Modern and Postmodern Society

Questions of EUtics in Pubiic Sector Management: The Case Stuily of Hong Kong By Sabrina Ching Yuen Luk

Ethics has become more important in pubiic administration in recent years. The problems of corruption, abuse of power, and fraud keep on arising within the government, leading to a decrease in pubiic confidence in the government. iVIany governments worldwide include ethics in their reform agenda. Hong Kong, having civii servants being internationaily recognized as among the ieast corrupt and the least bureaucratic, is no exception. The essay will examine ethics in pubiic sector management in Hong Kong. It wiil be divided into six sections: (1) ethics in government and its importance, (2) the rise of ethics in pubiic administration, (3) gênerai ethicai practices in pubiic sector, (4) ethicai practices in the Hong Kong, (5) weaknesses of ethicai practices and its challenges in the Hong Kong government, and (6) conciusion. it shows that the Hong Kong government has faced ethicai chaiienges in recent years, inciuding being difficuit to transform ethicai principies, the probiem of ethical dilemma, the ineffectiveness of ethicai mechanism, and the iine of accountability being biurred under privatization. A three-pronged approach—ethicai leadership, ethicai training, and ethics iegisiation—is recommended for maintaining the integrity of the civil service in Hong Kong.

Introduction Ethics has become more important in public administration in recent years. The problems of corruption, abuse of power, and fraud keep on arising within the government, leading to a decrease in public confidence in the govern- ment. In order to get back the support from citizens, many governments

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worldwide include ethics in their reform agenda. The Hong Kong government is no exception. The quality of the Hong Kong civil service is very good, and the civil servants have been internationally recognized as among the least cor- rupt and the least bureaucratic' However, the government has faced ethical challenges in recent years. In order to maintain the integrity and profession- alism of civil service, the government has established the principle of'serving the community and being accountable'^ when it reforms the civil service. It also tries to improve ethics management. The essay will examine ethics in pub- lic sector management, with a case study of Hong Kong as an illustration. The essay will be divided into the following sections: (1) ethics in government and its importance, (2) the rise of ethics in public administration, (3) general eth- ical practices in public sector, (4) ethical practices in the Hong Kong, (5) weaknesses of ethical practices and its challenges in the Hong Kong Special Ad- ministrative Region (HKSAR) government, and (6) conclusion.

Ethics in Government and Its Importance Ethics in government is associated with rules and standards, morals, right and wrong, and value of honesty and integrity.^ It can be considered as a form of self-accountability, or an "inner check" on public administrators' conduct."*

Ethics is important in government. It is because public administrators are regarded as the guardians of contemporary administrative state.^ They make decisions on behalf of citizens and which are related to public interest. As a result, they are required to have higher moral standards than employees in private sector.

The Rise of Ethics in Pubiic Administration However, tracing back the history of public administration, it shows that the moral aspects of the public administrators' job were ignored. Classical under- standings of bureaucratic structure and organization theory have provided little in the way of an ethical basis for administrative activity.̂ In traditional management, Weber's bureaucracy was about ethics of neutrality It was an alienating organization which took person as machine and treated peop.e im- personally. Economy, efficiency and effectiveness were emphasized. As to scientific management, it stressed technical efficiency as the vehicle for suc- cessful management that was not concern with the humanistic and ethical components of organization behavior.^ Both traditional management and sci- entific management believed in politics-administration dichotomy. It was not until the repeated occurrence of unethical conduct within the government did ethics start being subject to attention.

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When the government has grown rapidly since the mid-1930s, it has been plagued by the problems of unethical acts such as corruption, drug abuse, and sex scandals. Public confidence in government began to decrease and the gov- ernment began to lose its credibility in the early 1960s. The 1970s, with the occurrence of Watergate affair and repeated government misconduct, was the "ethics decade.'* The New Public Management did not believe in politics-ad- ministration dichotomy. People realized that there was something fundamentally wrong when government was seen as the biggest threat to the country's future and when a society did not trust its major institutions.' Fun- damental questions of "Who guards the guardians?" and "How to guard the guardians?" were asked by society. As ethics, trust, and government power are assumed to be linked,'" therefore, ethical practices in the government must be emphasized and improved in order to get back the trust and support from citizens.

General Ethical Practices in Public Sector Many governments worldwide have adopted different ethical practices. There is no "one best way" of ethical practices. It is because, as Lui argues, the con- ceptions ofthe nature and problems of ethics are affected by contextual factors such as the type of government, the relationship between state and society, the role and functions of the bureaucracy in the political system, and the expec- tations placed upon public administrators by the community.'' Therefore, it leads to variation of ethical practices among different countries. Basically, eth- ical practices can be categorized into two types: internal control and external control. The former includes in-service ethical training and whistle-blowing. The latter includes ethics legislation, code of ethics, and the establishment of some agencies to fight against crimes in government and handle public mal- administration. Whether it is internal control or external control, it has the same aim of sustaining the integrity and professionalism of the public sector and to strengthen the public sector which can overcome the ethical challenges.

