ISA HK/China --- HK Tree News (Running ISA HK/China by Locals)

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*** Our weekly Station Mail is for the information of Station Members only, but Station Mail has given up copyright & can be freely circulated. For administrative reasons, comments from outsiders are usually not entertained & may be circulated within our system locally & overseas. Please note Station Mail is sometimes given in Blog at http://isahkchina.blogspot.com , although images are usually not attached due to size. ***


Dear Station Members,

The following news would be a sensitive issue before 1997 in HK - "The British CEO of the West Kowloon Cultural Complex recently resigned on "Health" ground ". However, we should read the commentary without prejudice but with pragmatism, as ISA HK/China faces similar challenge during our beginning in 2005 to until now.

Some locals in HK would not believe that ISA HK/China would do well under the leadership of our own locals. The Station Manager (SM) has been challengd quite a number of time for a string of events locally & overseas on this suspicion. Training opportunities & official meetings in HK rarely invite ISA HK/China. This in a way has driven us towards working with the media & politicians, who show positive appreciation on us.

On the other hand, ISA HQ does not think the same as such. When ISA Staff came down to visit us back in 2006, we were told that from the 80+ years of experience in developing ISA Chapters, only the locals can do it well for ISA. The SM was encouraged to become the Chief Proctor & Chapter Liaison in our territory of HK, Macau, Taiwan & China. With this vision, ISA HK/China has grown from a 350+ no. in 2006, to the present 1,500+ Station Membership, & is still going strong.

ISA HK/China is now the fastest expanding ISA Organization in the world, & we run the biggest Certified Arborist exam with 200 seats in Oct 2010. We are formulating our plan to enter China, & our first round of literature barrage will land in major China newspapers during the coming Chinese New Year.

At the same time, ISA HK/China has never shut ourselves from networking with arboricultural organizations around the world. We actually encourage them to come & share their knowledge & expertise with us, at a cost if necessary. This is evident in our constant broadcast of training opportunities in Singapore, Australia & New Zealand, in addition to that of ISA. We positively encourage our Station Members to attend international events, & ask them to share with us when they return. Would the same happen if ISA HK/China is manned by another national?

ISA HK/China has recruited 6 Deputy Station Mangers & established 6 committes to continue our development. We shall form a China Committee very soon to take ISA into China. We constantly set our eyes for the right professionals to work with us as volunteers. We have adopted the appointment system of Govt Depts in our structure, instead of election to ensure discipline & efficiency. This has proven us great success.

IF some say that ISA HK/China is led wrongly with our locals, we have to see the evidence to believe that. At present, no such proof exists anywhere.

ISA HK/China will remain a transparent & inclusive organization to welcome all the good people from around the world, & we'll do so in the best interest of ISA, & to achieve the ISA Mission along with our culture & attitude to show the world.

best regards,

Sammy Au
Station Manager
Registered Consulting Arborist no. RCA#497 (http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/2010/12/isa-hkchina-first-rca-in-asia.html)
Independent Practicing Arborist no. IPA-010908 (http://isahkchina.blogspot.com/2010/04/isa-hkchina-hk-tree-news-14410-report.html)
ISA Certified Arborist / Certified Tree Worker no. HK-0174AT (www.isa-arbor.com)



"If a tree is not designed, installed, maintained & inspected properly, it is likely to become a liability rather than an asset."


"Trees are good for the community. Trees need care like human beings. Arborists are the Tree Care Professionals."

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洋總裁倉皇辭廟　西九殘局怎收拾

一波未平一波又起，西九文化區管理局高層再有人事變動，繼前行政總監程少泉年前閃電辭職後，來自英國、上任僅五個月的行政總裁謝卓飛，昨日突然以健康理由請辭，令人愕然。謝卓飛突然劈炮，到底是真的健康有問題，還是另有隱情，不能不令人質疑。

想當初，當局大鑼大鼓展開全球招聘，好不容易才在眾多應徵者選中曾擔任倫敦巴比肯中心藝術總監的謝卓飛。而謝卓飛本人亦躊躇滿志，矢志將西九打造成世界級文化藝術中心，又揚言有信心將巴比肯中心的成功經驗帶到香港。詎料話音剛落，他自己就意興闌珊，無心戀戰，令人啼笑皆非。謝卓飛來也匆匆，去也匆匆，壯志未酬先劈炮，也未免太過兒戲了。

面對各方疑慮，身兼西九管理局主席的政務司司長唐英年僅透露，謝卓飛去年聖誕節前已通知管理局辭職決定，除此之外，他便以尊重私隱為由，拒絕公布更多詳情。

正因為當局閃爍其詞，諱莫如深，令事件更顯得撲朔迷離。有文化界人士透露，謝卓飛曾表示未能適應本港官僚制度及政治環境，反映官方干預太多，是西九先後有高層離職的結構性原因。亦有人揣測，謝卓飛來港後因文化差異而「水土不服」。

西九文化區作為港府十大建設項目之一，其行政總裁薪金豐厚，位高權重，說來就來，說走就走，實在不合常理。退一步說，就算謝卓飛真的因健康理由劈炮，如果當局在招聘過程中能對應聘者作更全面考慮，例如加入健康因素，又何至於出現今天這種尷尬局面？

事件真相到底如何，外界無從判斷，但西九管理局官僚習氣嚴重卻是不爭的事實。○九年，程少泉獲委任為西九行政總監，但上任僅七天便因為「個人理由」辭職。當時外界盛傳，程少泉一向於私人機構任職，不慣在公營機構被綁手綁腳，不得不黯然離去。難怪有人批評，公營機構暮氣沉沉，掣肘多多，一個再優秀的人才，跌入這個官僚大醬缸內，也難有用武之地。事實上，去年謝卓飛獲委任行政總裁時，本報就已預言，他與西九管理層的磨合將是一個難題，結果不幸而言中。

至於謝卓飛被指在文化上「水土不服」，亦是意料中事。當初外界對謝卓飛的最大質疑是，他雖然有管理大型國際藝術中心的經驗，具一定國際視野，但對本港文化一無所知，很難帶動香港民間文化藝術的發展；何況謝卓飛在倫敦的經驗毀譽參半，是否堪當重任，不無疑問。只可惜當局一味迷信洋人，以為外來和尚會唸經，結果經還沒開始唸，外來和尚卻跑掉了。

事實證明，橘越淮而枳，「過江龍」未必一定勝過「本地薑」。大家只要看看，本港不少機構重金禮聘外國人掛帥，表現往往不外如是，昂坪纜車聘用澳洲公司管理，醫管局聘請外國人做行政總裁，無不搞得亂七八糟，最後還是要由本地人收拾殘局。不管怎麼說，當局必須從今次事件吸取教訓，打破「外來和尚會唸經」的迷思，物色一個真正認識香港文化、對香港有歸屬感的人才管理西九。


鐵打的衙門流水的官，人事更替不奇怪，怪的是西九大計十畫還沒一撇，就已接連出現高層辭官歸故里的鬧劇，所謂打造世界級文化藝術中心，不知從何說起。