I have been following news reports of the Wang Fuk Court tragedy. I was alerted to a stark headline in Singapore’s Straits Times: ‘Not Our Responsibility’: Govt Agencies Deny Accountability in HK’s Deadly Fire. This is not a good Hong Kong story. But we have to face it, and responsibly and humbly take lessons from it. Then we will turn it into a good Hong Kong story.

Mao Zedong implored members of the Communist Party of China to “serve the people”. Lingnan University’s motto is “Education for service”. Government officials and indeed all government employees call themselves civil servants. Noncivil-service workers funded by the public purse are public servants. Clearly, serving the people is the raison d’etre of the very existence of the government and publicly funded agencies.

Then-US president Abraham Lincoln’s famous line from the Gettysburg Address in 1863 offers a vision of “government of the people, by the people, for the people”. I have changed it slightly to “government of the people, from the people, for the people” because I strongly believe that proper selection of a nation’s leaders is better than ballot-based election.

In any case, in designing institutions, policies and administering policies, all actors must remember that the original purpose of government is serving citizens’ needs and interests. I recall the Theory of Three Represents of the Communist Party of China: First, represent the development trend of China’s advanced productive forces; second, represent the orientation of China’s advanced culture; and third, represent the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.

The first stresses the importance of modernization of the Chinese economy. The second stresses that CPC members must act as civilized people and bearers of Chinese culture, advancing from personal development to good governance and flourishing shoulder to shoulder with all other nations. The third stresses advancing the public interest without distinction. This is the original purpose.

All civil servants and all members of publicly funded agencies — from the Buildings Department to the Fire Services Department, from the Housing Authority to the Urban Renewal Authority, from the Police Force to the Competition Commission, from the Development Bureau to the Education Bureau — should remember that they all have a mission: to serve the people of Hong Kong and the nation. There can be no excuse for anyone to cite having followed standard operational processes and routines without regard to the real needs of the people they are supposed to serve. With the imperative to serve, one would take an extra step to help. One would never say “This is not our responsibility; go look elsewhere.” When presented with a certificate, one would never take it for granted that it is genuine. All certificates must be checked for authenticity. Given that residents complained of being bounced from one government department to another, the Ombudsman’s Office should be more proactive in publicizing its readiness to help Hong Kong residents against administrative failures. Its vision is stated as “to ensure that Hong Kong is served by a fair and efficient public administration which is committed to accountability, openness and quality of service”.

Processes and routines are instruments to assist us in our tasks. Merely sticking to standard processes and routines is not people-centered. All public servants should be people-centered because they serve human beings

The other day, a friend asked me about the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s first five-year plan. I told him that China’s Five-Year Plans are always seriously and carefully developed with input from both stakeholders and analysts over many months of preparation. They are intentionally lacking in detail because there are no central planners to micromanage. While actual decision-making is deliberately decentralized, targets must be both desirable and achievable. Both the market and all levels of government have key roles in implementation.

I agree that collaborating with partners in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area — particularly Shenzhen — and with foreign partners to supercharge the Northern Metropolis is a great idea because Hong Kong has very specific advantages in bringing strong partners together to advance our best interests. Innovation is never done for its own sake but to serve human needs. We must remember the need to vet each project rigorously, because private interests and public interests do not always align. Every policy decision should be guided by public-interest considerations, meaning social costs must be assessed against social benefits. Sometimes, publicly valuable projects may not yield private profits. Our high-speed rail system is a case in point: The rail company may be making a loss, but commuters, travelers and many businesses may benefit. All projects need to be assessed carefully. Unprofitable projects that are socially beneficial may still merit support.

Processes and routines are instruments to assist us in our tasks. Merely sticking to standard processes and routines is not people-centered. All public servants should be people-centered because they serve human beings. I was shocked when one official said the Wang Fuk Court tragedy was the result of institutional failure — something, he implied, that could only be revealed after disaster had struck.

The author is an honorary research fellow at the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute, Lingnan University, and an adjunct professor at the Academy for Applied Policy Studies and Education Futures, the Education University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.