Ethical practices in Hong Kong Hong Kong was the colony of Britain from 1842 to 1997. Since 1997, Hong Kong has officially become the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) after it was handovered to China from the colonial government. Compared with the colonial government, the HKSAR government has devel- oped more ethical practices in the public sector. However, some of the ethical

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practices developed in the colonial period are still adopted by the HKSAR gov- ernment. Therefore, in order to have a clearer picture of the development of ethical practices in the HKSAR government, a historical review of the develop- ment of ethical practice in the colonial period is necessary

a) The Development of Ethical Practices in the Colonial Period In Hong Kong, it was not until the 1970s did the colonial government develop ethical practices. Many scholars, such as Scott, have observed the close resemblance between the Hong Kong bureaucracy and the Weberian model of organization.'^ Apart from the structure and modus operandi of the public administration, the values that are de- finitive of the ethics of civil servants in Hong Kong are also strongly Weberian in nature.'^ These values are administrative competence, moral neutrality, and loyalty to the hierarchy. The colonial government lagged behind the development of ethical practices in the public sec- tor. There was no clear ethics legislation to guide civil service conduct. Although rules and regulations abound in the Hong Kong govern- ment, they were designed more to facilitate efficient organizational operations than to prescribe norms of moral behavior. ̂ '' As Luî ^ af. gued, there were civil service-wide as well as professionally oriented codes of conduct, but with a few exceptions they were not very well publicized, or they may be so loosely phrased as to be almost unen- forceable.

However, there was severe corruption in the public sector dur- ing the 1960s and the 1970s. Offering bribes to the right officials was necessary for the application of public housing, schooling and other public services.'^ It was particularly severe in the Police Eorce. Cor- rupt police officers covered up vice, gambling and drug activities.'^ In 1973, the Godber's case led to community backlash.'^ In order to re- spond to the public outcry. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was established in Eebruary 1974 to fight against corruption. Since then, ICAC has adopted a three-pronged approach of investigation, prevention and education to fight corruption.

In 1989, the Office of The Ombudsman was established co re- dress grievances and address issues arising from maladministration in the public sector and bring about improvement in the quality and stan- dard of and promote fairness in public administration through independent, objective and impartial investigation."

The 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China led to a confidence crisis in the civil service. The Beijing government factor led to

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uncertainties about whether the neutrality of the civil service would be threatened.

b) The Development of Ethical Practices in the HKSAR Government According to Article 99 of the Basic Law, "public servants must be ded- icated to their duties and be responsible to the Government of the HKSAR". After the 1997 handover. Chief Executive repeatedly praised the civil service for being dedicated, honest and efficient and gaining the deep respect of the local and international community alike.2° At the same time, he emphasized the need to have continuous improve- ment in the civil service in order to keep abreast of social advances.^^ Indeed, the HKSAR government has taken an initiative in reforming the civil service and advocating the development of ethical practices in the civil service.

The HKSAR government uses four ways to develop ethical practices in the civil service. They are (1) prevention, (2) education, (3) sanction, and (4) the help of some government departments and independent agencies.

Prevention and Education The HKSAR government has done a lot in prevention and education. It makes clear conduct-related policies, guidelines and procedures, promulgates rules or guidebooks, revises service-wide guidelines and circulars in order to pro- vide a clear direction for civil servants to follow. There is Civil Service Regulations codifying almost all aspects of the management of the civil serv- ice.̂ ^ In 1999, "Civil Servant's Guide to Good Practices" was published, which sets out the good behavior expected of civil servants at all levels in simple lan- guage.^^ The Guide talks about a set of shared core values which lay the foundation of good governance and it can be summed up in six principles. They are commitment to the rule of law; honesty and integrity; accountability for decisions and actions; political neutrality; impartiality in the execution of public functions; and dedication, professionalism and diligence in serving the community.̂ "* Two circulars on (a) acceptance of advantages by civil servants in their personal capacities and (b) how to deal with gifts or entertainment of- fered to an officer in his official capacity in 2002 and one circular on confiict of interest in 2004 were revised respectively in order to make them clear and adequate in present-day circumstances.^^

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Besides, the HKSAR government regularly provides seminars, training and induction to civil servants, produces audio-visual training materials, and creates integrity-related web-pages in order to increase the awareness and un- derstanding of higher moral standards among civil servants. For example, Civil Service Bureau (CSB) and ICAC jointly held seminars such as "Seminar on building up a clean civil service together" and "Seminar on Hong Kong into the 21st Century—Maintaining Integrity in the Civil Service" in 1997 and 1998 re- spectively. From 2001 to 2004, about 2000 corruption prevention courses were held regularly for about 60,000 civil servants at different ranks. In early 2004, "Civil Service Integrity Entrenchment Program" (CSIEP) was jointly held by CSB and ICAC in order to create an ethical culture in the workplace. Under the program, an out-reach team comprising directorate officers from CSB/ICAC called on bureaux/departments to discuss practical issues in relation to in- tegrity management.^^ Up to March 2005, 30 departments were visited.

