The other day, Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po lashed out at Vivian Lau Lee-kwan, the newly appointed Permanent Secretary for Food and Health (Food), saying that when she was the director of food and environmental hygiene, she mollycoddled “black rioters” and refused to clean up Lennon Walls. Apparently the dailies are now settling scores with administrative officers. Although Regina Ip, head of the New People’s Party, has called for an end to the “Cultural Revolution-style” criticism, it seems there is no way to stop the leftists from settling scores with certain people in Hong Kong. According to a political source, many administrative officers have been worried that they would be implicated in the political campaign sooner or later, and so numerous officers have “jumped ship”. Those who stay put are very “obedient”. But if the campaign escalates, these people may choose to leave or retire prematurely. “Before they get burned by the fire, they may go, lest they should get labeled and get killed.”

The source also pointed out that many administrative officers are unhappy with Carrie Lam and they also feel they can hardly bring into play their talent in the government. Many of them who believe they are still wanted by other sectors have left the government. One administrative officer told him that officers who are still in the government are either relatively young or obedient. “Basically, they take orders from on high and simply do whatever they are told to do.”

The source said that Lau is precisely this type of officers. As Ip has remarked, Lau “just takes orders from her boss and cannot be considered a yellow ribbon in anyway, and yet she still gets savagely criticized”. For some administrative officers, what is more worrying is that one of Lau’s “crimes” is that her husband Chua Hoi-wai is the chief executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, which opened its door to protesters during the anti-extradition movement in 2019 for them to rest. As such, Chua is labeled as a yellow ribbon. “Criticizing a person for what his family has done is a Cultural Revolution practice that is very chilling for many administrative officers. Some officer questioned why some members of the National People’s Congress and the CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) are considered patriots although their families have foreign passports, and yet an administrative official’s family is being severely criticized.”

According to the political source, the issue surrounding Lau has prompted “obedient” administrative officers to question whether they should leave the government or retire earlier than they should. “Some administrative officers moan that if they quit before they get burned by the fire, they may still be able to find a job. Otherwise, once they get identified, they will be out of luck.” That will only speed up the drain of administrative officers and inevitably affect the government’s operation and governance.

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