HKU POP releases popularity figures of CE and principal officialsBack

Press Release on April 10, 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 using a landline and mobile sample ratio of 4 to 1. Starting from April 2018, POP further increased the proportion of mobile sample, which the landline and mobile sample ratio became 2 to 1. The figures released today by POP have already incorporated landline and mobile samples.

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 1,003 Hong Kong people between 2 and 4 April, 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, but this is the first time she registered a negative net popularity since she became CE. Her latest popularity rating is 55.6 marks. Her latest approval rate is 42%, disapproval rate 44%, giving a net popularity of negative 2 percentage points. As for the Secretaries of Departments, the latest support rating of CS Matthew Cheung is 51.0 marks. His approval rate is 28%, disapproval rate 24%, giving a net popularity of positive 3 percentage points. The latest support rating of FS Paul Chan is 36.2 marks, approval rate 17%, disapproval rate 61%, thus a net popularity of negative 44 percentage points, dropped significantly by 20 percentage points from one month ago. As for SJ Teresa Cheng, her support rating is 37.9 marks, approval rate 14%, disapproval rate 45%, giving a net popularity of negative 30 percentage points. The net popularity figures of all three Secretaries of Departments are at their record low since they took office. In terms of popularity rating and net 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 4 among 13 Directors have gone up, 7 have gone down while 2 remained unchanged. Among them, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan, Secretary for Security John Lee and Secretary for Development Michael Wong register significant changes in their net approval rates, up by 9 and down by 9, 7 and 6 percentage points respectively. Among all the Directors, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah register negative popularity, at negative 1 and negative 16 percentage points respectively. Sophia Chan is currently the most popular Director, with a net approval rate of positive 47 percentage points. According to POP's standard, no one falls under the category of "ideal" performer, Sophia Chan falls under the category of "successful" performer. The performance of Law Chi-kwong, Wong Kam-sing, Carrie Lam, Edward Yau, Kevin Yeung, Frank Chan, Matthew Cheung, Lau Kong-wah, Nicholas Yang and Teresa Cheng can be labeled as "mediocre". That of Joshua Law, John Lee, James Lau, Michael Wong and Patrick Nip can be labeled as "inconspicuous". Paul Chan falls into the category of "depressing" performer, while no one falls into that of "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 1,003 successful interviews, not 1,003 x 57.9% 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 +/-2.0, 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]
2-4/4/2018	1,003	57.9%	+/-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	15-18/1/18	1-6/2/18	20-22/2/18	1-6/3/18	15-20/3/18	*2-4/4/18*	*Latest change*
Sample base	1,035	1,001	1,017	1,002	1,006	*1,003*	--
Effective response rate	63.6%	62.5%	63.6%	64.7%	62.5%	*57.9%*	--
Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	*Finding and error^[8]*	--
Rating of CE Carrie Lam	54.4^[9]	53.6	55.7^[9]	56.3	56.8	*55.6+/-1.6*	*-1.2*
Vote of confidence in CE Carrie Lam	45%^[9]	47%	47%	47%	44%	*42+/-3%*	*-2%*
Vote of no confidence in CE Carrie Lam	41%^[9]	43%	40%	41%	41%	*44+/-3%*	*+3%*
Net approval rate	4%^[9]	4%	7%	6%	3%	*-2+/-6%*	*-5%*

[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 +/-1.6, 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	4-6/12/17	3-4/1/18	1-6/2/18	28/2/18 ^[10]	1-6/3/18	*2-4/4/18*	*Latest change*
Sample base^[10]	720-824	725-760	748-796	614	785-815	*744-765*	--
Effective response rate	61.0%	58.3%	62.5%	67.5%	64.7%	*57.9%*	--
Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	Finding	*Finding & error^[11]*	--
Rating of CS Matthew Cheung	50.7^[12]	53.7^[12]	50.8^[12]	--	53.2^[12]	*51.0+/-1.7*	*-2.2^[12]*
Vote of confidence in CS Matthew Cheung	31%^[12]	34%	36%	--	31%^[12]	*28+/-3%*	*-3%*
Vote of no confidence in CS Matthew Cheung	21%	17%^[12]	22%^[12]	--	20%	*24+/-3%*	*+4%^[12]*
Net approval rate	9%^[12]	17%^[12]	14%	--	12%	*3+/-5%*	*-9%^[12]*
Rating of FS Paul Chan	42.2	43.8	44.3	44.5	42.1^[12]	*36.2+/-2.0*	*-5.9^[12]*
Vote of confidence in FS Paul Chan	22%	25%	26%	30%	24%^[12]	*17+/-3%*	*-7%^[12]*
Vote of no confidence in FS Paul Chan	39%	41%	38%	41%	48%^[12]	*61+/-4%*	*+13%^[12]*
Net approval rate	-17%	-16%	-12%	-12%	-24%^[12]	*-44+/-6%*	*-20%^[12]*
Rating of SJ Teresa Cheng	--	--	34.1	--	37.5^[12]	*37.9+/-2.0*	*+0.4*
Vote of confidence in SJ Teresa Cheng	--	--	19%	--	19%	*14+/-3%*	*-5%^[12]*
Vote of no confidence in SJ Teresa Cheng	--	--	48%	--	43%^[12]	*45+/-4%*	*+2%*
Net approval rate	--	--	-29%	--	-24%	*-30+/-5%*	*-6%^[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. The survey conducted on 28/2/2018 was the Budget instant survey and only asked rating of FS as well as his vote of confidence.

