HKU POP releases popularity figures of CE and principal officialsBack

Press Release on January 16, 2018

| Detailed Findings (Rating of Chief Executive Carrie Lam) | Detailed Findings (Popularity of Principal Officials) |

Special Announcements

1. From July 2017, apart from sampling landline numbers to conduct opinion surveys, the Public Opinion Programme (POP) of The University of Hong Kong has also added mobile numbers to the sampling frame. After three months of testing, in October 2017, POP formalized the use of mixed samples as its standard for regular opinion surveys. The figures released today by POP have already incorporated landline and mobile samples, while “effective response rate” is continued to be used to describe the survey’s contact information. As for the weighting method, a two-step protocol is used. First, both the landline and mobile samples have been rim-weighted according to figures collected in the 2016 By-census regarding the gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population and the 2017 educational attainment (highest level attended) distribution and economic activity status distribution obtained from the Census and Statistics Department. After that, the mobile sample was rim-weighted according to the basic Public Sentiment Index (PSI) figures collected in the landline sample, and then mixed together to produce the final results. This weighting method has proved to be feasible after three months of testing, but POP will continue to review and enhance it, and keep the public informed.

2. To facilitate academic study and rational discussion, POP today released via the “HKU POP SITE” (http://hkupop.pori.hk) the raw data and related respondents’ demographics of the latest rating survey of CE Carrie Lam, together with those of regular rating surveys of former CEs CH Tung, Donald Tsang and CY Leung released earlier, for public examination. Please follow normal academic standards when using or citing such data.

Abstract

POP interviewed 1,000 Hong Kong people between 3 and 4 January, 2018 by means of a random telephone survey conducted by real interviewers. Our latest survey shows that the popularity figures of CE Carrie Lam have not changed much since two weeks ago. Her latest popularity rating is 58.7 marks. Her latest approval rate is 51%, disapproval rate 36%, giving a net popularity of positive 15 percentage points. As for the Secretaries of Departments, the latest support rating of CS Matthew Cheung is 53.7 marks. His approval rate is 34%, disapproval rate 17%, giving a net popularity of positive 17 percentage points. The latest support rating of FS Paul Chan is 43.8 marks, approval rate 25%, disapproval rate 41%, thus a net popularity of negative 16 percentage points. As for Rimsky Yuen who was still SJ during the survey fieldwork, his last support rating registered 47.0 marks, approval rate 28%, disapproval rate 33%, giving a net popularity of negative 5 percentage points. In terms of popularity rating and approval rate, Matthew Cheung continues to be the most popular Secretary of Department. As for the Directors of Bureaux, compared to one month ago, the net approval rates of 9 among 13 Directors have gone up, while 3 have gone down and 1 remains unchanged. Among them, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan, Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for Security John Lee, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip register significant changes in their net approval rates, each up by 9 to 10 percentage points. Among all the Directors, only Lau Kong-wah registers negative popularity, at negative 13 percentage points. Sophia Chan is currently the most popular Director, with a net approval rate of positive 40 percentage points. According to POP’s standard, no one falls under the category of “ideal” performer, Carrie Lam falls under the category of “successful” performer. The performance of Sophia Chan, Law Chi-kwong, Edward Yau, Wong Kam-sing, Matthew Cheung, Kevin Yeung, Rimsky Yuen, Paul Chan and Lau Kong-wah can be labeled as “mediocre”. That of Joshua Law, John Lee, Frank Chan, Nicholas Yang, Michael Wong, James Lau and Patrick Nip can be labeled as “inconspicuous”. No one falls into the category of “depressing” or “disastrous”. The maximum sampling error of all approval and disapproval rates is +/-4 percentage points at 95% confidence level, while the sampling errors of rating figures and net approval rates need another calculation. The response rate of the survey is 58%.

Points to note:

[1] The address of the “HKU POP SITE” is http://hkupop.pori.hk, journalists can check out the details of the survey there.

[2] The sample size of this survey is 1,000 successful interviews, not 1,000 x 58.3% response rate. In the past, many media made this mistake.

