Experts have warned that the HK$1 (13 US cents) increase in Hong Kong’s minimum wage, which takes effect on Labour Day, is unlikely to significantly boost low-paid workers’ incomes, but should help preserve purchasing power and ease labour tensions under a new formula. Human resources expert Alexa Chow Yee-ping, managing director of ACTS Consulting, said…
Hong Kong plans to table a bill by year-end to standardise regulation of future mass transit projects, including Kai Tak and East Kowloon, the transport chief has said, as lawmakers raise concerns over fares and long-term service quality. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan told lawmakers on Monday that the government was pursuing policy…
Kudos to the Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan for introducing a two-tier civil service accountability system. This will include giving an independent statutory body, the Public Service Commission, powers to investigate “widespread, repetitive and systemic” management problems, while department heads can investigate problems involving rank-and-file officers. To many, the revamp of…
The two main ferry operators running daily services between Hong Kong and Macau will raise fares by up to 11 per cent amid surging fuel prices, while a union said bus drivers were reporting lost income as companies cut services. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that the government would continue to monitor…
Hong Kong’s top-ranking civil servants will be held accountable if they fail to provide adequate support in policy formulation, the city’s leader has said, despite a new investigation mechanism that primarily targets department heads. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that the proposed “Heads of Department Accountability System” was intended to promote self-improvement…
Hong Kong’s leader has defended the government’s decision to put the legalisation of basketball betting on hold, stressing the policy was never intended to encourage gambling and that all risks must be controlled before any further steps are taken. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu made the remarks on Tuesday after the government’s surprising U-turn last…
The Hong Kong government should use its proposed accountability system prudently to investigate department heads and avoid undermining morale among civil servants, a top adviser to the city’s leader has said. But Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, convenor of the city’s top decision-making Executive Council, stressed on Sunday that the system would serve as a reminder…
A statutory advisory body in Hong Kong will be given new powers as early as June to investigate government department heads over “serious, widespread or systemic” problems, as part of a broader push to institutionalise accountability for top officials. A Civil Service Bureau spokeswoman stressed that the new system targeted “implementation failures” by senior officials,…
Hong Kong’s key decision-making body has approved plans for an elevated smart mass transit railway system in Kai Tak that will connect the cruise terminal and other major facilities in the area to the local MTR station. The Executive Council’s endorsement followed meetings between authorities and project critics and consultations with the public and the…
Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation will carry out overnight signalling upgrade works on Sunday as part of preparations for the partial opening of the Tung Chung line extension later this year. Representatives from the city’s sole rail operator also said on Wednesday that the HK$19.5 billion (US$2.5 billion) project remained unaffected by a counterfeit brick scandal…