[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 +/-2.0, 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	1-6/2/18		1-6/3/18		*2-4/4/18*		*Latest change*
Sample base^[13]	551-652		549-633		*571-621*		--
Effective response rate	62.5%		64.7%		*57.9%*		--
Sample base / Percentage of answer	Base	%	Base	%	*Base*	% & error ^[14]	--
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan	553	47%	612	47%	*604*	*53+/-4%*	*+6%^[15]*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan	553	7%	612	9%	*604*	*6+/-2%*	*-3%^[15]*
Net approval rate	553	41%	612	38%	*604*	*47+/-5%*	*+9%^[15]*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong	587	50%^[15]	623	44%^[15]	*594*	*49+/-4%*	*+5%^[15]*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong	587	9%	623	11%	*594*	*12+/-3%*	*+1%*
Net approval rate	587	41%^[15]	623	33%^[15]	*594*	*37+/-6%*	*+4%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau	551	43%	619	41%	*571*	*42+/-4%*	*+1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau	551	7%	619	10%^[15]	*571*	*10+/-3%*	--
Net approval rate	551	36%	619	32%	*571*	*32+/-5%*	--
Vote of confidence in Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law	652	44%^[15]	627	41%	*621*	*38+/-4%*	*-3%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law	652	7%	627	8%	*621*	*9+/-2%*	*+1%*
Net approval rate	652	37%	627	33%	*621*	*29+/-5%*	*-4%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing	635	38%	633	41%	*579*	*43+/-4%*	*+2%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing	635	18%	633	15%	*579*	*16+/-3%*	*+1%*
Net approval rate	635	20%	633	25%	*579*	*27+/-6%*	*+2%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau	603	30%^[15]	549	24%^[15]	*587*	*25+/-4%*	*+1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau	603	6%	549	6%	*587*	*6+/-2%*	--
Net approval rate	603	25%^[15]	549	18%^[15]	*587*	*19+/-4%*	*+1%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Security John Lee	612	34%	629	37%	*585*	*33+/-4%*	*-4%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Security John Lee	612	17%^[15]	629	13%^[15]	*585*	*16+/-3%*	*+3%*
Net approval rate	612	17%	629	24%^[15]	*585*	*17+/-6%*	*-7%^[15]*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Development Michael Wong	618	24%	599	27%	*586*	*24+/-4%*	*-3%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Development Michael Wong	618	11%	599	9%	*586*	*12+/-3%*	*+3%*
Net approval rate	618	13%	599	18%	*586*	*12+/-5%*	*-6%^[15]*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip	579	22%	602	23%	*572*	*22+/-4%*	*-1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip	579	14%	602	11%	*572*	*16+/-3%*	*+5%^[15]*
Net approval rate	579	8%	602	11%	*572*	*6+/-5%*	*-5%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung	594	33%	586	28%^[15]	*620*	*30+/-4%*	*+2%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung	594	22%	586	22%	*620*	*27+/-4%*	*+5%^[15]*
Net approval rate	594	11%	586	6%	*620*	*3+/-6%*	*-3%*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan	620	34%	610	31%	*616*	*29+/-4%*	*-2%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan	620	20%^[15]	610	22%	*616*	*28+/-4%*	*+6%^[15]*
Net approval rate	620	14%	610	10%	*616*	*1+/-6%*	*-9%^[15]*
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang	591	28%	619	25%	*617*	*25+/-4%*	--
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang	591	23%^[15]	619	26%	*617*	*26+/-4%*	--
Net approval rate	591	5%	619	-1%	*617*	*-1+/-6%*	--
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah	611	25%	588	28%	*606*	*27+/-4%*	*-1%*
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah	611	42%	588	39%	*606*	*42+/-4%*	*+3%*
Net approval rate	611	-17%	588	-11%	*606*	*-16+/-7%*	*-5%*

[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.

