Appointment of Cecilia Tse to IC cautiously weighted, CE says

Chui Sai On (center) during the “Walk for a Million” event

The Chief Executive (CE) said yesterday that he didn’t suggest any name for the position of director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), following last week’s resignation of IC director Leung Hio Ming and deputy director Chan Peng Fai. Chui said that he agreed with the appointment of the former deputy director of Tourism Office,  Cecilia Tse, following a suggestion made by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam.

Speaking during the “Walk for a Million” event, Chui remarked that Tam and his office made a “cautious choice,” taking into consideration Tse’s qualifications, professional experience and ability, noting that by today, all the administrative formalities will be concluded and Tse can take office.

Questioned on the appointment of a person to a position, when that person does not possess a deep knowledge of the field, the CE said, “in management, there are two perspectives, one of which is to appoint a person with professional experience and management qualifications [to perform the task], another would pass to appoint someone from the lower management level to support management.”

Last week, Tam’s office explained that the changes in the IC presidency are a direct result of the March report from the Commission Against Corruption highlighting several unlawful hiring practices at the IC. The report was issued just weeks after a leadership change at the IC, in which former president Ung Vai Meng quit unexpectedly and was replaced by Leung Hio Ming

After the “Charity Walk,” the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan also spoke to the media. Regarding the disciplinary measures to be enforced on the former IC leaders, she noted, “the process is still on appeal phase, so the Pension Fund will await the final outcome in order to adopt the necessary measures.”