XN000022-1994-10-05 — Page 22

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1994

CIVIL SERVANTS GIVEN TRIBUTE

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HONG KONG CIVIL SERVANTS WERE PRAISED BY THE GOVERNOR, THE RT CHRISTOPHER PATTEN, FOR THEIR QUALITY OF PERFORMANCE WHICH WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO MATCH ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.

HON

THEY

CONTINUE

DO

"THEY HAVE HELPED HONG KONG TO COPE WITH THE CHALLENGES OF THE

TO TRANSITION TO 1997, AND WE MUST MAKE SURE THAT SO," HE SAID.

DELIVERING HIS POLICY ADDRESS TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL THIS (WEDNESDAY) AFTERNOON, MR PATTEN SAID: "WE WILL CONTINUE OUR EFFORTS TO DEVELOP THE POOL OF TALENTED LOCAL OFFICERS CAPABLE OF FILLING POSTS SPECIFIED BY THE JOINT DECLARATION AT THE LEVEL

OF PRINCIPAL OFFICIAL AND IMMEDIATELY BELOW."

BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR, NO OVERSEAS ADMINISTRATIVE WILL HOLD POSTS AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICIAL LEVEL, HE ADDED. WIL

OFFICERS

IN ADDITION, THE GOVERNMENT WILL STEP UP ITS TRAINING PROGRAMMES IN CHINA STUDIES, PUTONGHUA AND WRITTEN CHINESE. NEXT YEAR, THE ANNUAL NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS WILL GO UP FROM 7,000 TO 45,000.

то

OVERSEAS

UNIFORM SET OF EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN DRAWN UP REMOVE, ONCE AND FOR ALL, THE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN LOCAL AND TERMS OF SERVICE.

"WE WILL, OF COURSE, NEED TO CONSULT THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT BEFORE THEY CAN BE INTRODUCED, HE SAID.

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MR PATTEN SAID THERE WERE ALREADY THE MEN AND WOMEN IN THE CIVIL SERVICE OF THE CALIBRE HONG KONG NEEDED TO DELIVER A FIRST-CLASS ADMINISTRATION.

"WE LOOK TO THEIR DEDICATION AND LEADERSHIP TO GIVE US THE HIGH QUALITY AND HIGHLY-MOTIVATED CIVIL SERVICE WHICH HONG KONG WILL NEED AFTER 1997.

"THE LOYALTY, THE INTEGRITY AND THE PROFESSIONALISM OF THESE MEN AND WOMEN SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED, NOR SHOULD IT BE THOUGHT THAT THESE QUALITIES CAN BE TURNED ON OR TURN

OFF, PROFFERED OR THOUGHT THAT THESE QUALITIES CAN BE TURNED ON OR TURNED OFF, PROFFERED OR WITHDRAWN, ACCORDING TO PARTISAN CALCULATION OR SELECTIVE WHIM.

"THEY MUST BE NURTURED AND RESPECTED, AND THAT MEANS RECOGNISING THAT THEY ARE IN THE SERVICE OF HONG KONG AND ALL THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG BEFORE AND AFTER 1997," MR PATTEN SAID.

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