Ex-Official Urges Cross-Department Coordination to End Bureaucratic Buck-Passing
On.cc · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
A former senior Hong Kong official has highlighted chronic inter-departmental buck-passing as a core governance failure, urging the government to restructure fragmented bureaucratic functions and adopt a "single window, end-to-end" service model inspired by Beijing's 12345 citizen hotline .
Key Points
- Former Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Yeung Lai-man identified "too many cooks" governance and weak cross-departmental coordination as chronic problems in Hong Kong's administration .
- The 2023 Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po, investigated by an independent commission through multiple hearings, exposed severe inter-departmental responsibility-shifting .
- Beijing's 12345 hotline achieves a 97% citizen complaint resolution rate through "single window, end-to-end" service with cross-departmental supervisory powers over every stage .
- Hong Kong's 1823 hotline matches Beijing's 97% referral speed within 3 hours and scores 4.61/5 in customer satisfaction, but lacks accountability for actual problem resolution .
- Yeung proposed that 1823 should evolve beyond mere referral to gain cross-departmental oversight authority, requiring agencies to perform duties strictly beyond their formal scope when necessary .
Why It Matters
The proposal addresses a fundamental structural weakness in Hong Kong's governance that has persisted through multiple administrations, with the Wang Fuk Court fire serving as a stark reminder that bureaucratic fragmentation can have life-or-death consequences when emergency preparedness and building safety responsibilities are diffused across uncoordinated departments .
The proposal addresses a fundamental structural weakness in Hong Kong's governance that has persisted through multiple administrations, with the Wang Fuk Court fire serving as a stark reminder that bureaucratic fragmentation can have life-or-death consequences when emergency preparedness and building safety responsibilities are diffused across uncoordinated departments .