BackIn support of the objective of the I.O.I. to develop and operate educational programmes for Members, their staff and other interested people, the Office of The Ombudsman, Hong Kong and the Commission against Corruption, Macao joined hands to organise a regional training programme on complaint management with subsidy from the I.O.I. between 21 and 25 May 2012 in Hong Kong and Macao. The Programme attracted a total of 41 participants from the jurisdictions of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Macao, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Thailand.
The training part of the Programme comprised four workshops. Mr. Bruce Barbour, Ombudsman, and Mr. Chris Wheeler, Deputy Ombudsman, NSW, Australia hosted two full-day workshops on “Managing unreasonable complainants” and “Effective Complaint Management” in Hong Kong and Macao respectively, where underlying principles, coping strategies and effective verbal skills of managing unreasonable complainant conduct, as well as essential elements and best practices of effective complaint management were explored.
Mr. Nahee Lee, Deputy Director General, Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, Republic of Korea was the speaker of another workshop on “e-People – integrated on-line portal”. He introduced Korea’s use of modern technology in creating a one-stop service for petition, proposal and policy discussion through integrating all channels of administrative organisations that people could access locally and from abroad. This service hub was a winner of the United Nations Public Service Award.
Apart from essential skills and infra-structure of complaint handling, another workshop dealt with the soft side and introduced the Body-Mind-Spirit Model, an integration of Eastern and Western philosophical concepts. Professor Cecilia Chan, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong presented this Model and practised it together with the participants with a view to enhancing their mental well-being whilst handling complaints.
Other than the workshops, the participants also joined the social functions of the programme, through which they could share their particular practices and experiences while engaging in cultural exchange relaxingly. They all enjoyed the activities and cherished the opportunity of building acquaintances with one another.
On the whole, the participants found the programme very useful and relevant. Altogether 30 participants returned their completed evaluation forms. Their feedback was most encouraging. Unanimously they said highly of the programme and would recommend it to others.
