In these three weeks, the conflict of interest has always been the most discussed issue in Hong Kong. When more detail of the scandals were disclosed, the Hong Kong government carried out more rigorous rules about the conflict-of-interest.
The development minister Paul Chan Mo-po and Henry Ho’s family was also exposed to hold a factory in the Northeast New Territories. It is obvious that people more distrust the government if the scandals may happen in the future. So, HK government announced a new rule about conflict-of-interest. Pan-democratic and pro-establishment and Wong Kwok-kin gave the rules a lukewarm reception. However, David Akers-Jones gave the rules a support reception. And Lam Woon-kwong gave the rules a neutral reception.
After talking about the news, I would like to express my view about the issue.
I would like to say guidelines problem. There is no doubt that the new conflict-of-interest guidelines are stricter than before. For the past years, there was the rule that described as personal interest, and now it enlarge on their family, friends and other relations, personal friends, the clubs and associations, etc. It is more effective to regulate conflict-of-interest. This is the advantage on what the new rule is. However, the government which is blind to this point could create grey areas. The guidelines are not clearly defined ‘close friends’. For civil servants and officials, it is difficult to declare interest. The worse result is that it will cause heavy argument.
I would like to share my suggestion on the rules of the conflict-of-interest. As mentioned above, the guidelines are not clearly defined ‘close friends’. It is has to defined ‘close friends’. Due to the government official behave will affect to the public. The best way to revise the rules is through the public consultation to define ‘close friends’. This way, more and more people agree the plan and will increase government recognition.