[3] “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. When quoting these figures, journalists can state “sampling error of rating not more than +/-2.1, sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4%, and sampling error of net values not more than +/-7% at 95% confidence level”.

[4] Because of sampling errors in conducting the survey(s) and the rounding procedures in processing the data, the figures cannot be too precise, and the totals may not be completely accurate. Therefore, when quoting percentages of the survey(s), journalists should refrain from reporting decimal places, but when quoting the rating figures, one decimal place can be used.

[5] The data of this survey is collected by means of random telephone interviews conducted by real interviewers, not by any interactive voice system (IVS). If a research organization uses “computerized random telephone survey” to camouflage its IVS operation, it should be considered unprofessional.

Latest Figures

POP today releases the latest popularity figures of CE Carrie Lam and various Secretaries of Departments and Directors of Bureaux under the accountability system. From July 2017, POP enhanced the previous weighting method that has been used for quite a few years. Apart from age, gender and education, economic activity group is now also taken into account when adjusting data. The latest figures released today have been rim-weighted according to figures collected in the 2016 By-census regarding the gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population and the 2017 educational attainment (highest level attended) distribution and economic activity status distribution obtained from the Census and Statistics Department. The mobile sample has also been rim-weighted according to the basic Public Sentiment Index (PSI) figures collected in the landline sample. Herewith the contact information for the latest survey:

Date of survey	Effective sample size	Effective response rate	Maximum sampling error of percentages^[6]
3-4/1/2018	1,000	58.3%	+/-3%

[6] Errors are calculated at 95% confidence level using full sample size. “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Questions using only sub-samples would have bigger sampling error. Sampling errors of ratings and net approval rates are calculated according to the distribution of the scores collected.

As different questions involve different sub-samples, the sampling errors will vary accordingly. The table below briefly shows the relationship between sample size and maximum sampling errors for the readers to capture the corresponding changes:

Sample size (total sample or sub-sample)	Sampling error of percentages^[7] (maximum values)	Sample size (total sample or sub-sample)	Sampling error of percentages^[7] (maximum values)
Sample size (total sample or sub-sample)	Sampling error of percentages^[7] (maximum values)	Sample size (total sample or sub-sample)	Sampling error of percentages^[7] (maximum values)	1,300	+/- 2.8%	1,350	+/- 2.7%
1,200	+/- 2.9%	1,250	+/- 2.8%
1,100	+/- 3.0%	1,150	+/- 3.0%
1,000	+/- 3.2%	1,050	+/- 3.1%
900	+/- 3.3%	950	+/- 3.2%
800	+/- 3.5%	850	+/- 3.4%
700	+/- 3.8%	750	+/- 3.7%
600	+/- 4.1%	650	+/- 3.9%
500	+/- 4.5%	550	+/- 4.3%
400	+/- 5.0%	450	+/- 4.7%

[7] Based on 95% confidence interval.

Recent popularity figures of CE Carrie Lam are summarized as follows:

Date of survey	16-19/10/17	6-9/11/17	14-16/11/17	4-6/12/17	18-19/12/17	*3-4/1/18*	*Latest change*
Sample base	1,009	1,002	1,011	1,034	1,013	*1,000*	--
Response rate	64.5%	57.6%	62.8%	61.0%	64.9%	*58.3%*	--
Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	*Finding and error^[8]*	--
Rating of CE Carrie Lam	62.0	58.9^[9]	62.9^[9]	55.7^[9]	58.3^[9]	*58.7+/-1.7*	*+0.4*
Vote of confidence in CE Carrie Lam	53%	50%	54%^[9]	49%^[9]	49%	*51+/-3%*	*+2%*
Vote of no confidence in CE Carrie Lam	33%^[9]	36%	31%^[9]	37%^[9]	36%	*36+/-3%*	--
Net approval rate	20%	15%	23%^[9]	12%^[9]	12%	*15+/-6%*	*+3%*

[8] All error figures in the table are calculated at 95% confidence level. “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Media can state “sampling error of rating not more than +/-1.7, sampling error of percentages not more than +/-3%, sampling error of net approval rates not more than +/-6% at 95% confidence level” when quoting the above figures. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.

