HONG KONG – Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Monday that the special administrative region government has to improve the governance of the Social Workers Registration Board.

He made the remarks at a media session this afternoon after attending a meeting of the Legislative Council Panel on Welfare Services.

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The statement came three days after Sun, writing on social media, reportedly accused the Social Workers Registration Board of ignoring society's overall interests, damaging the professionalism and credibility of the sector by deviating from the spirit of the law.

He specifically mentioned that the board had renewed the licenses or approved license applications of people who had committed serious offenses in the past while approving a social worker facing a rioting charge to join its disciplinary committee panel.

There is no misunderstanding. I have complete information about what is going on in the board.

Chris Sun, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, HKSAR

Replying to a question from a journalist on Monday, he said, “I pointed out very clearly in the article I published earlier about my serious concerns that the Social Workers Registration Board is deviating from what it should be doing under the law and what it has been doing right now undermines public interest and also the credibility and professionalism of social workers."

Continued Sun: “Based on my clear understanding and my serious concerns about what is going on there, I have pointed out very clearly that we have to improve the governance of the board."

He said this has to be done to ensure that the board will in the future deal with issues concerning the registration of social workers as well as disciplinary matters concerning social workers in a manner “that is commensurate with the need to ensure that public interest is given priority and also the professionalism and credibility of social workers is being upheld”.

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Dismissing a reported statement of the board's chairman, Ng Yut-ming, that the minister had misunderstandings regarding how the board operates, he said: “There is no misunderstanding. I have complete information about what is going on in the board.”