Prize presentation ceremony of the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme 2015

Today, I hurried back to Hong Kong from Beijing to attend the prize presentation ceremony of the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme 2015. I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to all the winning departments and teams.

When I was Convenor of the Executive Council, I used government services from time to time as an ordinary citizen. For example, I would renew my identity card and passport at the Immigration Department and my driving licence at the Transport Department, and report a faulty water meter to the Water Supplies Department. These are routine over-the-counter services. As to emergency services, such as rescue operations in times of typhoons and rainstorms, and the provision of assistance to Hong Kong residents in distress outside the territory, our colleagues in the civil service are also highly efficient in addressing people's pressing needs.

Today's winning departments and teams truly deserve their awards. They have worked together to enhance the quality and efficiency of their services despite many challenges. Take the Assistance Scheme for Hawkers, jointly launched by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Fire Services Department, as an example. Through inter-departmental co-operation, these two departments took the initiative to find out and respond to stakeholders' needs, and successfully eliminated safety risks in fixed-pitch hawker areas while creating favourable conditions for economic development in the districts concerned.

Another example is Legends of the Giant Dinosaurs, an exhibition hosted by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. By employing state-of-the-art technology, the exhibition brought dinosaurs to life, attracting record numbers of visitors and winning unanimous acclaim.

The Hong Kong Police Force was commended for implementing various initiatives including psychological competency training, equipment development and promotion of community integration, thus helping to maintain Hong Kong's reputation as the world's safest city in a complex and changing environment, which is not an easy task.

The Special Administrative Region Government has always been people-oriented and committed to providing quality services. I hope that today's prize presentation ceremony will achieve three goals. First, to recognise the perseverance, creativity and dedication of civil servants in serving the community. Second, to encourage the winners to keep up their efforts in pursuing excellence. And third, to encourage other colleagues to follow the winners' examples and do their best in serving the community.

September 4, 2015