Keeping one's job

Despite all the obstacles at Yuen Chau Kok, Hui Hon could not afford any delays and often skipped the correct procedures. The site agent told the ICAC investigators, for example, that in order to speed the work up, he had asked workers to drop the temporary casings into the pile shafts instead of installing them properly.

The site agent resorted to using yet more shortcuts. When cleaning the pile shafts, instead of running the tremie pipes right down to the bottom to completely flush out debris or silt, he asked the workers to run the pipes only halfway down the pile shaft. This avoided stirring up the debris at the bottom, so guaranteeing that the flushing water from the shaft would soon run clear. The site agent could then report to the HD that the cleaning process had been properly completed, when in fact it had not.

He maintained that it was in no way wrong of him as an employee to do what his boss told him to. When he had conveyed his concerns about various problems to his boss and other colleagues, his boss had insisted that things should be done his way. If the site agent wanted to keep his job, he had better follow instructions.

In fact, the site agent carried on forging various test results and records over and over again, and matters soon snowballed. Mr Leung recollected, "This man claimed that he was just following the instructions of his boss, but he had underestimated the consequences of his actions."





 
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