The HKSAR government makes use of the information technology/ to fa- cilitate the promotion of integrity among civil servants. In 2001, the electronic "Resource Center on Civil Service Integrity Management (RCIM)" was created. Many reference materials have been uploaded and updated onto it. They in- clude service-wide regulations on conduct matters, publications on subjects related to the integrity of civil servants, sample departmental guides, and cases of acts of misconduct.^^ "Integrity OnLine", a newsletter which was published in printed version in 2000, gets an electronic version. It continues to provide a forum for sharing of the integrity of message among members of the civil service and to keep them updated on the current events and activities related to the fostering of an ethical culture in departments and the civil service as a whole.^^ The use if IT can provide civil servants with an easy and convenient access to integrity-related materials.

Sanction While honorable behavior should be awarded, sanction is also necessary to deal with cases of misconduct. The HKSAR government has a well-defined disciplinary mechanism to handle unethical acts of civil servants.^' For cases involving minor misconduct, heads of department may issue warnings to the officers concerned without recourse to formal disciplinary proceedings.^" However, formal discipli- nary action would be taken when officers commit serious misconduct or criminal offences. The Public Service (Administration) Order (PS (A) O) and the Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulation provide procedures and provisions for formal disciplinary action. The Secretariat on Civil Service Discipline (SCSD) was estab- lished in 2000 to centrally process formal disciplinary action so that the handling

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of cases of misconduct can be expedited and be processed systematically '̂ The disciplinary procedures have been streamlined. The processing time has also been shortened. Before the setting up of SCSD in 2000, disciplinary case requiring a hearing could generally be completed within the timeframe of 7 to 18 months, whereas cases that did not require a hearing were dealt with within 1 to 9 months.'^ In 2004/2005, these lead times have been reduced to 3-9 months and 1-3 months respectively" Officers would be punished depending on the gravity of misconduct. The range of punishment includes reprimand, serious reprimand, financial penalty, reduction in rank, compulsory retirement, and dismissals'* Many officers are punished by severe reprimand plus financial penalty and warning (see Table 1). A more senior officer would receive a heavier disciplinary punishment than a junior ranking officer for the same type of offence as senior officers are ex- pected to lead their subordinates by personal example." Besides, a civil servant who commits a criminal offence, whether or not it is related to his duty, renders himself liable to disciplinary action, on top of the sentence handed down by the Court.'^ It is because civil servants have to uphold higher moral standard.

Table 1 : Punishment imposed under the PS(A)O (2001/02-2004/05)

Dismissal

Compulsory retirement

Reduction in rank

Severe reprimand plus financial penalty

Sub-total

Other punishment

Severe reprimand

Reprimand plus financial penalty

Reprimand

Warning

Sub-total

Total

2001/02

36

29

1

46

112 (39%)

32

5

36

102

175(61%)

287

2002/03

38

42

1

84

165 (49%)

24

17

34

91

166 (51%)

331

2003/04

23

29

0

87

139 (49%)

15

6

29

92

142(51%)

281

2004/05

26

39

0

43

108 (44%)

26

8

20

85

139(56%)

247

Figures in ( ) denotes % as against total number of cases. Source: Civil Service Bureau (2004). Civil Service Disciplinary Mechanism and

Procedures. Civil Service Bureau (2005). Measures for managing cases of misconduct and under-performance in the civil service (LC Paper No. CB(1) 1522/04-05(03))

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Besides, the HKSAR government has a comprehensive legal system. It has ethics legislation. For example, there is the Prevention of Bribery Ordi- nance. And there is The Offence of Misconduct in the Civil Service, which states that (a) a public official (b) in the course of or in relation to the public offence (c) willfully and intentionally (d) culpably misconducts himself and the misconduct is serious. Take the Sin Kam-wah case as an example. Former senior police superintendent Sin was convicted of receiving free sexual serv- ices with the possibility of returning favors in the form of tip-offs to vice establishment between March 2001 and May 2002.3' He got three misconduct charges against him stating that he had willfully, intentionally and culpabJy mis- conducted himself in relation to his public office by accepting from Lam Chuen-ip sexual services, free of any charge, from women over whom he knew Lam was exercising control with a view to those women's prostitution.^« At last. Sin was put into jail for two years and lost his lucrative pension. From the above, it shows that ethics legislation can be a deterrent to civil servants.

