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‘National studies for Hong Kong civil servants is not brainwashing’, minister says
Training academy proposal part of chief executive’s plan to expand rank-and-file in numbers and skills
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Hong Kong’s top minister for public servants has defended the proposed Civil Service College as worthwhile as he dismissed claims that national studies for them amounted to “brainwashing”.
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Speaking on a radio programme on Saturday, Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law Chi-kong argued such education for public servants deepened understanding relevant to their work and was therefore practical and useful.
“All our laws and policies have to abide by the Basic Law,” he said, referring to the city’s mini-constitution. “I don’t believe and think any accusations of brainwashing can be valid.”
The push for a civil service training academy surfaced in August after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor visited Singapore and expressed support for more “thinking out of the box” among the Hong Kong government’s rank-and-file staff.
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In her maiden policy address earlier this month, Lam said the city’s civil service would grow by at least 3 per cent to “meet public expectations in policy implementation”. She announced plans to set up the Civil Service College to provide better training for public servants, long regarded as politically neutral.
I don’t believe and think any accusations of brainwashing can be valid
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