Alice Wu

Opinion | Let’s keep our expectations of Hongkong Post realistic

Can the postal service be both a public service and a business? That’s the question the government needs to answer. It might be too much to expect Hongkong Post to have the business acumen to tackle revenue challenges

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

A view of Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office on April 24. Like postal services around the world, Hongkong Post continues to grapple with falling demand for traditional mail. Photo: Jelly Tse

Alice Wu

Published: 9:30am, 29 Apr 2024

The Audit Commission hit out at Hongkong Post last week, highlighting a long list of things it could do better.

But let’s begin with the easy fixes, shall we? The Audit Commission criticised Hongkong Post, along with two other publicly funded institutions, for failing to include national security clauses in their agreements. Hongkong Post had not included these clauses when it hired stamp designers.

It is not the first time the Audit Commission has pointed out the absence of national security safeguards. Perhaps Hongkong Post should have paid more attention to the Audit Commission’s previous reports. Still, adding the clauses shouldn’t be too much work.

We might ask whether highlighting national security but not other criminal activities in tenders and agreements is necessary. After all, both Beijing’s national security law for Hong Kong and the city’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance apply to everyone in Hong Kong. National security is important, and the laws aimed at safeguarding it in Hong Kong are now complete.

Be that as it may, the fact that the Audit Commission had to mention this suggests there are larger issues with the current government processes. Surely the government would have issued all relevant parties and bodies with a directive about including clauses pertaining to national security already.

Perhaps what is lacking is a way of ensuring that such government directives are followed. Thus, while this item on the Audit Commission’s list is simple enough for Hongkong Post to check off, there is no quick fix to government red tape.