The help of some government departments and independent agencies As Hong Kong is a free and open society, anyone aggrieved with a government decision has access to a full range of venues to seek redress: through the media, interest groups, the various complaint mechanisms, the legislature, and the courts.^' At the same time, some government departments and inde- pendent agencies are set up to handle public maladministration and fight against unethical misconduct committed by civil servants. They include ICAC, Audit Commission, and Office ofthe Ombudsman.

Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Since its establishment in 1974, ICAC has been fighting corruption and mal- practices in the civil service. Under the existing mechanism, ICAC may, on the advice ofthe Operations Review Committee (ORC), refer cases involving mis- conduct or malpractices of civil servants to the relevant departments for consideration of disciplinary or administrative action.'"' Besides, it can make arrests. For example, in March 2005, it launched the operation codenamed Flint and arrested two police officers who took brides from triads in return for scuppering police investigation.'"

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Audit Commission As to Audit Commission, it aims at providing independent, professional and quality audit services to the Legislative Council and public sector organizations in order to help the Government enhance public sector performance and ac- countability in Hong Kong.''2 Under the Audit Ordinance, the Director of Audit is the external auditor of the accounts of government departments, has pow- ers of access to departmental records, can require public officers to furnish information and give explanation, and is not subject to the control of any other person or authority in performing his or her duties.'" He or she remains vigi- lant of any misuse of government expenditure by departments.'*'' Eor example. Audit Commission reviewed the 2003 Harbor Eest, the entertainment festival organized by the HKSAR government to boost the morale and tourism of Hong Kong. Maximum of $100 million was approved for the project.'"' However, the event failed to attract people to come. It found that the government had de- viated from essential principles in its monitoring of the Harbor Fest project.''* Accounts Committee (PAC) considered the Audit report and held four public hearings. It agreed with the Audit report and recommended taking discipli- nary action against the responsible government official.'"

Office of the Ombudsman The Office of the Ombudsman was established under the 1988 Ombudsman Ordinance. It was formally delinked from the Government after the Ombuds- man (Amendment) Ordinance came into operation on December 19, 2001.''« It has wide powers to investigate and report on grievances from members of the public as a result of administrative actions of the executive branch and other designated public bodies.'" The Ombudsman is appointed by the Chief Executive of the HKSAR. She serves as the community's watchdog to ensure that there is administrative fairness, no abuses of power and wrongs are righted.'" Eor example. The Ombudsman investigated the complaint against six government departments for failing to resolve the problem of laundry drying in public places in 2005." After the investigation, it concluded that except the complaint against Home Affairs Department (HAD), the complaint against the five Departments was substantiated.'^ it made recommendations to remedy ineffective central coordination.''

Both Office of The Ombudsman and Audit Commission are criticized for being weak organizations having no legally binding suggestions. Nevertheless, their reports can be publicized through the mass media and expose the gov- ernment's mistakes. It can, to some extent, exert pressure on government departments to correct their mistakes.

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Weaknesses of Ethical Practices and Ethical Challenges in the HKSAR Government Although the HKSAR government has implemented more comprehensive eth- ical practices in the civil service, cases of misconduct committed by front-line civil servants still exist, leading to the public image of the civil service being damaged and the morale of it being decreased. In fact, ethical practices have their weaknesses. And the rise of ethical challenges in recent years has tested the government's ability and determination to eliminate unethical acts.

The Transformation of Ethical Principles is Difficult Firstly, there is the problem of transforming ethical principles into ethical ac- tions. Transforming abstract values into practical actions is difficult. It makes the situation more complicated when there is no single definition of right and wrong. As a result, ethical ambiguities or grey areas in ethics exist, making civil servants incapable of handling it. For example, whether an officer can accept red packets during the Lunar New Years can have different interpretations ac- cording to the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and the Acceptance of Advantage (Chief Executive's Permission) Notice (ANN).'"*

The Problem of Ethical Dilemma Secondly, there is the problem of ethical dilemma. It arises when personal ethics of a civil servant is not in accordance with organizational ethics because of religious, educational factors or family background. It also arises when su- pervisors are interested only in results, not how they are obtained." As a result, civil servants are under pressure to compromise personal standards to achieve organizational goals.5« For example. The Ombudsman cited the case that in April 2006, a medical social worker discovered her colleague waiving fees of someone who exceeded the limit.5' When she persisted to bring the matter to a legislative councilor, a senior officer threatened disciplinary action for caus- ing embarrassment to the administration.^« As DeVries (2002) argues, public officials will tell the truth when they can afford it, and when they are dSshon- est, this can be explained by the circumstances that do not allow them to tell the truth.5' The above case shows that the supervisor's discretion overrides the ethical guidelines in the organization.

