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Following is the full text of the opening speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, at the Central Policy Unit Seminar this (Saturday) morning:
"Contingency Planning - A Must For All"
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Donald, Gordon, distinguished panelists, ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to be here to open today's seminar. It promises to be a stimulating morning on a subject that none of us as managers can afford to ignore - that is, crisis management and contingency planning.
The world that we live in is a smaller but much more complex world than that of our forefathers. It moves faster but it also changes faster. We have a public that is infinitely more knowledgeable and more demanding, spreading influence of mass communication, and an all pervasive mass media that is not always known for its sense of balance and sometimes magnifies even the smallest mistake. I hope our media friends will forgive me for saying that.
The truth is, whether we are in the public or the private sector, whether our business is big or small, we are constantly reminded of the need for vigilance and good forward planning. Service-providers are usually expected to have a Plan B, C, or even E at hand to forestall mishaps.
I was told that an organiser of an open-air concert needs to have at least three plans: one for fair weather, one for pouring rain, and one for the missing artist; the government is expected to have contingency plans to deal with natural disasters, epidemics, accidents caused by men and machine etc etc; even a small neighbourhood store has to plan against the possible dangers of fire, burglary, electricity failure or goods lost in delivery.
All businesses and public agencies that have the desire to succeed in what they do and to do it even better must understand the importance of planning for eventualities.
As we all know, Hong Kong has had to cope with some very serious challenges from unexpected quarters in the past fifteen months and the pressure has often come from influences beyond our control. The question we ask ourselves within the Civil Service is "Could we have been better prepared?" "Was there a better way of doing it?" Good contingency planning is not synonymous with panic or paranoid but is a sensible, prudent way of ensuring reliable and quality service to our clients. It should be part of every organisation's service culture. Of course, we accept that no plan can be 100 per cent fool-proof. Surprises can come from the least expected quarters but that in my view, is no excuse for not planning.
One way of helping us do better is to get expert advice. For example, to reinforce senior civil servants' capabilities in crisis management, our Civil Service Training and Development Institute has organised internal seminars and workshops focusing on this subject. Today's seminar, featuring an international expert and some of the best-qualified speakers from their respective trade, is another opportunity for us to learn more about crisis management and contingency planning.
As caring and responsive public servants, we owe it to the community that we serve to have the best possible plans in place to cope with the demands of the day. This is not easy, given the wide-ranging tasks we have to handle. But we should demand nothing less of ourselves. I am very pleased to see so many civil service colleagues present at today's seminar and I am sure that it will help sharpen our reflexes so that we can respond more readily to new challenges.
I am also delighted by the warm response from the private sector to this seminar. The presence of so many top managers and professionals from the private sector suggests to me that those at the top take contingency planning very seriously.
Before I conclude, I would like to thank all our speakers today. Mr Robert Wilkerson has come a long way from the United States to give the keynote presentation, and our three local panelists have kindly taken time from their busy schedule to share their expertise and experience with us. I wish you all a very stimulating and enlightening morning.
I now have great pleasure in handing over to the Chairman of today's seminar, the Financial Secretary, Mr Donald Tsang, to begin today's proceedings.
Thank you all very much.
End/Saturday, September 26, 1998
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