[9] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level, meaning that they are statistically significant prima facie. However, whether numerical differences are statistically significant is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful, and different weighting methods could have been applied in different surveys.

Recent popularity figures of the three Secretaries of Departments under the accountability system are summarized below:

Date of survey	2-7/8/17	1-6/9/17	3-4/10/17	6-9/11/17	4-6/12/17	*3-4/1/18*	*Latest change*
Sample base^[10]	613-638	551-593	533-547	700-729	720-824	*725-760*	--
Response rate	70.9%	49.8%	59.5%	57.6%	61.0%	*58.3%*	--
Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	*Finding & error^[11]*	--
Rating of CS Matthew Cheung	56.2	55.4	53.9	54.6	50.7^[12]	*53.7+/-1.7*	*+3.0^[12]*
Vote of confidence in CS Matthew Cheung	37%	32%^[12]	33%	35%	31%^[12]	*34+/-4%*	*+3%*
Vote of no confidence in CS Matthew Cheung	16%	11%^[12]	19%^[12]	19%	21%	*17+/-3%*	*-4%^[12]*
Net approval rate	21%	21%	14%^[12]	17%	9%^[12]	*17+/-5%*	*+8%^[12]*
Rating of FS Paul Chan	41.2	42.7	40.6	43.7^[12]	42.2	*43.8+/-1.9*	*+1.6*
Vote of confidence in FS Paul Chan	25%	21%^[12]	22%	23%	22%	*25+/-3%*	*+3%*
Vote of no confidence in FS Paul Chan	44%	38%^[12]	43%^[12]	38%^[12]	39%	*41+/-4%*	*+2%*
Net approval rate	-19%	-17%	-21%	-15%	-17%	*-16+/-6%*	*+1%*
Rating of SJ Rimsky Yuen	50.9	46.4^[12]	43.4^[12]	48.3^[12]	41.3^[12]	*47.0+/-2.1*	*+5.7^[12]*
Vote of confidence in SJ Rimsky Yuen	38%	31%^[12]	29%	34%^[12]	24%^[12]	*28+/-3%*	*+4%^[12]*
Vote of no confidence in SJ Rimsky Yuen	23%	33%^[12]	39%^[12]	30%^[12]	42%^[12]	*33+/-3%*	*-9%^[12]*
Net approval rate	15%	-3%^[12]	-9%	5%^[12]	-18%^[12]	*-5+/-6%*	*+13%^[12]*

[10] The frequency of this series of questions is different from that of CE popularity ratings. Comparisons, if made, should be synchronized using the same intervals. These questions only uses sub-samples of the tracking surveys concerned, the sample size for each question also varies.

[11] All error figures in the table are calculated at 95% confidence level. “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Media can state “sampling error of various ratings not more than +/-2.1, sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4%, sampling error of net approval rates not more than +/-6% at 95% confidence level” when quoting the above figures. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.

[12] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level, meaning that they are statistically significant prima facie. However, whether numerical differences are statistically significant is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful, and different weighting methods could have been applied in different surveys.

Latest popularity figures of Directors of Bureaux under the accountability system are summarized below, in descending order of net approval rates:

Date of survey	6-9/11/17		4-6/12/17		*3-4/1/18*		*Latest change*
Sample base^[13]	575-622		566-674		*535-633*		--
Response rate	57.6%		61.0%		*58.3%*		--
Sample base / Percentage of answer	Base	%	Base	%	*Base*	% & error ^[14]	--
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan	589	48%	566	45%	*565*	*46+/-4%*	*+1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan	589	5%^[15]	566	8%^[15]	*565*	*5+/-2%*	*-3%^[15]*
Net approval rate	589	43%^[15]	566	37%^[15]	*565*	*40+/-5%*	*+3%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau	594	49%^[15]	638	41%^[15]	*624*	*42+/-4%*	*+1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau	594	6%^[15]	638	9%^[15]	*624*	*8+/-2%*	*-1%*
Net approval rate	594	43%^[15]	638	32%^[15]	*624*	*34+/-5%*	*+2%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law	622	39%	642	36%	*595*	*37+/-4%*	*+1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law	622	7%	642	9%	*595*	*5+/-2%*	*-4%^[15]*
Net approval rate	622	31%	642	27%	*595*	*32+/-5%*	*+5%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong	597	46%	586	43%	*595*	*43+/-4%*	--
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong	597	10%	586	11%	*595*	*11+/-3%*	--
Net approval rate	597	35%	586	32%	*595*	*31+/-5%*	*-1%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Security John Lee	601	34%	606	29%^[15]	*579*	*34+/-4%*	*+5%^[15]*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Security John Lee	601	10%^[15]	606	15%^[15]	*579*	*12+/-3%*	*-3%*
Net approval rate	601	24%^[15]	606	13%^[15]	*579*	*22+/-5%*	*+9%^[15]*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing	603	42%	619	39%	*619*	*38+/-4%*	*-1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing	603	15%	619	17%	*619*	*17+/-3%*	--
Net approval rate	603	27%	619	22%	*619*	*21+/-6%*	*-1%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau	612	26%	674	23%	*593*	*24+/-4%*	*+1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau	612	6%	674	7%	*593*	*7+/-2%*	--
Net approval rate	612	20%	674	16%	*593*	*17+/-4%^[16]*	*+1%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan	575	30%^[15]	627	28%	*607*	*33+/-4%*	*+5%^[15]*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan	575	20%^[15]	627	21%	*607*	*15+/-3%*	*-6%^[15]*
Net approval rate	575	11%^[15]	627	7%	*607*	*17+/-5%^[16]*	*+10%^[15]*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Development Michael Wong	593	26%	596	23%	*626*	*26+/-4%*	*+3%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Development Michael Wong	593	10%	596	9%	*626*	*12+/-3%*	*+3%*
Net approval rate	593	17%	596	14%	*626*	*14+/-5%*	--
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung	615	31%	628	26%^[15]	*535*	*32+/-4%*	*+6%^[15]*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung	615	25%	628	24%	*535*	*20+/-4%*	*-4%*
Net approval rate	615	6%	628	3%	*535*	*12+/-6%*	*+9%^[15]*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip	605	21%	609	18%	*599*	*21+/-3%*	*+3%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip	605	11%	609	17%^[15]	*599*	*11+/-3%*	*-6%^[15]*
Net approval rate	605	10%	609	1%^[15]	*599*	*10+/-5%*	*+9%^[15]*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang	576	31%	617	29%	*633*	*26+/-4%*	*-3%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang	576	24%	617	20%^[15]	*633*	*19+/-3%*	*-1%*
Net approval rate	576	7%	617	9%	*633*	*8+/-5%*	*-1%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah	594	30%^[15]	600	24%^[15]	*583*	*25+/-4%*	*+1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah	594	39%^[15]	600	46%^[15]	*583*	*38+/-4%*	*-8%^[15]*
Net approval rate	594	-9%^[15]	600	-23%^[15]	*583*	*-13+/-7%*	*+10%^[15]*

[13] These questions only uses sub-samples of the tracking surveys concerned, the sample size for each question also varies.

[14] All error figures in the table are calculated at 95% confidence level. “95% confidence level” means that if we were to repeat a certain survey 100 times, using the same questions each time but with different random samples, we would expect 95 times getting a figure within the error margins specified. Media can state “sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4% and sampling error of net approval rates not more than +/-7% at 95% confidence level” when quoting the above figures. The error margin of previous survey can be found at the POP Site.

[15] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level, meaning that they are statistically significant prima facie. However, whether numerical differences are statistically significant is not the same as whether they are practically useful or meaningful, and different weighting methods could have been applied in different surveys.

[16] Based on the figures of latest survey, in two decimal places, the respective net approval rates of Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau and Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan are 17.23 and 17.16 percentage points. Thus, they are ranked seventh and eighth this time.

The latest survey showed that, CE Carrie Lam scored 58.7 marks, and 51% supported her as CE, her net approval rate is positive 15 percentage points. Meanwhile, the corresponding ratings of CS Matthew Cheung, FS Paul Chan and SJ Rimsky Yuen were 53.7, 43.8 and 47.0 marks, and 34%, 25% and 28% would vote for their reappointments correspondingly. Their net approval rates are positive 17, negative 16 and negative 5 percentage points respectively.

As for the Directors of Bureaux, according to the net approval rates, results revealed that the top position goes to Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan, attaining positive 40 percentage points. The 2nd to 4th places belong to Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau, Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law and Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong with net approval rates of positive 34, positive 32 and positive 31 percentage points respectively. Secretary for Security John Lee, Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan, Secretary for Development Michael Wong, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah ranked 5th to 13th, their corresponding net approval rates are positive 22, positive 21, positive 17, positive 17, positive 14, positive 12, positive 10, positive 8 and negative 13 percentage points. In other words, no Director scored a net approval rate of over 50%.

Opinion Daily

In January 2007, POP opened a feature page called “Opinion Daily” at the “POP Site”, to record significant events and selected polling figures on a day-to-day basis, in order to let readers judge by themselves the reasons for the ups and downs of different opinion figures. In July 2007, POP collaborated with Wisers Information Limited whereby Wisers supplies to POP each day starting from July 24, a record of significant events of that day, according to the research method designed by POP. These daily entries would be uploaded to “Opinion Daily” as soon as they are verified by POP.

For the polling items covered in this press release, the previous survey of some items was conducted from 4 to 6 December, 2017 while this survey was conducted from 3 to 4 January, 2018. During this period, herewith the significant events selected from counting newspaper headlines and commentaries on a daily basis and covered by at least 25% of the local newspaper articles. Readers can make their own judgment if these significant events have any impacts to different polling figures.

3/1/18	Retired superintendent Franklin Chu King-wai is jailed for three months and bailed of $50,000 cash pending his appeal.
2/1/18	Hong Kong shares and A shares close up nearly 600 points and hit 10-year high on the first trading day of 2018.
27/12/17	The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passes the motion of cooperation arrangement for implementing the co-location plan.
15/12/17	Chief Executive Carrie Lam pays a duty visit to Beijing.
11/12/17	LegCo restores the debate on amendments to the Rules of Procedure.
9/12/17	Mong Kok Riot Case undergoes closed-door pre-trial review at High Court, and the judge imposes new bail conditions on 6 defendants, requiring them not to leave Hong Kong.
7/12/17	Several senior management of Convoy Global are taken in by ICAC for questioning, with three of them being arrested.
5/12/17	The cost of the main construction works for the MTR Shatin-Central Link is expected to overrun of 16.5 billion.

Online Opinion Analysis

In July 2017, POP started collaborating with uMax Data Technology Limited to conduct “Online Opinion Analysis”. uMax Data would provide technical support concerning social big data to track posts in Facebook pages and various major forums in Hong Kong that mentioned specific political figures or organizations. When public opinion changes very significantly, POP will summarize the popular online posts about the specific political figures or organizations between the two surveys and compile a list of related events. Readers could make their own judgment if the events listed have impact on the related public opinion figures.

Since the latest survey findings reveal that the net approval rate of SJ Rimsky Yuen has changed significantly compared to the figure recorded in the last survey, POP conducted “Online Opinion Analysis” to identify the top ten most discussed issues on the internet. The list of most discussed items after eliminating duplications is as follows:

Rimsky Yuen will leave the government.

Supporters of Franklin Chu King-wai made verbal attacks against the magistrate. Netizens questioned the inaction of the Department of Justice.

Netizens questioned the decision of the Department of Justice not to appeal concerning the Oriental Daily reporter criminal intimidation case.

Netizens accused the Department of Justice of pampering the leaders of the Occupy Movement.

The Department of Justice spent more than 200 million engaging counsel in private practice last year.

The results show that online public opinion had been discussing the leaving of Rimsky Yuen and the various prosecution decisions of the Department of Justice. Whether or not these items could sufficiently explain the changes in SJ popularity ratings, readers could form their own judgment.

Commentary

Note: The following commentary was written by Research Manager of POP, Frank Lee.

Our latest survey shows that the popularity figures of CE Carrie Lam have not changed much since two weeks ago. Her latest popularity rating is 58.7 marks. Her latest approval rate is 51%, disapproval rate 36%, giving a net popularity of positive 15 percentage points.

As for the Secretaries of Departments, the latest support rating of CS Matthew Cheung is 53.7 marks. His approval rate is 34%, disapproval rate 17%, giving a net popularity of positive 17 percentage points. The latest support rating of FS Paul Chan is 43.8 marks, approval rate 25%, disapproval rate 41%, thus a net popularity of negative 16 percentage points. As for Rimsky Yuen who was still SJ during the survey fieldwork, his last support rating registered 47.0 marks, approval rate 28%, disapproval rate 33%, giving a net popularity of negative 5 percentage points. In terms of popularity rating and approval rate, Matthew Cheung continues to be the most popular Secretary of Department.

As for the Directors of Bureaux, compared to one month ago, the net approval rates of 9 among 13 Directors have gone up, while 3 have gone down and 1 remains unchanged. Among them, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan, Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for Security John Lee, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip register significant changes in their net approval rates, each up by 9 to 10 percentage points. Among all the Directors, only Lau Kong-wah registers negative popularity, at negative 13 percentage points. Sophia Chan is currently the most popular Director, with a net approval rate of positive 40 percentage points.

According to POP’s standard, no one falls under the category of “ideal” performer, Carrie Lam falls under the category of “successful” performer. The performance of Sophia Chan, Law Chi-kwong, Edward Yau, Wong Kam-sing, Matthew Cheung, Kevin Yeung, Rimsky Yuen, Paul Chan and Lau Kong-wah can be labeled as “mediocre”. That of Joshua Law, John Lee, Frank Chan, Nicholas Yang, Michael Wong, James Lau and Patrick Nip can be labeled as “inconspicuous”. No one falls into the category of “depressing” or “disastrous”.

The following table summarizes the grading of CE Carrie Lam and the principal officials for readers’ easy reference:

“Ideal”: those with approval rates of over 66%; ranked by their approval rates shown inside brackets

“Successful”: those with approval rates of over 50%; ranked by their approval rates shown inside brackets

CE Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (51%)

“Mediocre”: those not belonging to other 5 types; ranked by their approval rates shown inside brackets

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee (46%); Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong (43%); Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah (42%); Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing (38%); CS Matthew Cheung Kin-chung (34%); Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung (32%); SJ Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung (28%); FS Paul Chan Mo-po (25%)^[17]; Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah (25%)^[17]

“Inconspicuous”: those with recognition rates of less than 50%; ranked by their approval rates; the first figure inside bracket is approval rate while the second figure is recognition rate

Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law Chi-kong (37%, 42%); Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu (34%, 47%); Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan (33%, 48%); Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung (26%, 45%) ^[18]; Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun (26%, 37%)^[18]; Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Henry Lau Jr (24%, 31%); Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen (21%, 32%)

“Depressing”: those with disapproval rates of over 50%; ranked by their disapproval rates shown inside brackets

“Disastrous”: those with disapproval rates of over 66%; ranked by their disapproval rates shown inside brackets

[17] In four decimal places, the respective approval rates of FS Paul Chan and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah are 25.0044% and 25.0035%.

[18] In one decimal place, the respective approval rates of Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung and Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun are 26.5% and 25.7%.

Future Release (Tentative)

January 23, 2018 (Tuesday) 12pm to 2pm: Trust and Confidence Indicators, Ratings of the Best Corporations

Reference – Technical Notes of “Online Opinion Analysis”

Technically, POP research team firstly determines and inputs related keywords to be searched on the platform provided by uMax Data. POP then selects targeted online platforms to be monitored (currently selected: Facebook and forums), and extract the top five most discussed items on each online platform, thus come up with a list of 10 items in total. By eliminating duplications in the top ten items, POP compiles a table which is included in the press release for readers’ reference.