hongkong Post
The Exhibition, being held at the Exhibition Gallery of the Hong Kong Library, 66 Causeway Road, Causeway Bay, will be open to the public from 1 pm to 7 pm today (February 20) and from 10 am to 7 pm from tomorrow to Sunday (February 21-23). Admission is free.
End/Thursday, February 20, 2003
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