Premier Wen Jiabao has spoken at an assembly of academies and students at the Harvard Business School during his visit to the United States. As "Literary works are the supreme achievement in the business of state, a splendour that does not decay,"* likewise the Premier's speech quoted extensively from scholarly works, impressing the audience and many others with its fine balance of sense and sensibility. "I have visited 1,800 of the 2,500 counties in China, including the most impoverished ones." This brought back the memory of the Premier's visit to Hong Kong during the SARS epidemic. His warm and comforting message to the medical profession and the community at large still linger on my mind.

The Chief Executive Officer bade farewell to Mr Tommy Cho Wing-keung, outgoing Regulatory Affairs Controller, and thanked him for his contribution to the EAA over the past six years.

After delivering his speech at the Harvard Business School, the Premier continued his dialogue with the students:"We shall strive to be honest, genuine, sincere and frank. When we are able to be all these, then we have lifted ourselves to a higher plane. I may not have answered your questions very well, but I am prepared to speak the truth. **" I am sure the sincerity of the Premier left no one in the audience unmoved.

Since assuming the office of the Chief Executive Officer of the EAA, I have come across many problems and queries raised by practitioners. The estate agency industry comprises an immense workforce and its activities are closely tied to the economy of Hong Kong. I am much honoured to take charge of the industry's regulation. While contributing to the industry's further development, I am at the same time seeking to strengthen the protection of the public's interest. However, the effective groundwork laid by the Authority in terms of operations and regulations and notwithstanding, both the public and the practitioners themselves still have high hopes and varied views as to the Authority's way forward.

It is my duty to respond to all these views and expectations. Like the Premier, I may not be able to answer all the questions very well, but I always remind myself that we should approach our business with an open mind, discussing it rationally and without prejudice. I also encourage my colleagues to do the same.

My requirements are rooted in my belief. I think that a regulatory body, to be effective, must win the respect rather than the fear of the community it intends to regulate. It is often said where a policy exists, those governed by it will always find the means to get around it. If a regulator elicits only fear from the regulated, then the latter will resort to all ways and means to dodge the rules, or to comply with the rules only superficially. The only way to obtain support and trust is to win genuine heart-felt respect from those under your charge to ensure the effective implementation of various policies and measures.

It is of course not easy winning others' respect and this is something that I always reflect on - when discussing problems with others and trying to find solutions, do I approach the matters at hand with my utmost sincerity? On this, I am really grateful to the Premier for the four attributes that he proposed to the students at Harvard. What we do, and say, must be in accordance with the facts. We must not practise fraud or employ trickery. Our words and deeds must reveal our true feelings. Sophistry and ingratiating manners have no place when we deal with genuine people, who are given to the expression of their hearts and minds in their words and deeds.

Representatives of the estate agency trade often ask me to give my opinions on the professional attitude and spirit of the new generation of practitioners (may be they also regard me as belonging to the "New Generation"!) In response, may I suggest that Dr Joanne Tse Yuen-man, who selflessly gave her precious life in the fight against SARS last year, has established a shining role model for professionals in the new generation through her love and dedication. Her life was also a splendid manifestation of the "Four Truthfulness" advocated by the Premier.

Although we have no control over how long we live, we may yet leave something for the generations to reflect on.

* Cao Pi, Discourse on Literature (Dianlun Lunwen) ( 曹 丕 ,《 典 論 》.《 論 文 》)
**Quoted from an article by Chen Xiaoxuan ( 陳 嘯 軒 )- "Mother's Teaching of the Four "Truthfulness" - Lingering Thoughts from the Premier's Harvard Visit", published by the Hong Kong Economic Times on 12 December 2003.