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The Ineffectiveness of Ethicai i\/iechanism Thirdly, no matter how well the ethical mechanism is, it fails sometimes. As a result, its effectiveness is reduced. For example, the former senior Housing Department official Chan Kau-tai originally was put into jail for seven years for the conviction of accepting HK$3 million bribes. However, Chan made an ap- peal, arguing that ICAC did not disclose the convictions for drink-driving and careless driving of chief investigator Eric Yang, who was a witness of the case, to the defence lawyers. As a result, Yang's reliability and credibility as a wit- ness was damaged and the Court of Appeal quashed the bribery convictions of Chan and ordered a retrial.'̂ " Although the case has a positive sign to show that due process is given to an officer who committed misconduct, it also shows that no matter how well an organization is operated, when it fails, it will delay officers who committed misconduct to have punishment.

The Line of Accountability Being Biurred Under Privatization Fourthly, there is the problem of blurring the line of accountability under pri- vatization. Under New Public Management, equity, justice, responsibility, and competition is replaced by economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Privatization is implemented. But as Salamon (2002) argues, adoption of alternative mod- els for delivering government services poses serious challenges when we have not learned how to achieve fundamental responsibilities in and through them.*' Indeed, some studies have shown that privatization brings challenge to public ethics. Ghere (1999) involved an analysis of statements and materi- als at the 1996 and 1997 annual meetings of the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships.*^ He concluded that ethical risks are associated with privatization as he found that the conversations between public officials and business executives appeared to troubling in view of stewardship respon- sibilities to promote open and candidate dialogue.*^ Eimicke et al. (2000), through case studies of California, Indiana, and Colombia, concluded that pub- lic-private entrepreneurialism involves a high level of ethical risk taking.*^ In February 2006, the HKSAR government had to take over three unfinished pub- lic-housing project from contractor Dickson Construction. The spokesman for 1,400 households waiting to move in the new public housing estates criticized the government for being unable to monitor the contractor and making the households suffer. Besides, more than 600 construction workers of Dickson Construction appealed to the Labor Department for help over unpaid wages, which amounted to nearly $10 million.*' The above case shows that, like what

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Thomas (2001) argues, privatization will undermine public trust in and the in- tegrity of government.**

From the above, it shows that the government has faced many ethical challenges. When the world is changing, it will bring new challenges. The gov- ernment has to be strong enough to adapt to the ethical changes and overcome the ethical challenges.

Conciusion To conclude, ethics is a matter of substantial and increasing concern in public management.*' In order to maintain the integrity of the civil service, an ethi- cal culture should be cultivated in the civil service. However, the implementation and institutionalization of ethics in government is no easy matter.*« Maintaining a deep-rooted, long-term culture of integrity and high ethical standards is a task that constantly requires new initiatives.*' As Berman argues, ethical strategies vary from community to community, and no single strategy appears to be more effective than the others.^" However, some evi- dence suggests that using a range of strategies by local officials increases trust.^' Therefore, the author suggests the HKSAR government adopt a three- pronged approach in order to maintain the integrity of the civil service. It is an approach of ethical leadership, ethical training, and ethics legislation. The ap- proach can also be valuable reference for governments of other countries.

For ethical leadership, both Bowman and Lewis argue that any agency program must start with the commitment of top leadership and modeling by those who set the tone and form the culture of the organization.^^ The re- search done by Berman et al. (1994) concludes that moral leadership-strategies as informal strategies are more effective than regulatory- or code-based strate- gies in enabling cities to achieve ethics management objectives such as avoiding confiicts of interest, reducing the need for whistle-blowers, and fos- tering fairness in job assignment.^' In fact, the HKSAR government has advocated ethical leadership in the civil service. However, it still has much room for improvement. In 2001, a management guide on "Ethical Leadership in Action" was published for senior managers in the civil service. Inside the handbook, it promotes 3A's strategy—^Awareness, Assessment, and Action—to help senior managers adopt ethics management.̂ "* Besides, forums and sem- inars related to ethical leadership were held. In 2000, "Turning Challenges into Opportunities Ethical Leadership Forum" was held by ICAC. 'The Leadership Forum" in 2002 and "Successes through Ethical Governance" in 2005, which were jointly held by CSB and ICAC, provided leaders from both the public and the business sectors a forum where they could exchange views and ideas on the most current ethical is

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The ethical leadership guidebook and the forum is a good beginning for promoting ethical leadership. However, it is more important for senior man- agers to take real action to create and sustain the ethical culture within the civil service. For example, apart from being the role models, senior managers can develop their own departmental code of ethics with the subordinates to- gether so that subordinates will have stronger ethical attachment to the department and are less likely to commit ethical misconduct. They can try to have more daily conversation with the subordinates so that the subordinates know what is expected. Through having more daily conversation, "quiet diplo- macy" can be developed. As Madsen and Shafritz argue^*', leaders should trust people and let people know the leader trust them and they should prevent from having too many approvals and double checks. Otherwise, it will induce stress to employees and reduce their job satisfaction. If leaders can successfully create an ethical climate within the civil service, like Menzel argues, it will has an important positive inñuence on an organization's performance such as ef- ficiency, effectiveness, teamwork, excellence, and quality'"

