Interview with Mr Patrick Chan, BBS, JP Director of ... - å ¬å‹™å“¡äº‹å‹™å±€

Patrick Chan, BBS, JP,of General GradesHippie daysAs a new recruit in 1973, Mr Chan stoodout from the crowd with his avant-gardeappearance. The long hair, bell-bottom pantsand platform shoes worn by him earned him thenickname “Hippie Chan”, as the plain, boringimage projected by civil servants in the 1970sdid not seem to sit well with this 21-year-old ladwho looked so unconventional when standingbeside his contemporaries.100 recruitment/promotion exercises a year,I needed to work exceedingly long hours till10 pm on weekdays and also toil through theweekends, sweating through hot summer daysas air-conditioning was not available on nonworkingdays. But it was more than worth it,otherwise schools would not have had enoughteachers to teach their students.”Having “the edge”The work of the Executive Grade has witnessednumerous changes in recent years. The traditionalfields of human resources management, financialmanagement, board and committee work, andadministration support no longer adequatelyreflects the scope of our work. We have crossedinto new frontiers over the past two decades orso and our mark and contribution can now alsobe found in the areas of event management,administration of relief initiatives, projectmanagement, crisis management, electionmatters and others.Asked why he chose to join the Civil Service,Mr Chan states: “I had just graduated fromschool, and was looking for a meaningful jobwhich would allow me to serve the community.I was also excited by the prospect of EOs’ beingable to move around a lot among departments.Besides, the decent pay and reasonably highstatus also added appeal to this job.”One could also presume that the workloadwould have been more reasonable and thepace of work also much slower in the 1970s and1980s. However, Mr Chan tells us that it wasin fact the contrary in his case. “I had workedin eight posts in three branch/departments inthe first ten years of my career,” explains MrChan. “The experience was daunting, as wellas satisfying. In one of the posts where I wasrequired to deal singlehandedly with well overVibrancy, professionalism, resourcefulness andversatility are some of the key qualities that setEOs apart and make us a natural choice whenthere is a need to assemble a team to host amajor event or launch a new initiative. But howcan we maintain this edge?Mr Chan said pointedly, “As generalists, EOsenjoy an advantage unique to our Grade,namely, a presence in virtually all bureaux/departments and extensive knowledge of variousgovernment rules and regulations. It is importantfor Grade members to present themselves asfacilitators in such a way that they dischargetheir duties wholeheartedly and exert their utmostin helping those they serve. Also, where thereis sound justification, EOs should not hesitateto seek exceptions beyond the confines ofexisting rules and regulations. As professional3