Around 30 volunteers from the Audit Commission paid a visit to the elderly residents of Ching Chung Rev. Hau Po Woon Neighbourhood Elderly Centre in Tin Shui Wai today (December 2).
The visit was packed with activities and fun. Young at heart and filled with energy, the senior residents showcased their prowess in the games. With the winter solstice around the corner, Audit Commission volunteers gave out hot packs and snacks as early festive treats for the elderly. The event filled the centre with laughter and joy. After the activity, the Director of Audit, Professor Nelson Lam, expressed his heartfelt thanks to the colleagues for going into the community and giving care to the elderly in their leisure time. With the District Council (DC) election approaching soon on December 10, Professor Lam took the opportunity to promote the election to the elderly and staff of the centre, urging them to encourage their families and friends to vote.
As the ancient saying goes, one should “respect and care for the elderly of one’s family, as well as those of other families”. Audit Commission staff will continue to pass on the time-honoured virtue through different activities and platforms. In the days to come, the Department will continue to serve with sincerity and respect, and spare no effort in caring for the community.
In the afternoon of the same day, around 30 staff members of the Audit Comission set up a promotion booth on a pedestrian lane near San Hui Market at Yan Oi Town Square, Tuen Mun to promote the upcoming DC election and handed out leaflets to the public. They took time to explain to the public the significance of this poll, which would be the first DC election after improving the district governance system, and encouraged the public to cast votes in the election on December 10.
Professor Lam said that the promotion event was organised in short notice and was voluntarily attended by over one-tenth of staff of the Department, for which he expressed his deep gratitude. The support from Audit Commission staff for the DC election was an exemplary display of teamwork of the civil service. He also pointed out that with the DC election drawing near, the Department would keep up its efforts to motivate voting via different activities and channels.
After the activity, Professor Lam responded to media enquiries that, “All bodies and organisations that fit the definition of ‘audited bodies’ in The Value for Money Audit Guidelines will be considered as subjects of our audit work and may potentially be examined by us, among them are higher education institutions. In conducting audits, we aim at fully covering all issues that matter and pursuing subjects of our concern closely ‘like shadows’. As a matter of fact, we had conducted audits on the University Grants Committee Secretariat and related matters for several times. Moreover, we have, for more than once, made observations and recommendations in previous audits on matters surrounding the safeguarding of national security, for instance, in audits on the administration of the Auxiliary Medical Service, the administration of the Equal Opportunities Commission, as well as the Construction Innovation and Technology Fund in Report No. 80 released in April this year, and also in other chapters released together in this Report No. 81, such as the chapters on the Recycling Fund and the Reindustrialisation and Technology Training Programme. In the future, we will carry on this line of work.”
Professor Lam also compared the Audit Commission’s role in public governance to that of a “corporate doctor”. “The Audit Commission does ‘body checks’ for audited government departments or publicly funded non-governmental organisations, and gives out ‘body check reports’. The aim is to help them deliver good governance and make more efficient use of resources. In order to prepare an all-encompassing ‘body check report’, doctors have to cover as many aspects as possible in the body check, even they may not know clearly beforehand what potential problems are in store. If problems are identified during the body check, the doctors can make reference to them and take follow-up actions. On the other hand, if not problem is found, one should understand that the doctors are just performing their duties and would not question the reasons behind the doctors’ work. The Audit Commission is comparable to a ‘corporate doctor’. Our duty is to perform checking on and give advice to audited bodies,” said Professor Lam.
On the way forward of public audit work, Professor Lam said that “The Audit Commission will, as we have always been, strive for excellence in the provision of independent, professional and quality audit services for the public sector through commitment to professionalism and innovation, so as to help enhance performance and accountability of the Government and public sector organisations of Hong Kong.”
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