The latest survey showed that CE Carrie Lam scored 55.6 marks, and 42% supported her as CE, her net approval rate is negative 2 percentage points. Meanwhile, the corresponding ratings of CS Matthew Cheung, FS Paul Chan and SJ Teresa Cheng were 51.0, 36.2 and 37.9 marks, and 28%, 17% and 14% would vote for their reappointments correspondingly. Their net approval rates are positive 3, negative 44 and negative 30 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 47 percentage points. The 2nd and 3rd places belong to Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau, with net approval rates of positive 37 and positive 32 percentage points respectively. Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law, Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau, Secretary for Security John Lee, Secretary for Development Michael Wong, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah ranked 4th to 13th, their corresponding net approval rates are positive 29, positive 27, positive 19, positive 17, positive 12, positive 6, positive 3, positive 1, negative 1 and negative 16 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 1 to 6 March, 2018 while this survey was conducted from 2 to 4 April, 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.

31/3/18	Media reports on the remarks made by Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong at a Taiwan seminar that Hong Kong could consider becoming an independent state.
29/3/18	The Government has an initial idea on how to remove the MPF offsetting mechanism.
27/3/18	MTR fare will increase by 3.14% in June.
24/3/18	The Commission on Poverty Summit is held with a theme of social housing.
23/3/18	Government announces that eligible citizens can collect $4,000 through the Caring and Sharing Scheme.
17/3/18	Xi Jinping is elected with unanimous vote as China's president and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
12/3/18	The pro-democracy camp and the pro-establishment camp win two seats each in the Legislative Council by-election.
11/3/18	The National People's Congress passes the constitutional amendment to abolish the presidential two-term limit.
10/3/18	The Legislative Council by-election is held this Sunday.
3/3/18	Financial Secretary Paul Chan says the Community Care Fund will explore measures to help people who have not been covered by the Budget.

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 FS Paul Chan 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:

The decision of FS Paul Chan not to give public cash handouts was challenged.

Government announces that eligible citizens can collect $4,000 through the Caring and Sharing Scheme.

The results show that online public opinion had been discussing the government's new cash handouts plan. Whether or not these items could sufficiently explain the changes in FS 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, but this is the first time she registered a negative net popularity since she became CE. Her latest popularity rating is 55.6 marks. Her latest approval rate is 42%, disapproval rate 44%, giving a net popularity of negative 2 percentage points.

As for the Secretaries of Departments, the latest support rating of CS Matthew Cheung is 51.0 marks. His approval rate is 28%, disapproval rate 24%, giving a net popularity of positive 3 percentage points. The latest support rating of FS Paul Chan is 36.2 marks, approval rate 17%, disapproval rate 61%, thus a net popularity of negative 44 percentage points, dropped significantly by 20 percentage points from one month ago. As for SJ Teresa Cheng, her support rating is 37.9 marks, approval rate 14%, disapproval rate 45%, giving a net popularity of negative 30 percentage points. The net popularity figures of all three Secretaries of Departments are at their record low since they took office. In terms of popularity rating and net 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 4 among 13 Directors have gone up, 7 have gone down while 2 remained unchanged. Among them, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan, Secretary for Security John Lee and Secretary for Development Michael Wong register significant changes in their net approval rates, up by 9 and down by 9, 7 and 6 percentage points respectively. Among all the Directors, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah register negative popularity, at negative 1 and negative 16 percentage points respectively. Sophia Chan is currently the most popular Director, with a net approval rate of positive 47 percentage points.

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

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee (53%)

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

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong (49%); Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing (43%); CE Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (42%)^[16]; Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah (42%)^[16]; Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung (30%); Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan (29%); CS Matthew Cheung Kin-chung (28%); Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah (27%); Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung (25%); SJ Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah (14%)

"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 (38%, 46%); Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu (33%, 49%); Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Henry Lau Jr (25%, 31%); Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun (24%, 36%); Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen (22%, 38%)

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

FS Paul Chan Mo-po (61%)

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

[16] In one decimal place, the respective approval rates of CE Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah are 42.2% and 42.1%.

Future Release (Tentative)

April 17, 2018 (Tuesday) 12pm to 2pm: Media Performance

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.