I couldn't help but let out a chuckle when I read the title of the latest publication "How to Grow a Strong Culture for a Healthy Public Service". And almost instantly, I held my breadth and looked around me. Thank goodness I'm the only one here, I thought. And almost instantly too, I thought the title looked so wrong, at least to me. A quick flip through the pages confirmed my suspicion. This is propaganda! And it was timely, perhaps even planned, that this issue focuses on values, namely integrity, service and excellence.
Er...wait. You mean we have not been approaching the public service the way it should be? Hmmm...is this the case like common sense, where common sense is, well, not so common?
"...with convictions of public officers for cheating and other investigations for alleged misconduct...[i]t makes some wonder if the Public Service and the values we espouse are being eroded." (page 9). Er...wait again. I thought the two former high-ranking government officials were only being charged of obtaining (another interesting choice of word) favours? Whoa, wait...do you mean in the eyes of the court, they are already guilty? Oh yes, 'guilty until proven innocent'...
At the end of the day, I reckon no one says it better than EDB Chairman Leo Yip. "It's one thing to talk about [values] but another to be doing it every day. Very few decisions are straightforward. When you make that decision, [you first] weigh different factors to trade off. If there's a trade-off between integrity and something else, and if integrity doesn't win the day, then your value isn't meaningful." (page 13).
But I couldn't help but wonder who would trade his or her integrity off with something else. Would you?
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