Is being a public servant just a well paid job? In Hong Kong, it is.

Ever since the handover, it seems all our civil service cares about is salary. Unlike their counterparts elsewhere in the world, the salary level of our officials is protected by the Basic Law.

But during the last five-year-long recession, when we faced consecutive budget deficits and reserves were dwindling, they resisted salary cuts and worried about their pensions. Needless to say, when the economy rebounded, they were among the first to cry for a pay raise.

Since September last year, Hong Kong has been heading towards another recession. Following examples elsewhere, the Chief Executive announced a small pay cut for himself and other officials. The rest of the civil service resisted following suit and the police even threatened to take to the streets, pressing the government for a separate pay scale. They later softened their stance, awaiting the outcome of the grade structure review in November. Meanwhile, other disciplined forces joined together to negotiate with the government for treatment similar to that given to the police.

We can envisage that once the police have their way, other disciplined forces will follow.

When all disciplined forces come together and the government yields, it is reasonable for all administrative and clerical staff of the disciplined forces to ask for a raise. The final result will be across-the-board pay raises to each and every person working for the government.

As our economy has just come out of recession with 3.3 percent growth and government revenue is expected to increase accordingly, such demands sound all the more "reasonable".

I am all for people getting a pay raise and have no intention of pitching civil servants against taxpayers. After all, we are all victims of a global recession not of our making.

From the point of view of individual rights and an everyone-for-himself approach, isn't it also "reasonable" for all citizens to have a bite at the public coffer?

Especially the million or so people now living below the poverty line are well entitled to do so. It is then a matter of which group has a larger crowd and who shouts the loudest.

Is this what we want? What will happen after we have divided up all the public reserves?

I hate to see our government employees, especially our disciplined forces whose responsibility is to protect our property, taking a leading role in this process. It is not good for their public image, to say the least.

With the public interest at heart, I am sure we can work things out. It is up to our top decision makers to come up with a comprehensive pay scheme for our civil servants that is fair and reasonable to all, not just to any one vested interest.

The author is a member of the Commission on Strategic Development

(HK Edition 08/19/2009 page1)