Ethical training is also important. As Bowman and WiUiamŝ ^ argue, it is unrealistic to assume that role models can serve as the sole means to effect ethical behavior. Having senior managers to take the lead to create an ethical climate is essential while at the same time the cooperation of employees is also needed. Therefore, ethical training to employees is necessary. The HKSAR government should provide more channels for the employees to receive more updated ethical issues and to learn more about ethics and its values. Induction and in-service training is one of the useful channels. In order to increase civil servants' interest in ethical learning, the government can provide different learning methods for them. Apart from having lecture, seminars, forum, other interesting learning method can be introduced. They include case studies, films, role play, board game simulation, and action learning.''^ Having regular ethical training can help civil servants develop moral reasoning skills and it will be helpful in fulfilling their governmental responsibilities.^"

Besides, ethics legislation is necessary. Hong Kong has a sound legal sys- tem. Sustained effort has been made to set up stringent statutory provisions for the civil servants to comply. As the society is ever-changing, it also brings legal challenges to the legal system. Recently, there are new ways to commit crimes because of the advancement of information technology. For example, there is the use of mobile phones to secretly take photos. Making new law takes time. But in order to keep abreast of times and prevent the legal system from being too rigid, the Department of Justice has invoked various ordi- nances and issued guidelines to the police, suggesting that those who are suspected of general clandestine photo-taking with such phones should be

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charged with loitering (s.l60 (3) of the Crimes Ordinance) and disorder con- duct (s.l7B(2) of the Public Order Ordinance), whilst repeat offenders should be charged with breaching public decency (contrary to common law) (Legisla- tive Council, 2004:4943-4944). In 2005, a former senior government official for Health, Welfare and Food was fined $4,000 for secretly taking photographs up to a woman's skirt with his mobile phone's camera.^' Although the penalty seems to be light, it still shows that the government has make an effort to try to put the offence under control.

Ethics has been included in the reform agenda of governments world- wide. Governments should make on-going and consistent efforts to develop ethical practices in the civil service and to act promptly to deal with the ethi- cal problems before they are out of control.

Notes ' The 2001 Policy Address. Hong Kong: Printing Department.

2 Ibid.

3 Bowman, J.S. (1983). Ethical Issues for the Public Manager, in W B. Eddy (Ed.), Handbook of organization management. New York: M. Dekker, 69-102.

'' Rosenbloom, D.H. and Kravchuk, R.S. (2003). Public Administration- Understanding Management, Politics, and Law in the Public Sector (6th Edition). New York: McGraw Hill.

5 Ibid, p.5l6.

« Cox, R.W, Buck, S.J.,& Morgan, B.N. (1994). Public administration in theory ami practice. Englewood Cliffe, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 16-28.

' Ibid, p.l7.

^ Bowman, J.S., note 3 above, p.7O.

9 Ibid.

'0 Lewis, C.W (1991). The Ethics Challenge in Public Service. San Francisco; Oxford: Jossey-Bass.

'• Lui, XT (1994). Administrative Ethics in a Chinese Society The Case of Hong Kong, in XL Cooper, (Ed.), Handbook of Administrative Ethics. New York; Hong Kong: M. Dekker, 487-503.

'2 Ibid, p. 489

» Ibid, p.489-490

'" Ibid, p.49O

15 Ibid, p.49O

1* The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) (2006). The History of ICAC. Retrieved April 10, 2006, from: http:/A^'ww.icac.org.hk/eng/abou/index.html

374 Pubiic Personnei Management Volume 41 No. 2 Summer 2012

' ' Ibid.

'* "Controlling assets of over HK$4.3 million, Peter Godber, a Chief Police Superintendent, was under investigation in 1973. It was suspected that his unearned wealth had been obtained from corrupt means. But Godber managed to slip out of the territory undetected during the week given to him by the Attorney General to explain the source of his assets. Godber's escape unleashed a public outcry. The Government had to respond. Following Godber's escape. Sir Murray MacLehose (later Lord), argued for an independent anti-corruption organization. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was established in February 1974. The first important task of the Commission was to bring Godber to justice. In early 1975, Godber was extradicted from England to stand trial. The charges were a conspiracy offence and one of accepting bribes. Godber was found guilty on both counts and sentenced to four years' imprisonment." (cited from www.icac.org.hk/eng/abou/index.html)

" Office of The Ombudsman (2005) Case Summary. Complaint against six Government departments for failing to resolve the problem of laundry drying in public places. Retrieved April 1, 2006, from: www.ombudsman.gov.hk/english/link_05_reports.html

^° The 1997 Policy Address. Hong Kong: Printing Department.

