Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour for me to be here today to receive this award as Hong Kong's Leader of the Year.

Yet forgive me if I confess to having mixed feelings. Let me explain. It is naturally a great honour to win the first such award after the Transition, the more so because I am following in the footsteps of our Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa and our Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan, the two previous winners. But I cannot escape a lingering suspicion that if Mr Tung and Mrs Chan had still been eligible, I would have been lucky to get even third place!

A second reason for caution in the celebrations concerns the key role in the selection process of the public at large, the readers of Sing Tao and HK Standard. On the one hand it is a source of much pride to have won their respect. On the other hand I hope that by my winning and accepting the award, I have not inadvertently aroused even further the unrealistic expectations about next week's Budget.

The hard truth is that in this world in which we live, there is no easy path, no economic Promised Land. No way to have profligate spending, and sharply lower taxes and a reassuring surplus and the respect of the international financial community. I doubt such a Paradise ever existed. And even if it did, I am not the Moses who can lead our community to it. With or without the 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness en route.

But perhaps tonight you might be gracious enough to allow some indiscretion on my part, in offering a few thoughts on the general subject of leadership. Both to explain directly and indirectly the targets, the standards that I have tried to set for myself. And also to indicate to our community the kind of values it should be looking for in future leaders. Any pomposity and crudeness in my remarks are unintended, and in defence I shall claim temporary lunacy caused by the exceptional hospitality and charity you have extended to me tonight.

What are the hallmarks of leadership? As many of you will know, I am a practising Catholic. So let me turn to the Bible for guidance. The first quality I look for is faith. A true leader must have faith in himself, and faith in the people he leads. Time and again our community has demonstrated versatility and resilience and perspicacity. The versatility to jump from wig making to plastic flowers to toys, to watches and textiles, to shipping and banking and insurance. The resilience to stand tall, with firmness and dignity not arrogance, in the face of upheaval; through the unprecedented transition year of 1997, our community was resolute and united. The perspicacity to see through the shallowness, boastings and blandishments of the populists, with their quack remedies, to see through to the eternal truths beyond. I think I can fairly say that my own faith has never wavered. But if it were ever to do so, I would need to look no further for my inspiration than the people of Hong Kong themselves.

Second, a leader must offer hope. Genuine hope based on reality, not the kind of false hope that comes from shallow promises, readily made, just as quickly and easily forgotten. Hope requires a vision to underpin it. The massive Airport Core Programme, with its $150 billion price tag, was one such vision. Though it seemed so unrealistic at the time, here it is in all its glory on the verge of completion. Already a bridge at Tsing Ma that is one of the wonders of the world. An engineering marvel that is also beautiful to behold. No wonder thousands flock to admire it every week. We built it. We paid for it. Hard Sweat. Cash on the Nail. The real world. A source of Pride. A source of Hope.

And in their own way, other creations, though less tangible, represent real achievements too : the Mortgage Corporation already up and running; the Pilot Credit Guarantee Scheme to help Small and Medium Enterprises to start shortly; the deal to free up the telecommunications market. These bold, imaginative initiatives carry an inspiring message of their own as we develop our services-led economy. Hong Kong people do not look for and do not expect handouts. They do need, they are entitled to look to their leaders to provide, opportunity. The chance to get one foot on the first rung of the ladder. To have a secure job, to raise a family and to own a home.

Third, there must be love. A leader must love the community of which he is part. By his own conduct and by his own demeanour, he must inspire others to do likewise. To carry on with the million and one acts of charity great and small without which our community could not survive. Long standing organisations such as the Po Leung Kuk, the Tung Wah Group, Yan Chai Hospital, the Salvation Army. More recent innovations such as Helping Hand and the Aids Foundation. All exist, improving the quality of our lives, because leaders rose up from among us to create them. Having been inspired by other leaders before them. And in turn providing fresh inspiration for the generations who will follow. A leader who did not love his people would not carry with him the conviction, the aura of sincerity, needed to do the job.

To these three great traditional virtues of Faith, Hope and Love, I would add two human qualities. Honesty, and Perseverance. There can be no compromise with Integrity. It must be absolute or it is effectively absent. We must tell the truth and uphold the truth, without fear or favour. And we must support resolutely, through thick and thin, others who have shown the courage to do so.

Perseverance is a difficult quality to define or describe in words that would rouse the listener's emotions. It means grinding on day after day without being deflected from one's duty. It means putting up with the endless criticisms that emanate from vested interests or self-appointed experts with their unrealistic demands and empty promises and their ignorance of experience elsewhere. It means civil servants spending the evening with their friends and relatives, from all walks of life, from all strata of society. Sharing mutual problems, then being told on the late news that they don't understand the predicament of ordinary people . Forgetting, of course, that in all important respects civil servants are ordinary people too. Or staff of the Monetary Authority working through the night to defend the Hong Kong dollar from foreign speculators, then reading in the morning papers that they don't know what they are doing. Yes, and it includes sending town boys to kill country chickens. And getting the job done, and harvesting only blame locally.

Against this background, how should we look at the events of the past year. And what lessons should we draw for the future. Just over a year ago, as we braced ourselves for Hong Kong's date with destiny, there were things we expected : the Transition, with all the uncertainty surrounding it; the IMF/World Bank meetings, when we knew the eyes of the world would be on us again; putting flesh on the bones of two brand new untried concepts "One Country, Two Systems" and "Hong Kong people running Hong Kong". All against a background of cynicism and doubt both locally and overseas. And there were the things we did not expect : the regional currency crisis; the bird flu; the economic slowdown, and so on.

Yet through it all, three things came shining through. First, the wisdom and courage of our national leaders in demonstrating to the people of Hong Kong and to the rest of the world, with deeds, their total conviction in Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong. There have been no gratuitous suggestions, no questions asked since 1 July, no interference at all. Not even during the depth of the Asian financial crisis when it violently invaded our markets last October. Only warm encouragement and expressions of ready support. We as a community are deeply touched and grateful.

Second, the total commitment and integrity of the civil service. Whatever the pressure, from whatever the source, my colleagues stood steadfast. Far from running away, resignations and retirements actually fell (leaving aside those directly connected with the end of British Administration itself). Our community can feel justifiably proud of those of its sons and daughters working in the public service.

And third, the quiet heroism of Hong Kong people themselves. Subjected to unprecedented pressure, yet holding on. And displaying remarkable restraint. Demonstrations, divergent views forcefully but sensibly expressed, all the hubbub of a politically vibrant city. Met only by tolerance and understanding. Where are the political prisoners? Where are the cowed journalists? Where are the bloodied demonstrators?

So as we turn our gaze towards the future, I ask only this of my fellow citizens. As our democratic system develops, choose for yourselves leaders who are worthy of you. Look for the hallmarks of leadership, and the human qualities underpinning it, that you yourselves have displayed. And demand of those who would win your support that they meet the same standards you have set.

It has been said that every society gets the government it deserves. Provided our society's leaders are as good as the Hong Kong people from whom they spring, we will have nothing to fear.

Thank you.