SCS commends outstanding civil servants and civil service volunteers (with photos)

     The Secretary for the Civil Service (SCS)'s Commendation Award cum Civil Service Volunteer Commendation Award Presentation Ceremony 2024 was held at the Central Government Offices today (November 21). The SCS, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, presented the SCS's Commendation Award to civil servants from different bureaux and departments with persistent exemplary performance, and awards of the inaugural Civil Service Volunteer Commendation Scheme to recognise civil service volunteer teams and individuals for their outstanding performance and contributions in participating in and promoting volunteer service. The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, also attended the ceremony to extend his congratulations to the award recipients.

     Addressing the ceremony, Mrs Yeung commended the awardees for their dedication to serving the public, whether through their work or volunteer service, which sets outstanding examples for the civil service.
 
     Mrs Yeung said that the civil service is the cornerstone of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region governance system, key to the Government's effective administration, and a bridge between the Government and the public. Strengthening the governance capabilities of the civil service is a key initiative of the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) in this year's Policy Address, and one of the major achievements in this regard is the promulgation of the updated Civil Service Code in June this year. The Code outlines the core values that civil servants should uphold, including passion for public service, dedication to duty, and being people-oriented, which are fully reflected in the achievements of the awardees of the SCS' Commendation Award Scheme. 

     With a view to motivating civil servants, including those with shorter service, to continuously strive for excellence, Mrs Yeung said that the CSB enhanced the SCS' Commendation Award Scheme this year by lifting the minimum service length requirement for an awardee to sustain 20 years of service to obtain the travel award. A total of 12 civil servants with five to 17 years of service benefited from this initiative.

     Mrs Yeung added that a total of 14 civil service volunteer teams and 337 individuals were awarded under the inaugural Civil Service Volunteer Commendation Scheme. Through the Scheme, civil servants' contribution to volunteer service will be recognised on a regular basis, further motivating more civil servants to take part in volunteer service, promoting a caring and supportive culture of volunteerism within the civil service, and enabling the public to have a better understanding of the civil service's efforts in helping the needy.

     The SCS's Commendation Award Scheme was introduced in 2004 to commend staff members who have achieved exemplary work performance continuously for five years or above. The Scheme has a rigorous selection process requiring nominations from Permanent Secretaries, departmental heads or heads of grades and adjudication by a selection committee; the final decision on the awardees' list is made by the SCS. This year, a total of 100 civil servants received awards from 42 bureaux and departments across 51 grades, including professional and technical grades, disciplined services and general grades.

     Principal Ambulanceman of the Fire Services Department Mr Chew Ming-tak, who received the SCS's Commendation Award this year, has been stationed at various ambulance depots for 27 years and now serves as an Assistant Instructor in the Fire and Ambulance Services Academy, training new recruits. He is a dedicated instructor and has set a good example for his fellow ambulancemen. He hopes to pass on the knowledge and spirit of ambulance service to new generations of ambulancemen so that they can continue to provide quality service to citizens.

     Senior Health Inspector of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Mr Wong Ming-chun also received the SCS's Commendation Award. During his tenure in the Cleansing Infrastructure Team, he was responsible for taking forward the Enhanced Public Toilet Refurbishment Programme. He worked closely with an interdepartmental team to improve the layout, finishes and appliances, as well as ventilation and lighting systems of public toilets, with a view to creating modern public toilets that better meet user needs.

     Newly launched this year, the Civil Service Volunteer Commendation Scheme includes awards for volunteer teams and individuals. Criteria for the awards include volunteer service hours, diversity of scope and type of volunteer service; features or innovativeness of activities; leadership of individual volunteers to mobilise colleagues to participate in volunteer activities; partnerships with departmental volunteer teams and collaborating organisations; and continuous and dedicated efforts in planning and organising activities for departmental volunteer teams. Serving civil servants, government contract staff and retired civil servants are eligible for nomination for the awards. 

     Under the inaugural Civil Service Volunteer Commendation Scheme, six government departments received the Outstanding Volunteer Team Award, and eight volunteer teams received the Meritorious Volunteer Service Award (the list of award recipients is in the Annex). Among them were volunteer teams from the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD). 

     The HKPF develops and promotes volunteer service with distinctive features through various platforms. Its officers participate in individual volunteer service on their own initiative and organise diverse volunteer teams. The HKPF Volunteer Teams, which have accumulated more than 50 000 hours of volunteer service and organised over 1 000 volunteer activities in 2023-24, won the Gold Prize of the Outstanding Volunteer Team Award (Large Department). The Police Volunteer Services Corps, one of the HKPF Volunteer Teams, has demonstrated excellent organisation skills and outstanding mobilisation capability. It makes good use of members' various skills to provide unique and diverse volunteer services, such as organising activities for young people to help them maintain a positive attitude during difficult times in their growth.

     Established in 2008, the CEDD Volunteer Team strives to establish partnerships with various non-profit-making organisations and serves a wide range of recipients, such as the elderly, youth, children, grassroots families and persons with disabilities, through organising diverse volunteer services including residential care home visits, tours, youth orientation and environmental protection activities. In 2023-24, the CEDD Volunteer Team planned or participated in more than 70 volunteer services, mobilised more than 800 volunteers and contributed about 3 300 hours of service.

     To better showcase to the public the accomplishments of civil servants and their dedication to serving the community, the CSB and Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) have jointly produced a 10-episode television series entitled "United to serve the community – Good stories of civil servants", each episode lasting five minutes. Additionally, there is a special 10-minute television programme entitled "Volunteering for the well-being of our community – Good stories of civil servants", featuring awarded civil servants, departmental volunteer teams and individuals. The programmes will be broadcast on RTHK TV31 in December. Details are as follows: