4 Aspects of Public Life

FADE IN.

Act 1

EXT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT

Phone in hand, PETER is reading something.

PETER (V.O.): What are the Seven Principles of Public Life?

Reading.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): They're: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As they impact on behaviour and culture, why they are called principles, and not virtues or values?

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Why there're seven of them? Do people associate numbers as facts and so using numbers is more persuasive than explaining "how to"?

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've had over 40 years of public life and it's only now that I read about the Seven Principles of Public Life.

Act 2

INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY

Peter stares at a nameplate bearing Peter Cheung SBS.

PETER (V.O.): I've even earned the title, recognizing my taking a leading part in public affairs over a long period of time.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The more I think about the so-called Seven Principles of Public Life, the more I take issues with them.

Peter surfs the web.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The Seven Principles of Public Life is a code of conduct promoted by a UK advisory Committee on Standards in Public Life in 1994.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In 1994, I've already had 20 years of public-life experience.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The 1st Principle is Selflessness. It doesn't necessarily mean one has to die, but one has to act in public interest.

Thinking.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've been doing that but the term selflessness hasn't occurred to me.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The 2nd Principle is Integrity. One has to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Thinking.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Among all the behavioural virtues, if I've to choose a catch-all one, I'll pick integrity as every ethical behaviour follows from it.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The 3rd Principle is Objectivity. One has to act fairly, basing on merit.

Thinking.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): This is to avoid bias, an aspect of conflicts of interest.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The 4th Principle is Accountability. One has to submit to public scrutiny.

Thinking.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): This is to be responsible for the consequences of one's unethical acts or omissions.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The 5th Principle is Openness. One has to be transparent in the decision-making process.

Thinking.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It seems that the so-called Seven Principles are random ones. They aren't hierarchical nor sequential.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The 6th Principle is Openness is Honesty. One has to be truthful.

Thinking.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It goes without saying that a person of integrity won't fake anything.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The 7th Principle is Leadership. One has to comply with the Principles, to promote them and to challenge others' deviation.

Thinking.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The so-called Principle largely equates compliance and nurturing with leadership, which in my view, is to influence others (and not self) to do things otherwise they wouldn't do.

Thinking.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Conceptualizing, structuring and particularizing ethical behaviour in such a way aren't persuasive to me at all.

Act 3

INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY

PETER (V.O.): I think there's only 1 goal in public life ie to create and deliver public

value.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To achieve that, the competent actors have to have (2) integrity ie s/he has to be honest, objective, and open.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And (3) if they don't live up to the ethical standard expected of them, they are responsible and accountable for all the consequences.

Pausing.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Apart from themselves, they should always (4) try to influence others to do things otherwise they wouldn't do. And that's leadership.

Reflecting.

PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): These're the 4 Aspects of Public Life. And I prefer my way of framing them.

FADE OUT.

THE END