Doctors Say Oath Of Allegiance Would Be Unacceptable

Leaders of the Hong Kong Public Doctors' Association say it would be unacceptable for Hospital Authority staff to be made to swear allegiance to the HKSAR and pledge to uphold the Basic Law.

Arisina Ma and Joyce Lee, who were respectively re-elected as president and chairman of the association on Saturday, were responding to a suggestion by executive councillor Ronny Tong that the authority should be covered by new rules expected to be brought in for government workers.

Tong said the upcoming national security legislation could make oaths of allegiance a requirement not only for civil servants, but also employees of statutory bodies.

Ma questioned whether taking such an oath would mean that the interests of the government would have to come before the needs of patients.

She added that the association may seek legal advice on the matter.

Lee, meanwhile, said it would be unacceptable if the oath runs counter to employees' various identities, for example, as a doctor, a citizen, or even a human being.

She stressed that public servants should commit themselves to serving the city’s seven million people, rather than a selected few.