Hong Kong's ailing public service in need of a moral cure

Hong Kong

AN illness appears to have taken root in Hong Kong's public and civil service, and the last two weeks have been particularly revealing of this malaise.

First, there were letters pouring in from political heavyweights pleading for leniency as Hong Kong's High Court prepared to deliver the sentence for former city leader Donald Tsang, who had earlier been convicted over failing to disclose a conflict of interest during his term.