CONFIDENTIAL
CHAPTER 5
ATTITUDES
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5.1
Introduction
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No matter how well defined the lines of responsibility how well defined the "Job Description", or how realistic the goals of a Government officer, he will only be held to account by a senior officer who himself believes in the practice of accountability. The translation of the concept of
supervisory accountability into practice will therefore depend upon the attitude of a supervisor and of the officers above him.
5.2 Throughout this study, it was the distinct impression of the assignment staff that officers at all levels were continually being called upon to give an explanation as to how they had discharged their responsibility. Such calling to account and explanations took place on files, during interviews, at meetings, by telephone calls, during site visits and inspections, and even during informal conversations. There was no examination as to how effectively this calling to account was being conducted and, probably, no examination yielding any degree of certainty would have been possible. However, it is not easy for laymen to understand how, in a situation where syndicated corruption was firmly entrenched, senior and experienced officers failed to note any indications that all was not well within their areas of responsibility. There would appear to have been little, if any, calling to account of such officers for failing in their duties as supervisors. An examination of the factors which may have led to the failure to hold supervisory officers to account in the past would reduce the likelihood of repetition in the future. Chief among these seem to be the existence of a series of attitudes which militated against effective accountability.
5.3 Attitude is a product of social environment.
The particular question of supervisory accountability for the widespread existence of corruption without it being discovered at an early stage, and without remedial action being taken, must therefore be considered in the light of the attitudes within the community at large, within the body of Government servants who were exposed to corruption, and within the leadership echelons of Government departments since the beginning of the current epoch of industrial develop- ment. This epoch began at the end of the Second World War.
5.4
The Post-War Social Environment
The basic attitude which had the most far-reaching effect on the practice of accountability was the community attitude towards corruption. There has always been corruption of some form in Hong Kong, but prior to the Second World War corruption took place in a city where the pace of life was that of a seaport engaged in entrepot trade. The post war period, however, saw Hong Kong entering into a new phase of development from a seaport to a significant industrial and financial centre of the Far East. In this period, there was a vast and rapid influx of refugees, intense competition for limited resources and an increasingly fast pace of life. In this environment, the attitudes towards corruption were influenced by the
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