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Michael Shum
The office of Chief Executive-elect John Lee Ka-chiu could announce the members of the Executive Council as early as today, sources say.
It is understood that People’s New Party legislator Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee – who was first appointed to Exco by former chief executive Leung Chun-ying in 2012 – will be named convener.
Those to be named unofficial members of the Exco will be a mix of old and new faces from different political parties, sources said.
Lawmakers Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, vice president of the Hong Kong Business and Professionals Alliance, and Heung Yee Kuk chief Kenneth Lau Ip-keung are expected to be reappointed.
Among the new faces are the chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions, Stanley Ng Chau-pei, and Chan Kin-por, chairman of the finance committee of the Legislative Council.
Ip said the Exco convener is more of a consulting role. She sparked speculation when she said she was ready to be the organizer if invited.
Speculation was also fueled after incumbent organizer Bernard Charnwut Chan said that Ip was able to be the organizer because “she is a legislator and has been a government official, so she can connect with different political parties and sectors of society”.
Meanwhile, outgoing Innovation and Technology Secretary Alfred Sit Wing-hang believes that a government transition and personnel change will not affect the development of innovative technologies, especially the mission to build an international computer center in Hong Kong.
In a Facebook post after meeting his successor at central government offices yesterday, Sit wished the best to Sun Dong and the next administration.
Earlier on the radio, Sit said he knew Sun personally and respected him a lot because he was an academic with good research skills and experience in research application.
As a Mainlander, Sun doesn’t often speak Cantonese, Sit said. But that shouldn’t be a problem because Hong Kong is a bilingual city, he added.
“As a politically appointed official, the most important job is to advance policy, to have knowledge in the industry and to think about policy in government,” he added.
Sit believes that the most important thing is to understand and discover the difficulties faced by people and the industry, while daring to change and seek to improve.
Separately, the president of the Association of Chinese Civil Servants in Hong Kong, Li Kwai-yin, said: “There are situations where the management team will be sclerotic…no matter what happens in the world and in the society. street, they’ll think it’s going to be fine to keep doing it the same way.”
Thus, the leadership team should also establish an interactive relationship with the 180,000-strong civil service to heighten their enthusiasm, he added.
