Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1980

Civil Service Branch and various participating Govern ment Departments have worked with the Appoint ments Service in organizing this event. Speech by the Hon. J. M. Rowlands ， C.B.E., J.P. Miss Dunn, Dr. Ma, Ladies & Gentlemen, It is a real pleasure to be back again on your beautiful campus for the opening of this year's Civil Service Careers Exhibition, which is the second to be organized jointly by The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Civil Service Branch of the Government Secretariat. Last year's exhibition attracted well over 2,000 people and was generally judged to have been agreat success. I welcome therefore the idea that this exhibition should become a regular feature of the CUHK calendar. A great deal of hardwork hasgone into preparing this exhibition and I should like to thank all the staff concerned, both of the University and of the 14 participating Government Departments. I am sure their efforts will help to ensure that this year's exhibition is also a resounding success. His Excellency the Governor, when he spoke at last week's opening of the new Legislative Council session, referred to the impact which increased immigration from China is having on our economic and social programmes. Since the public service is already operating at full stretch in carrying out existing programmes, this upsurge in our population will inevitably call for an even greater effort by the civil service, and a correspondingly higher rate of achievement, if we are to go on improving the standards of living for our enlarged population, as indeed we must. For the civil service therefore, the 1980s will certainly be an exciting decade of growth, change and challenge. A sufficient supply of young graduates will be crucial to the effectiveness of the civil service in the years ahead and I urge all CUHK students to consider carefully the merits of a career in the civil service. In recent years the Government has appointed an average of 210 fresh graduates each year from CUHK. I should like to see this figure rise to 300 this coming year, and rising later to 400 or so. There is the attraction of working for a good employer, which is something which the Government strives very hard to be. As agood employer we practise modern staff management methods, we recognize that men and women work best if they are treated as individuals, we like to give responsibility to young people and we reward merit by early promotion. There is also the attraction of working for an employer who traditionally offers good pay and fringe benefits. But more important to my mind is the personal satisfaction that can be gained from a career spent working really hard for the common good of all who live in Hong Kong, and of personally playing a part in meeting and overcoming the challenges which face every civil servant in his work. The staff of CUHK have made a really fine effort in helping to prepare the young graduates which Hong Kong needs so badly. I hope this exhibition will attract more of them to join the public service and I now have much pleasure in declaring this exhibition open. 25