¡§Big market and small government¡¨
at the Legislative Council
on 7 July 2004
Madam President
For the past 7 years, I have been making remarks in this Chamber on a wide range of issues relating to the government¡¦s governance and its role in our economy. I have been asking the government to continue to practice free market economy. I have been asking it to promote fair market competition. I have been asking it to create a better business environment for the private sector by cutting red tape and streamlining its procedures. I have been asking it to remove unnecessary rules and regulations that may stifle the vitality of the private sector. All these are fundamental to the ¡§big market and small government¡¨ principle.
I am not going to repeat these points again. But I must comment on the government¡¦s misguided policies on civil service which are advanced under the pretext of the ¡§big market and small government¡¨ and are driven by the its obsession with reducing fiscal deficits.
Indeed, a team of clean and efficient civil servants has always been considered as one of the four pillars of Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the government has been trying different approaches in the past years to enforce pay-cut and even downsizing of civil service in order to achieve its objective in controlling expenditure on civil service. All these actions have been taken without the slightest regard to the morale of civil service.
Instead of consulting the staff side, the government has politicised the pay issue and manipulated the public opinion to its favour in order to push through the pay reduction legislation in 2002 to which I strongly objected. Its action has totally shattered the trust and cooperating spirit built over the years between the staff sides and the management. Moreover, the pay reduction controversy has caused a rift between the public and civil servants. Nevertheless, the worries of civil service do not stop there. The government is still pondering ways to make further cuts to fringe benefits of civil servants. While civil service¡¦s pay levels and fringe benefits usually fall behind their private sector counterparts during booming times, it is most unfair that their pay and fringe benefits have to be cut in bad times, following the trend of the private sector.
Downsizing of the government is a bigger concern of civil service. I have no objection if the size of civil service is to be reduced by voluntary retirement schemes and natural attrition. However, the government has opted to take a more drastic action. Take for example in Works departments with which I am more familiar with, many young engineers who had undergone training in these departments failed to get their contracts renewed upon expiry. Such employment policy focused only on cost consideration is very shortsighted. Sooner or later, these Works Department will suffer from serious succession problem in professional grades with a clear absence of new recruits for an extended period. As we all know, stability and continuity are the key to an efficient and reliable team of civil service.
While I do not agree with the government about its policy on civil service, I must say that the government is taking a right direction in seeking an active role in the Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional co-operation and development framework. The Pan-Pearl River Delta Region (PPRD), which is also known as ¡§9+2¡¨, includes nine provinces ¡V Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan as well as the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions. As Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa said earlier, economic co-operation and development in the PPRD region can greatly expand our economic hinterland and enhance our business opportunities. Together with the benefits offered by CEPA, it has positive implications in many sectors of Hong Kong including logistics, investment, tourism and professional services.
Taking about professional services including the engineering sector, I deeply believe that the huge Mainland market offers huge potential as long as the high entry threshold set for Hong Kong firms and the problem of mutual recognition of professional qualifications can eventually be sorted out, the sooner the better. In this respect, the government should continue to play an active role.
Economically speaking, the prime role of a government is to create a better business environment for the business sector. Madam President, we should not be asking too much if the HKSAR Government is expected to do the same for Hong Kong businesses to thrive not only in Hong Kong, but also in markets outside Hong Kong including the Mainland.
With these remarks, I so submit.