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Civil service vacancies are usually filled up through open recruitment. According to the existing recruitment policy, except for the handicapped who are given priority in recruitment, all applicants for civil service posts are treated equally and no preferential treatment is given to anyone. Such arrangement may seem inflexible and unreasonable but the fact is, it is the fairest and most reasonable policy. Thus, people who have completed retraining by the ERB will have equal opportunities as all other applicants in their applications for civil service jobs.

The ERB is of the view that as far as civil service posts are concerned, junior clerical posts (i.e. Clerical Assistant and Office Assistant grades) are more suitable for retrained workers. In this regard, the Civil Service Branch has held discussions with the Board with a view to enhancing co- ordination in the retraining and recruitment work relating to the Clerical Assistant and Office Assistant grades. This will allow the Board to design the relevant syllabus and step up training for the prospective candidates according to the requirements of the Government. In future, the Government will also inform the Board of the recruitment of these grades so that more of its students can apply in time. It is believed that under free competition, trainees who have completed the relevant course of the Board will give a satisfactory performance in the interview and have a better chance of getting the appointment if they can make good use of the knowledge and skills they have learnt.

Quality control in banknote printing process

Following is a question by Dr the Hon Law Cheung-kwok and a reply by the Secretary for Financial Services, Mr Rafael Hui, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

It is learnt that some Hong Kong dollar notes issued by the Hongkong Bank bearing no signatures or having identical serial numbers have recently been found in In this connection, will the the "misprinted Hong Kong dollar notes" market. Government inform this Council: