Revival of the 'handbag gang'? It's just gossip and mahjong

Dating back almost a decade, the so-called 'handbag gang' came into being at a time when the then chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang had risen to the high point of her civil service career.

Being the first Chinese to become the No 2 in the bureaucracy in the early 90s, Mrs Chan was also the leader of a group of 12 senior female officials who took up key posts in the senior echelon of government.

Among them were former secretary for health and welfare Katherine Fok Lo Siu-ching; former ICAC chief Lily Yam Kwan Pui-ying; former director of government information services Irene Yau Lee Che-yun; former permanent secretary for home affairs Shelley Lee Lai-kuen; and former health director Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun.

Those from the group who remain in government include Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Denise Yue Chung-yee, head of the Ombudsmen's Office Alice Tai Yuen-ying, Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, and Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Hygiene Carrie Yau Tsang Ka-lai.

When Mrs Chan took over the post of chief secretary in 1993 she was the sole female principal official in government, but by late 1998 that number had risen to six. The number of women at the elite directorate level had also increased 90 per cent.

Mrs Chan's close friend Ms Yam, who joined last Sunday's march, earned the title 'No 1 in the handbag gang' and her appointment to head the anti-graft watchdog was seen at the time as a shattering of the image of law enforcement agencies as all-male preserves.

While most, if not all, got their promotions based on merit rather than any form of positive discrimination, their rapid rise prompted many nervous jokes from some male civil servants.