Director of Audit spoke at an alumni exchange event of the Business School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong

On the morning of 16 March 2025 (Sunday), Prof. Nelson Lam, Director of Audit, spoke at an exchange event for the alumni of the Master of Science (MSc) Programme in Finance at the invitation of the Business School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).  His speech was themed “Serving Community with Knowledge and Action”. 

In introducing the mission and main responsibilities of the Audit Commission (Audit) to the audience, Prof. Lam shared a classic quote from Ban Ling Zhen (a directive to officials) and Jie Shi Ming (a cautionary note to officials inscribed on a rock), “Your salaries come from the hard-earned money of the people.  Your people may be easy targets to exploit, yet the divine justice can hardly be deceived.”  Putting it in the present context, Prof. Lam emphasised that it is Audit’s duty to ensure the proper use of the public money, which is the fruits of Hong Kong people’s hard work.  Committed to professionalism and innovation, Audit has been striving for excellence in the provision of independent public sector audit services.   It is Audit’s goal to cater for the needs of the people.

It takes both will power and professional knowledge to realise one’s aspiration and ideal to serve the public.  Prof. Lam told the audience that Audit’s pool of talents was formed by professionals from all walks of life with diverse academic backgrounds and experiences.  As the saying goes, “One can always find a teacher in a company of three.”  Through mutual learning within Audit, active engagement in collaborations and exchanges with various audit organisations from the Mainland and around the world, and also participation in the United Nations audit assignments, Audit staff are committed to putting the acquired knowledge and experience in auditing into practice to enhance the quality of public sector auditing. 

During the exchange event, Prof. Lam responded to questions from the floor and took the opportunity to further elaborate the work of Audit and tell the good stories of public sector auditing.  The Director then wrapped up his sharing with another quote, “Just as the universe is ever operating with vigour, a man of virtue should never stop striving to better himself”, to encourage the alumni to press on and constantly make progress on their pursuit of knowledge, and to contribute to the society with professional knowledge and skills in their respective roles.

Prof. Nelson Lam, Director of Audit, shared with the academic staff and alumni of
the MSc Programme in Finance of the CUHK Business School
on the responsibilities and the latest work of Audit.

Prof. Lam explained that the work of Audit is “people-oriented” and “people-related”.
Both regularity audits and value for money audits are of high relevance to people’s livelihood.

In the Q&A session, Prof. Lam responded to questions from the floor
with his experience and views on public service. He hoped that
the exchange could prompt mutual learning.

In recent years, Audit has been actively reaching out to the community to be in touch with
people from different walks of life. Through public engagement, Audit hopes to
have a better understanding on the thoughts of the people
and, at the same time, familiarise the public with the work of Audit.