HKU POP releases popularity figures of CE and principal officialsBack
Press Release on September 11, 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. In September 2017, POP started to use “effective response rate” to report surveys’ contact information. In July 2018, POP further revised the calculation of effective response rate. Thus, the response rates before and after the change cannot be directly compared.
3. 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 1,030 Hong Kong people between 3 and 6 September, 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 57.3 marks. Her latest approval rate is 48%, disapproval rate 38%, giving a net popularity of positive 10 percentage points. As for the Secretaries of Departments, the latest support rating of CS Matthew Cheung is 51.5 marks. His approval rate stands at 33%, disapproval rate 24%, giving a net popularity of positive 9 percentage points. The latest support rating of FS Paul Chan is 38.9 marks, approval rate 20%, disapproval rate 48%, thus a net popularity of negative 29 percentage points. As for SJ Teresa Cheng, her support rating is 41.2 marks, approval rate 21%, disapproval rate 32%, giving a net popularity of negative 11 percentage points. Both her support rating and net popularity are at record high since she 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 6 among 13 Directors have gone up, 6 have gone down while 1 remained unchanged. Among them, Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau register significant changes in their net approval rates, down by 10, 9 and 8 percentage points respectively. The latest net approval rates of Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau, Secretary for Development Michael Wong and Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan are at record low since they took office. Among all the Directors, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah register negative popularities, at negative 1, negative 3, negative 12 and negative 18 percentage points respectively. Sophia Chan is currently the most popular Director, with a net approval rate of positive 43 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 Carrie Lam, Law Chi-kwong, Edward Yau, Wong Kam-sing, John Lee, Matthew Cheung, Lau Kong-wah, Kevin Yeung, Frank Chan, Teresa Cheng and Paul Chan can be labeled as “mediocre”. That of Joshua Law, Nicholas Yang, Michael Wong, Patrick Nip and James Lau can be labeled as “inconspicuous”. No one falls into the category of “depressing” or “disastrous” performer. 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 50%.
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 1,030 successful interviews, not 1,030 x 50.4% 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 +/-2.3, 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
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 provided by the Census and Statistics Department. The gender-age distribution of the Hong Kong population came from “Mid-year population for 2017”, while the educational attainment (highest level attended) distribution and economic activity status distribution came from “Women and Men in Hong Kong - Key Statistics (2018 Edition)”. In the past, the mobile sample would be rim-weighted according to the basic Public Sentiment Index (PSI) figures collected in the landline sample. In July 2018, POP further refined the weighting method. The landline sample and the mobile sample would no longer be processed separately. The mobile sample would also no longer be adjusted using the basic PSI figures collected in the landline sample. The overall effect is that the importance of the mobile sample would be increased. Herewith the contact information for the latest survey:
|
Date of survey |
Sample size |
Effective response rate |
Maximum sampling error of percentages[6] |
|
3-6/9/2018 |
1,030 |
50.4% |
+/-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) |
|
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 |
14-21/6/18 |
3-5/7/18 |
18-23/7/18 |
6-9/8/18 |
20-22/8/18 |
3-6/9/18 |
Latest change |
|
Sample base |
1,000 |
1,001 |
1,002 |
1,000 |
1,022 |
1,030 |
-- |
|
Effective response rate* |
59.6% |
49.5% |
49.0% |
51.2% |
53.0% |
50.4% |
-- |
|
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding and error [8] |
-- |
|
Rating of CE Carrie Lam |
54.3 |
55.6 |
56.2 |
55.4 |
55.3 |
57.3+/-1.6 |
+2.0 |
|
Vote of confidence in CE Carrie Lam |
44%[9] |
49%[9] |
47% |
45% |
49% |
48+/-3% |
-1% |
|
Vote of no confidence in CE Carrie Lam |
42% |
38% |
38% |
44%[9] |
35%[9] |
38+/-3% |
+3% |
|
Net approval rate |
2% |
12%[9] |
8% |
1% |
14%[9] |
10+/-6% |
-3% |
* In July 2018, POP revised the calculation of effective response rate. Thus, the response rates before and after the change cannot be directly compared.
