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The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, commended the winning departments and teams for their keen sense of perceptiveness, spirit of persistence and courage to challenge established practices when officiating at the Prize Presentation Ceremony of the 2007 Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme this morning (September 13).
The Secretary for the Civil Service, Miss Denise Yue, together with more than 600 guests and civil servants, celebrated the outstanding achievements of the winning departments and teams. She pointed out that with nearly 130 entries received from 49 departments, the response to this year's scheme was very positive, demonstrating both the wide variety of public services as well as the commitment of departments and civil servants to provide quality service.
The Chief Executive congratulated the winners for their achievements which served as role models of outstanding service for the whole civil service. He encouraged colleagues to address public needs through active listening and consultation, and to provide services in a professional, dedicated and responsible manner.
"Public participation is the key to public policy formulation in the future. The government will change the model of policy making from top to down and should start its dialogue with members of the public as early as possible because their views are the cornerstone of public policies," Mr Tsang said.
Mr Tsang said the 2007 Award Scheme should be particularly meaningful to the winners as this year marked the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
"Hong Kong's civil service is renowned for its integrity, efficiency and professionalism. I believe colleagues will continue to live up to these qualities and sustain the spirit for excellence for the harmony and prosperity of Hong Kong."
Adjudicators of the 2007 Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme from both the private and public sectors highly commended the winning departments and teams for their achievements. One of the chairpersons of the adjudicating panels Ms Li Fung Ying, spoke highly of the outstanding achievements of the participating teams. She observed that Hong Kong should rightfully be proud of a civil service with such cohesive teams and dedicated to providing quality service to the public.
Another adjudicator, Vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Customer Service Excellence Mr Buston Chu was also very impressed by civil servants' quest for continuous improvement. He was of the view that in service design, delivery and post-service review, civil servants' commitment, care and responsiveness to customers' needs were no different from service providers in the private sector.
The Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme, first launched by the Civil Service Bureau in 1999, aims to promote a citizen-centric quality service culture. Apart from recognising the efforts of winning departments and teams in providing excellent service, the awards also inspire other departments and civil servants to emulate the best practices for continuous improvement.
This year's award scheme was co-organised by the Hong Kong Management Association and sponsored by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. The scheme consists of two major categories - department awards and team awards. Response to the scheme was very positive. All the award-winning teams and departments had to go through two stages of rigorous adjudication.
To enhance public understanding of the services provided by winning teams and departments, two 30-minute TV documentaries will be broadcast at 7pm on September 20 and 30, on TVB Jade. Two-minute programmes featuring exemplary services will also be broadcast at Newsline Express of KCRC trains starting late September.
For more details of the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme, please visit the Civil Service Bureau's website at www.csb.gov.hk.
Ends/Thursday, September 13, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:58
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