Civil servants can take part in social activities, but they must ensure that their participation in such activities would not cause a conflict of interest with their jobs.
 
Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung made the remarks while addressing media enquiries about the updated Civil Service Code after attending a radio programme today.
 
“We have set out very clearly in the code that civil servants can also have their political life. They can join social activities, except where we have strict rules about not being able to join. They can join.
 
“The principle is when they join social activities, they have to ensure that joining or participation in these social activities would not cause conflict of interest with their jobs, and also their joining would not allow people or attract people to believe that they are representing the Government’s position, or the activities they joined have government backing or allow people to think that they are actually representing civil servants or a larger group of civil servants' views.
 
“So they have to take care of all these when they participate in social activities.”