[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 |
2-4/4/18 |
4-9/5/18 |
4-7/6/18 |
3-5/7/18 |
6-9/8/18 |
3-6/9/18 |
Latest change |
|
Sample base[10] |
744-765 |
532-579 |
747-804 |
531-554 |
719-747 |
551-565 |
-- |
|
Effective response rate* |
57.9% |
59.5% |
56.3% |
49.5% |
51.2% |
50.4% |
-- |
|
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding |
Finding & error [11] |
-- |
|
Rating of CS Matthew Cheung |
51.0[12] |
51.7 |
51.6 |
51.6 |
50.9 |
51.5+/-2.2 |
+0.5 |
|
Vote of confidence in
|
28% |
32% |
31% |
32% |
31% |
33+/-4% |
+2% |
|
Vote of no confidence in
|
24%[12] |
23% |
23% |
22% |
21% |
24+/-4% |
+3% |
|
Net approval rate |
3%[12] |
9% |
8% |
9% |
10% |
9+/-6% |
-1% |
|
Rating of FS Paul Chan |
36.2[12] |
39.8[12] |
39.5 |
40.1 |
39.5 |
38.9+/-2.3 |
-0.6 |
|
Vote of confidence in FS Paul Chan |
17%[12] |
15% |
17% |
20% |
18% |
20+/-3% |
+1% |
|
Vote of no confidence in FS Paul Chan |
61%[12] |
52%[12] |
50% |
48% |
49% |
48+/-4% |
-1% |
|
Net approval rate |
-44%[12] |
-38% |
-33% |
-28% |
-31% |
-29+/-7% |
+2% |
|
Rating of SJ Teresa Cheng |
37.9 |
39.8 |
40.0 |
40.9 |
40.3 |
41.2+/-2.3 |
+0.9 |
|
Vote of confidence in SJ Teresa Cheng |
14%[12] |
15% |
18% |
19% |
17% |
21+/-3% |
+4% |
|
Vote of no confidence in SJ Teresa Cheng |
45% |
36%[12] |
37% |
37% |
36% |
32+/-4% |
-4% |
|
Net approval rate |
-30%[12] |
-21%[12] |
-19% |
-18% |
-19% |
-11+/-6% |
+7% |
* In July 2018, POP revised the calculation of effective response rate. Thus, the response rates before and after the change cannot be directly compared.
[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 +/-2.3, sampling error of percentages not more than +/-4%, 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.
[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 |
3-5/7/18 |
6-9/8/18 |
3-6/9/18 |
Latest change |
|||
|
Sample base[13] |
550-642 |
570-625 |
590-653 |
-- |
|||
|
Effective response rate* |
49.5% |
51.2% |
50.4% |
-- |
|||
|
Sample base / Percentage of answer |
Base |
% |
Base |
% |
Base |
% &
|
-- |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan |
610 |
47% |
578 |
49% |
619 |
51+/-4% |
+2% |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan |
610 |
8% |
578 |
9% |
619 |
8+/-2% |
-1% |
|
Net approval rate |
610 |
40% |
578 |
40% |
619 |
43+/-5% |
+4% |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong |
588 |
42% |
590 |
43% |
613 |
45+/-4% |
+2% |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong |
588 |
15%[15] |
590 |
14% |
613 |
11+/-3% |
-3% |
|
Net approval rate |
588 |
27%[15] |
590 |
30% |
613 |
34+/-5% |
+5% |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law |
609 |
42% |
612 |
45% |
610 |
38+/-4% |
-7%[15] |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law |
609 |
11% |
612 |
8% |
610 |
10+/-2% |
+2% |
|
Net approval rate |
609 |
32% |
612 |
37% |
610 |
28+/-5% |
-9%[15] |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau |
601 |
42%[15] |
625 |
45% |
644 |
40+/-4% |
-5% |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau |
601 |
11% |
625 |
10% |
644 |
13+/-3% |
+3% |
|
Net approval rate |
601 |
31% |
625 |
35% |
644 |
27+/-5% |
-8%[15] |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Security John Lee |
604 |
36%[15] |
605 |
37% |
595 |
36+/-4% |
-1% |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Security John Lee |
604 |
17%[15] |
605 |
17% |
595 |
16+/-3% |
-1% |
|
Net approval rate |
604 |
19% |
605 |
20% |
595 |
20+/-6% [17] |
-- |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing |
602 |
40% |
608 |
36% |
631 |
38+/-4% |
+1% |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing |
602 |
18% |
608 |
24%[15] |
631 |
18+/-3% |
-7%[15] |
|
Net approval rate |
602 |
22% |
608 |
12%[15] |
631 |
20+/-6% [17] |
+8% |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau |
550 |
28%[15] |
595 |
24% |
590 |
22+/-3% |
-2% |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau |
550 |
