On March 8, the first day in her job as permanent secretary for home affairs, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor accepted the challenge of representing Hong Kong at a UN Human Rights Committee hearing in New York only days later.
The task could have landed on the desk of her then deputy, Stephen Fisher, who, after four years in the job, was much more conversant with the issues. But Mrs Lam opted to go herself.
She said it was not right for the deputy to head the delegation to such an important meeting. 'In terms of respect for the UN Human Rights Committee, in terms of representation for the city in an international forum, it also was not right,' she said.
Not sleeping a wink during the 15-hour flight, the veteran official read all the papers and drafted her own speech for the meeting. The original speech, penned by her colleague, took the form of a stock-taking account of what the government had already achieved. Mrs Lam instead chose to take a more progressive approach.
Mrs Lam, who within the previous six years had held positions covering welfare and housing and planning, as well as serving as trade envoy in London, said last week: 'Administrative officers get posted from one job to another as if we can change face overnight. I can't - I don't have that sort of skill. I carry my style and my knowledge and my experience from one job to another.'
She considers building consensus within and outside government a key responsibility in her various roles. But she said: 'I am not fearful of confronting critics. I will not shy away from controversies.'
Mrs Lam said she brought the same passion that characterised her earlier work in domestic violence, children's rights and social security issues into her new posting.
