| Transcript of SCMA's media session |
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Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Raymond Tam, at a media session in the Legislative Council Complex this afternoon (June 21): Reporter: What do you think of your successor? Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: Mr Patrick Nip has been a very active participant in the various (policy) portfolios relevant to this bureau. In his earlier capacity as Deputy Director (to the Office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in Beijing), and for a certain period of time the acting Director of the Beijing Office, he has already been very familiar with Mainland affairs since those years. I should add that this is the second time he is my successor. He was Deputy Private Secretary (to the Chief Executive) from 1998. So he had an overview of the government's overall operation. Lately, he was the Director of Information Services. He has been actively participating in (matters relating to) bilateral co-operation with the Mainland as well as policy matters relevant to constitutional reform. I am sure he is the most suitable person to be my successor and I have full confidence that he would fully deliver the various tasks required of him in the coming five years. Reporter: Mr Tam, most of the newly appointed ministers are Administrative Officers in the civil service. Do you think it will be a shortcoming of the next Administration? Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: I shall declare interest because I was an Administrative Officer (AO) myself. I would say that having been an Administrative Officer would be an advantage, rather than a disadvantage, in becoming a political appointee. It is simply because we have the range of experience already accumulated throughout our years of being an AO in the public service. I think such an experience would help those officers to perform even better at the level of political appointee. So, I won’t say that this is a disadvantage. On the contrary, I think it would actually bring in the wealth of experience and various lessons learned throughout their public service career to the new cabinet. I think it is a very positive contribution. (Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.) Ends/Wednesday, June 21, 2017 Issued at HKT 18:45 NNNN |