7% |
595 |
7% |
590 |
10+/-3% |
+4%[15] |
|
Net approval rate |
550 |
21%[15] |
595 |
17% |
590 |
12+/-5% |
-6% |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Development Michael Wong |
642 |
26% |
587 |
26% |
622 |
24+/-3% |
-2% |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Development Michael Wong |
642 |
13% |
587 |
14% |
622 |
15+/-3% |
+1% |
|
Net approval rate |
642 |
13% |
587 |
12% |
622 |
9+/-5% |
-3% |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip |
601 |
23% |
602 |
19% |
653 |
22+/-3% |
+3% |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip |
601 |
17% |
602 |
16% |
653 |
16+/-3% |
-- |
|
Net approval rate |
601 |
5% |
602 |
3% |
653 |
6+/-5% |
+3% |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang |
639 |
29% |
623 |
24% |
623 |
24+/-3% |
-- |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang |
639 |
23% |
623 |
26% |
623 |
25+/-3% |
-1% |
|
Net approval rate |
639 |
5% |
623 |
-2% |
623 |
-1+/-6% |
+1% |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung |
585 |
24% |
618 |
26% |
638 |
26+/-4% |
-- |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung |
585 |
34% |
618 |
30% |
638 |
29+/-4% |
-1% |
|
Net approval rate |
585 |
-10% |
618 |
-4% |
638 |
-3+/-6% |
+1% |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan |
603 |
31%[15] |
608 |
26% |
611 |
23+/-3% |
-3% |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan |
603 |
30% |
608 |
37%[15] |
611 |
35+/-4% |
-2% |
|
Net approval rate |
603 |
0% |
608 |
-10%[15] |
611 |
-12+/-6% |
-1% |
|
Vote of confidence in Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah |
627 |
26%[15] [16] |
570 |
29% |
598 |
26+/-4% |
-3% |
|
Vote of no confidence in Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah |
627 |
40% |
570 |
37% |
598 |
44+/-4% |
+7%[15] |
|
Net approval rate |
627 |
-14% |
570 |
-8% |
598 |
-18+/-7% |
-10%[15] |
* In July 2018, POP revised the calculation of effective response rate. Thus, the response rates before and after the change cannot be directly compared.
[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] Such changes have gone beyond the sampling errors at the 95% confidence level because of a change in the weighting method. If the previous weighting method was used, the changes would not have gone beyond the sampling errors.
[17] Based on the figures of latest survey, in one decimal place, the respective net approval rates of Secretary for Security John Lee and Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing are 20.0 and 19.9 percentage points. Thus, they are ranked fifth and sixth this time.
The latest survey showed that CE Carrie Lam scored 57.3 marks, and 48% supported her as CE, her net approval rate is positive 10 percentage points. Meanwhile, the corresponding ratings of CS Matthew Cheung, FS Paul Chan and SJ Teresa Cheng were 51.5, 38.9 and 41.2 marks, and 33%, 20% and 21% would vote for their reappointments correspondingly. Their net approval rates are positive 9, negative 29 and negative 11 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 43 percentage points. The 2nd and 3rd places belong to Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong and Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law with net approval rates of positive 34 and positive 28 percentage points respectively. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau, Secretary for Security John Lee, Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau, Secretary for Development Michael Wong, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah ranked 4th to 13th, their corresponding net approval rates are positive 27, positive 20, positive 20, positive 12, positive 9, positive 6, negative 1, negative 3, negative 12 and negative 18 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 6 to 9 August, 2018 while this survey was conducted from 3 to 6 September, 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.
