HKSAR Search and Rescue Team and Inter-departmental Preparation Team for Kai Tak Sports Park Commissioning both awarded Chief Executive's Award for Exemplary Performance
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government announced today (June 24) that the HKSAR Search and Rescue Team to quake-stricken areas in Myanmar in March 2025 and the Inter-departmental Preparation Team for Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP) Commissioning were awarded a new round of the Chief Executive's Award for Exemplary Performance.
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, congratulated the two award-winning teams andexpressed pride in their performance and contributions. He said, "The two award-winning teams reflected the outstanding competence of the civil service of the HKSAR and the efficiency of the Government, and exemplified Hong Kong's second-place global ranking in the 'Government efficiency' factor of the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2025. All these have confirmed and reinforced my belief in driving result-oriented policies for the Government."
Congratulating the two award-winning civil service teams, the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, said, "The HKSAR Search and Rescue Team has demonstrated fearless professionalism and humanitarian care, while the Preparation Team for KTSP Commissioning has displayed efficient collaboration and precise planning of the civil servants. The two teams comprised outstanding civil servants across different departments and grades, who overcame numerous challenges and accomplished their tasks with utmost professionalism. I hope that this honour will inspire more colleagues to forge ahead and continue to serve the community with dedication."
In March this year, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, resulting in serious casualties. The HKSAR Government quickly formed an interdepartmental search and rescue team. Civil servants from the Security Bureau, the Fire Services Department and the Immigration Department, together with medical representatives from the Hospital Authority, and bringing along two search and rescue dogs and rescue equipment of about 9 tonnes, rushed to Mantalay, one of the most devastated areas in Myanmar, to conduct search and rescue operations.
With professional training, fearlessness and perseverance, the HKSAR Search and Rescue Team completed 61 search and rescue operations covering 57 locations amid the constant aftershocks and scorching heat in the disaster-stricken areas. The team conducted joint operations with the China Search and Rescue Team and successfully rescued one survivor who had been trapped for more than 125 hours. In addition, the HKSAR Search and Rescue Team found two bodies under the debris. This is the second international rescue work the HKSAR Search and Rescue Team participated in since the earthquake in Türkiye in 2023, and the team has further upgraded its search and rescue techniques and equipment, including the application of AI and various advanced technologies, which help rescue personnel formulate more effective operational strategies.
The KTSP is the largest sports infrastructure project ever commissioned in Hong Kong and was officially opened on March 1 this year. To ensure the smooth operation of the KTSP upon its commissioning, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the Security Bureau, the Civil Service Bureau, the Transport and Logistics Bureau, the Hong Kong Police Force and the Transport Department had formed an interdepartmental preparation team to carry out the large-scale preparatory work in a concerted manner.
In the face of multiple challenges such as the pressing schedule, the large scale of the project and complicated co-ordination work, the Preparation Team, with its innovative thinking, meticulous planning and interdepartmental collaborations, completed around 20 test events, including five large-scale drills, in just five months, mobilising 140 000 civil servants to participate in the stress tests to evaluate the capability of the KTSP and its surrounding facilities comprehensively. Through continuous stress tests and optimisation of detailed arrangements, thorough preparation was made for the commissioning of the KTSP.
Details of the Chief Executive's Award for Exemplary Performance Presentation Ceremony will be announced later.
The current-term Government launched the Chief Executive's Award for Exemplary Performance Scheme in 2023 to give recognition to meritorious and exemplary teams or individuals in the civil service, with a view to encouraging civil servants to continuously strive for excellence. It also aims to allow the public to have a better understanding of the Government's work and the excellence of the civil service.
The nomination exercise for the new round of the Chief Executive's Award for Exemplary Performance commenced in May this year. The Civil Service Bureau invited bureaux to nominate outstanding teams or colleagues for the honour. The response was very positive, and bureaux actively nominated outstanding teams in recognition of their outstanding performance in different areas.
The selection process was rigorous. After being made by the respective Directors of Bureaux, the nominations were each considered by a high-level selection committee of the Government, which then put forward its recommendations to the Chief Executive. After considering the committee's recommendations, the Chief Executive made his decision on the teams or individuals to be awarded.
