Chief Executive Carrie Lam today officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kwun Tong Composite Development Project & Civil Service College to be completed in phases from end-2026.

Addressing the ceremony, Mrs Lam noted Kwun Tong is an integral component of the Energizing Kowloon East initiative that she put forward in 2011. She was pleased to see that the process starting from the early planning to the development's present groundbreaking could be conducted within the current term of the Government.

Adopting the “single site, multiple uses” principle, the construction mainly comprises a high block and a low block. The high block will provide the long-term accommodation for the Civil Service College and some civil service supporting facilities. The low block will house community and welfare facilities including the Shine Skills Centre (Kwun Tong) under the Vocational Training Council, as well as a district health centre, a gerontechnology exhibition centre, a care professions training institute and an art gallery for artists with disabilities.

The Chief Executive also said that it had all along been her aspiration to build for Hong Kong a college that gives the civil service a sense of belonging.

“It is most important for the college to enhance, through its training programmes, the national identity of civil servants and their awareness of safeguarding national security, so as to strengthen their determination and toughness in delivering the pledge they made in their oath to uphold the Basic Law and bear allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”

Also speaking at the ceremony, Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip further stated: “Enhancing the understanding of the civil service on the constitutional order of the Hong Kong SAR, which includes understanding of the Constitution, the Basic Law and the National Security Law, is the top priority of civil service training. In addition, civil servants should also grasp the social pulse more closely, enhance leadership and decision-making capabilities, and apply innovative thinking and methods in the delivery of public services for the benefit of the community.

“The co-location of the Civil Service College and the welfare and community facilities in the same site symbolises the efforts of civil servants to reach out to the community and connect with people from all walks of life, so as to build a better future for the community and Hong Kong as a whole.”

Other officiating guests at the ceremony included Secretary for Labour & Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong, Civil Service Training Advisory Board Chairman Victor Fung, Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung, Civil Service College Head (designate) Kwok Yam-shu and Director of Architectural Services Winnie Ho.