|
1/9/18 |
MTR holds 2-day open days for the Express Rail Link West Kowloon Station. |
|
30/8/18 |
Office of the Ombudsman criticizes the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department for poor management of public markets. |
|
23/8/18 |
The Hong Kong Section of Express Rail Link will be commissioned on September 23. |
|
17/8/18 |
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announces that the Lion Rock Park is temporarily closed for a month to prevent the spread of dengue virus. |
|
16/8/18 |
Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan residents could apply for identity cards in mainland China from September 1. |
|
14/8/18 |
Andy Chan Ho-tin, convenor of the Hong Kong National Party, delivers his speech in luncheon held by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club. |
|
10/8/18 |
Buildings near the construction site of Exhibition Centre Station of MTR Shatin to Central Link are found to be affected by land subsidence. |
|
9/8/18 |
Buildings near the construction site of To Kwa Wan Station are found to be affected by land subsidence. |
|
8/8/18 |
Media continues to report on problems about the construction of the Shatin to Central Link. |
|
7/8/18 |
Five members of the MTR top management team resign because of problems about the construction of the Shatin to Central Link. |
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 57.3 marks. Her latest approval rate is 48%, disapproval rate 38%, giving a net popularity of positive 10 percentage points.
As for the Secretaries of Departments, the latest support rating of CS Matthew Cheung is 51.5 marks. His approval rate stands at 33%, disapproval rate 24%, giving a net popularity of positive 9 percentage points. The latest support rating of FS Paul Chan is 38.9 marks, approval rate 20%, disapproval rate 48%, thus a net popularity of negative 29 percentage points. As for SJ Teresa Cheng, her support rating is 41.2 marks, approval rate 21%, disapproval rate 32%, giving a net popularity of negative 11 percentage points. Both her support rating and net popularity are at record high since she 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 6 among 13 Directors have gone up, 6 have gone down while 1 remained unchanged. Among them, Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau register significant changes in their net approval rates, down by 10, 9 and 8 percentage points respectively. The latest net approval rates of Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau, Secretary for Development Michael Wong and Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan are at record low since they took office. Among all the Directors, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan and Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah register negative popularities, at negative 1, negative 3, negative 12 and negative 18 percentage points respectively. Sophia Chan is currently the most popular Director, with a net approval rate of positive 43 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 Carrie Lam, Law Chi-kwong, Edward Yau, Wong Kam-sing, John Lee, Matthew Cheung, Lau Kong-wah, Kevin Yeung, Frank Chan, Teresa Cheng and Paul Chan can be labeled as “mediocre”. That of Joshua Law, Nicholas Yang, Michael Wong, Patrick Nip and James Lau can be labeled as “inconspicuous”. No one falls into the category of “depressing” or “disastrous” performer.
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 (51%) |
|
“Mediocre”: those not belonging to other 5 types; ranked by their approval rates shown inside brackets |
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CE Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (48%); Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong (45%); Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah (40%); Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing (38%); Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu (36%); CS Matthew Cheung Kin-chung (33%); Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah (26%)[18]; Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung (26%)[18] ; Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan (23%); SJ Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah (21%); FS Paul Chan Mo-po (20%) |
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“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 |
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Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law Chi-kong (38%, 48%); Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang Wei-hsiung (24%, 49%)[19]; Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun (24%, 39%)[19]; Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip Tak-kuen (22%, 38%) [20]; Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Henry Lau Jr (22%, 33%) [20] |
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“Depressing”: those with disapproval rates of over 50%; ranked by their disapproval rates shown inside brackets |
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“Disastrous”: those with disapproval rates of over 66%; ranked by their disapproval rates shown inside brackets |
[18] In three decimal places, the respective approval rates of Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah and Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung are 26.170% and 26.169%.
[19] In one decimal place, the respective approval rates of Secretary for Innovation and Technology Nicholas Yang and Secretary for Development Michael Wong are 24.1% and 23.6%.
[20] In two decimal places, the respective approval rates of Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Patrick Nip and Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau are 22.44% and 22.38%.
Future Release (Tentative)
- Research Reports
- Survey on the “Fugitive Offenders Ordinance” Amendment
- Survey on People’s Views on Hong Kong’s Property Market (April 2019, Second Round)
- Survey on People’s Views on Hong Kong’s Property Market (December 2018)
- Survey on Hong Kong People’s Views on Buying Property in Greater Bay Area (November 2018)
- Public Opinion Survey on Transportation Services in Hong Kong 2019
- Survey on Hong Kong Public’s Attitudes Towards Rights of People of Different Sexual Orientations 2015 (Sponsored by Hon Cyd Ho Sau-lan, Legislative Councillor)