21 The 2000 Policy Address. Hong Kong: Printing Department.

22 Lam, WK. (1998). Seminar on Hong Kong into the 21st Century—Maintaining Integrity in the Civil Service on 21 May 1998 Closing Remarks of the Secretary for the Civil Service. Retrieved April 10, 2006, from: www.csb.govhk/hkgcsb/rcim/pdf/english/conference_meterials/1998Jam.pdf

23 Civil Service Bureau (2005). Civil Servant's Guide to Good Practices. Retrieved March 22, 2006, from: www.csb.gov.hk/english/publication/files/civil_e_rev.pdf

2" Ibid, p.3

25 Civil Service Bureau (2005). Legislative Council Panel on Public Service: Promotion of Integrity in the civil Service. Retrieved April 8, 2006, from: www.legco.gov.hk/yr04- O5/english/panels/ps/papers/psO4l8cbl-1248-4e.pdf

2« Ibid, p.3.

" Ibid, p.4.

28 Civil Service Bureau (2002). About Us. Retrieved April 10, 2006, from www.csb.gov.hk/ hkgcsb/rcim/integrity_online_newsletter/current/eng/aboutus/aboutus.html

2' Unethical acts include cases of abuse of official position: (a) conviction under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap.201); (b) unauthorized acceptance of advantages/entertainment from persons with official dealings; (c) unauthorized outside work for persons with official dealings; (d) unauthorized disclosure of government information; (e) abuse of government properties; and (f) use of official information/authority for personal gains. Available: www.legco.gov.hk/yr04- O5/english/panels/ps/papers/psO418cbl-1248-4e.pdf

3° Civil Service Bureau (2005). Legislative Council Panel on Public Service: Measures for managing cases of misconduct and under-performance in the civil service. Retrieved April 8, 2006, from: www.legco.gov.hk/yr04-05/english/panels/ps/papers/ps0520cbl- 1522-3e.pdf

Public Personnei Management Volume 41 No. 2 Summer 2012 375

3' Ibid, p.2.

« Ibid, p.2.

" Ibid, p.2.

^ Ibid, p.2.

3' Civil Service Bureau (2004). Legislative Council Panel on Public Service. Civil Service Disciplinary Mechanism and Procedures. Retrieved April 8, 2006, from: www.csb.gov.hk/english/admin/conduct/files/11052004e.pdf

'* Civil Service Bureau, note 30 above, p.l.

3̂ Wong, A.(2005). Ex-crimebuster loses appeal. The Standard (May 27, 2005). Retrieved April 3, 2006 from the Web: http://web.lexis- nexis.com.easyaccessl.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/universe/document?_m=dld8e68a8bcc907e3df 84d9e68dda7ß& docnum=l&wchp=dGLbVzb- zSkVA&_md5=5fb694fc62759dd9d7fl6l67042f2e43

'^ Li, J.(2005). Prostitute case policeman appeals; Drug bureau deputy did not know who four women were, lawyer tells court. South China Morning Post. News, p.3 (April 15, 2005).

3' Lam, WK., note 22 above.

'•'̂ Civil Service Bureau, note 30 above, p.3

•" Wong, B.(2005). Two officers took bribes from gangs, says ICAC; Anti-graft agency alleges the pair helped scupper criminal investigations. South China Morning Post, News, p.3 (March 24, 2005).

''̂ Audit Commission (2005). About Us. Retrieved March 22, 2006, from: www.aud.gov. hk/eng/aboutus/about_vision.htm

••̂ LoS.H.(2001). Governing Hong Kong: legitimacy, communication and political decay. Huntington, N.Y: Nova Science Publishers.

^* Ibid, p.94.

'" Audit Commission (2005). Audit Commission Annual Report 2004-2005. Retrieved April 8, 2006, from: www.aud.gov.hk/pdf_e/Annual%20Report%202004e.pdf

« Ibid, p.22.

"' Ibid, p.22.

••a Audit Commission (2005). Eact sheet ofthe Ombudsman. Retrieved April 8, 2006, from: www.ombudsman.gov.hk/english/09_publications/07_fact/inde5.html

"••' The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor ( 2000). Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Retrieved April 10, 2006, from: www.state.gov/g/drl/rls^rrpt/2000/eap/686.htm

^ The Office of The Ombudsman (2005). About us. Retrieved April 10, 2006, from: www.ombudsman.gov.hk/english/Iink_02_about.html

" They were the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD"), Highways Department ("Hy D"), 'Itansport Department ("TD"), Home AfFairs Department ("HAD"), Land Department, and Eood and Environmental Hygiene Department ("EEHD").

