LettersHong Kong must be more proactive on diversity in the civil service

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words. Hong Kong boasts low overall unemployment, yet people from non-Chinese ethnic groups face persistent workplace barriers and, according to the 2021 census, higher joblessness. People from non-Chinese ethnic groups make up 4.1 per cent of the population (excluding foreign domestic helpers) but have long been grossly under-represented in the civil service. As the city’s largest employer, the government has both the responsibility and opportunity to lead by example. Multi-ethnic jurisdictions such as Singapore and Canada offer useful lessons. In Singapore, the Public Service Commission maintains merit-based selection but strives to ensure that all ethnic groups have equal access, focusing on capability rather than race, language or religion. In Canada, the Employment Equity Act mandates equitable representation of designated groups in workplaces under the federal umbrella and addresses structural barriers to recruitment and advancement. The Hong Kong government should review Chinese language requirements across all civil service grades, ensuring these are genuinely job-based rather than functionally exclusionary filters; the 2018 reforms lowering language thresholds covered only 53 (or 13 per cent) out of more than 400 grades. Recruitment should become more proactive through targeted outreach to universities and districts with higher concentrations of people from non-Chinese ethnic backgrounds, ensuring students and jobseekers from these communities know about civil service careers. Blind recruitment through the removal of names at the initial screening stage, alongside diverse interview panels, could counter affinity bias. Transparency and support matter equally. The Civil Service Bureau should publish annual workforce data by grade and department, with clear benchmarks including progress towards proportional representation of non-Chinese ethnic groups, matching their population share. Cultural competency training for hiring managers, along with mentorship schemes pairing staff from non-Chinese ethnic backgrounds with senior leaders, would foster a culture of fairness and inclusion. These steps would shift Hong Kong from passive non-discrimination to active inclusion. A 4 per cent target by 2030 is realistic and essential. Hong Kong cannot claim “global city” status while sidelining talent from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The government must act now. John Tse Wing-ling, executive director, Hong Kong Initiative for Diversity Cooperate within Greater Bay Area on drug access Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po recently said, when discussing Parkinson’s disease that the government supports the Hospital Authority’s continuous evaluation and provision of new drugs to benefit patients. If even relatively common neurological conditions like Parkinson’s require such government commitments, patients with rare diseases face far greater challenges. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address this year promised faster drug approvals for rare diseases, but will this help families facing significant costs? Consider spinal muscular atrophy, which affects about 1 in 10,000 live births globally. A paper published in 2022, based on a study which followed 71 cases in Hong Kong since 2000, noted that for severe cases, treatment costs from birth to 18 years old can run as high as HK$18.7 million (US$2.4 million). This huge sum reflects the economics of rare diseases where small patient populations mean pharmaceutical companies cannot recover research costs through the volume of sales. While subsidies are available, families must meet strict income tests. Some parents may be deemed too “wealthy” to receive sufficient subsidies. Faster approvals won’t help if drugs are unaffordable. The solution lies in Greater Bay Area collaboration. The cost of drugs to treat rare diseases on the mainland can be 5 per cent of what they cost in Hong Kong. By pooling patient populations regionally, we can achieve economies of scale. One study suggests patients with rare diseases face drug costs 13.8 times higher than common conditions. Regional cooperation isn’t just economic policy – it helps ensure no child suffers simply because of where they live. Sameer Mohammad, Kowloon Tong Dearth of rubbish bins breeds clutter I refer to the letter, “Litterbugs on hiking trails are a menace” (March 27). I am reminded of the filthy conditions that I encounter near my workplace in Sheung Wan, seemingly caused by the lack of rubbish bins provided by the government not to mention the empty cardboard boxes left by shopkeepers in the alleys. While people can be fined for littering, why is installing more rubbish bins such a monumental task and why aren’t there more patrols to prevent this kind of dumping? Edmond Pang, Fanling

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Readers discuss representation of non-Chinese ethnic groups in the civil service, drugs for rare diseases, and the littering problem

Readers discuss representation of non-Chinese ethnic groups in the civil service, drugs for rare diseases, and the littering problem