HONG KONG, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Two inter-departmental teams of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government handling wartime bomb disposal and light public housing respectively were presented with the Chief Executive's Award for Exemplary Performance on Friday.
Addressing the presentation ceremony, HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee praised the two award-winning teams for effectively fulfilling their different missions with steadfast determination and exceptional competence, winning public trust through tangible results.
Lee said that the teams demonstrated the HKSAR government's people-oriented, responsible and results-driven governance philosophy, and manifested the professional spirit of civil servants in rising to challenges and pursuing excellence, setting an example for the entire civil service.
In September 2025, a World War II-era bomb weighing about 1,000 pounds was discovered at a construction site in Quarry Bay of Hong Kong. With a super typhoon approaching, the operation time was severely compressed. The Emergency Monitoring and Support Center of the Security Bureau immediately activated the interdepartmental emergency mechanism. Under high pressure and high risk, the team evacuated residents and successfully defused the bomb.
The other award-winning team was the Light Public Housing team comprising the Housing Bureau and the Architectural Services Department. To address urgent housing needs, the government proposed building 30,000 units in a short time. By adopting innovative technologies and standardized designs, the team significantly boosted construction efficiency and helped reduce the composite waiting time for subsidized rental housing by 1.3 years.
Lee announced the launch of the Chief Executive's Award for Exemplary Performance in the 2022 Policy Address to give recognition to meritorious and exemplary teams or individuals in the civil service on a regular basis, with a view to encouraging civil servants to constantly strive for excellence. It also aimed to allow the public to have a better understanding of the HKSAR government's work and the excellence of the civil service. ■