376 Public Personnel Management Volume 41 No. 2 Summer 2012

52 The Office of The Ombudsman, note 50 above, p.4.

55 According to the investigation report, "The Ombudsman has requested the Chief Secretary for Administration's intervention to consider: (a) authorizing a particular department to assume 'lead' responsibility to deal with the problem; (b) the necessity of amending existing legislation to ensure that departments have the necessary legal authority for enforcement actions; and studying with HD, HAD, and Buildings Department the feasibility of designing areas for drying laundry within public housing estates. Home Ownership Scheme estates and private residential developments" Available: www.ombudsman.gov.hk/english/link_02_about.html

5"* For details, please refer to Civil Servant's Guide to Good Practice, p.29. www.csb.gov hk/english/publication/files/civil_e_rev.pdf

55 Bowman, J.S., note 3 above, p.74.

5* Ibid.

5̂ Benitez, MA. and Leung, P(2006). Ombudsman raps 'complacent' vetting of medical fee waivers. South China Morning Post, Cl (April 7, 2006).

58 Ibid.

5' Menzel, D.C. (2005). State of the Art of Empirical Research on Ethics and Integrity in Governance, in H.G. Federickson and R. Ghere (Eds.), Ethics in Public Management. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 16-46.

*" Li, J.(2005). Pop star's father wins appeal for retrial in bribery case. South China Morning Post, News, p.l (December 15, 2005).

*' Dicke, LA. and Boonyarak, P(2OO5). Ensuring Accountability in Human Services: The Dilemma of Measuring Moral and Ethical Performance, in H.G. Federickson and R. Ghere (Eds.), Ethics in Public Management. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 184-202.

*2 Menzel, D.C, note 59 above, p.33.

« Ibid.

*'i Menzel, D.C, note 59 above, p.33-34.

*5 Chan, M.(2006). $2m raised for unpaid worker South China Morning Post, News, p.4 (April 8, 2006).

** Menzel, D.C, note 59 above, p.34.

*̂ Bowman, J.B. and William, R.L (1997). Ethics in Government: From a Winter of Despair to a Spring of Hope. Public Administration Review, 57(6), 517-527.

*8 Madsen, P. and Shafritz, J.M. (1992). Essentials of Govemment Ethics. New York, N.Y, U.S.A.: Meridian.

*' Lee, A.S.K. (2002). Message from the Commissioner. Integrity Online, 5. Retrieved April 18, 2006, from: www.csb.govhk/hkgcsb/rcim/integrity_online_newsletter/ current/eng/message/message.html

°̂ Menzel, D.C, note 66 above.

'• Ibid.

2̂ Ekins, A.H.(1994). Ethics in Inservice Training, in T.L.Cooper (Ed.), Handbook of Administrative Ethics. New York; Hong Kong: M. Dekker, 63-80.

Pubiic Personnei Management Volume 41 No. 2 Summer 2012 377

'ä Menzel, D.C., note 59 above, p.3O. Berman et al. (1994) surveyed more than 1,000 directors of human resource agencies in municipalities with populations over 25,000 to learn what ethics management strategies are employed, how they are implemented, and how effective they are (Menzel, 2005:29). They posited that ethics management strategies could be placed on a continuum ranging from formal and informal (Menzel, 2005:29). They also identified four categories of ethics management strategies—two of which they label as formal, one informal, and one combination of formal and informal (Menzel, 2005:30). While code-based strategies and regulatory-based strategies are formal strategies, leadership-based strategies are informal strategies. And employee- based strategies is mixed strategy.

'"̂ (a) Awareness: Alert your staff to the safeguards against the danger, (b) Assessment: Assess the risks so that you may devise strategies to reduce their threats, (c) Action: Convey your message not by words but by deeds (From Ethical Leadership in Action).

' ' Lee, A.S.K., note 67 above.

''^ Madsen and Shafritz, note 68 above.

^ Menzel, D.C., note 59 above, p.26. His findings were drawn from his research about ethics-performance link in several different populations—city and county managers in Florida and Taxes and city and county employees in two Florida governments (Menzel, 2005:26).

^' Bowman and William, note 67 above.

•" Ekins,A.H. (1994). Ethics in Inservice Training, in T.L.Cooper, (V.à), Handbook of Administrative Ethics. New York; Hong Kong: M. Dekker, 63-80.

*̂ Madsen and Shafritz, note 74 above, 5-6.

*' Li, J.(2005). $5,000 fines for ex-civil servant's photos up skirt. South ChinaMoming Post, News, p.l (September 13, 2005).

Author Sabrina Ching Yiien Luk

Department of Political Science and International Studies

University of Birmingham

Edgbaston

Birmingham

B15 2TT '

UK

sabrinagpaSCSgmail.com

Sabrina Luk is a PhD candidate at the Department of Political Science and Inter-

national Studies (POLSIS) in the University of Birmingham in the United

Kngdom. Her research interests include e-government and globalization, com-

parative healthcare reforms, public policy analysis, public administration and

China studies.

378 Public Personnel Management Volume 41 No. 2 Summer 2012

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