HKU POP SITE releases the latest popularity figures of Macau CE Edmund Ho and the Macau SAR GovernmentBack


Press Release on May 4, 2007
 

| Background | Latest Figures | Commentary | 

Background
 

In response to a number of enquiries from the press regarding the popularity figures of the Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho, the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong has speeded up the processing of opinion data collected in Macau over the years, and now releases the relevant findings via the "HKU POP SITE" (http://hkupop.pori.hk). Because such findings are collected outside Hong Kong, POP has used a slightly different approach. We will first release the more important findings to the press for immediate use, and then upload all detailed findings onto our POP Site at a later date. Kindly take note of this.

The Macau surveys described below were all random telephone surveys designed by POP and conducted by interviewers under the supervision of POP. The successful sample sizes all exceeded 500. At 95% confidence level, the sampling error of all percentages is less than +/-4%.

 
Latest Figures
 

Popularity figures of Edmund Ho and people's satisfaction of the overall performance of the Macau SAR Government in each survey are summarized as follows:

  Date of survey  Sample base   Overall response rate   Rating of CE Edmund Ho*   Vote of confidence in CE Edmund Ho   Vote of no confidence in CE Edmund Ho   Satisfaction rate of Macau SARG performance**   Dissatisfaction rate of Macau SARG performance** 
  17-18/12/99  575   60.0%   72.7   --   --   41%   26% 
  28-30/12/00  551   58.2%   70.9   --   --   64%   8% 
  18-29/12/01  547   65.0%   73.7   --   --   54%   8% 
  18-31/12/02  547   60.0%   75.8   --   --   64%   4% 
  21-25/8/03  565   64.1%   77.2   80%   3%   73%   1% 
  26-30/12/03  574   90.8%   79.1   --   --   72%   5% 
  27/9-5/10/04  570   72.5%   81.6   88%   3%   --   -- 
  28-30/12/04  628   66.5%   84.7   --   --   76%   2% 
  25-27/4/05  635   69.2%   82.2   84%   3%   76%   3% 
  29/8-1/9/05  523   80.3%   77.6   83%   8%   --   -- 
  26-28/12/05  538   76.5%   78.8   77%   7%   68%   5% 
  28/12/06-4/1/07  502   71.8%   69.3   66%   18%   53%   9% 

*Sampling error of ratings falls approximately within +/-1.6 at 95% confidence level.
** Collapsed from a 5-point scale.


The latest survey conducted last year showed that CE Edmund Ho scored 69.3 marks, and 66% supported him as the Chief Executive. Regarding people's appraisal of the overall performance of the Macau SAR Government, the latest figures revealed that 53% were satisfied, whereas 9% were dissatisfied.


Commentary

Robert Ting-Yiu Chung, Director of Public Opinion Programme, observed: "Macau is very different from Hong Kong in terms of cultural history, economic structure, political governance, and public sentiment. We need to be very careful when comparing polling figures of these two places. However, when we look at figures collected in Macau over time, they tell a lot. According to surveys conducted by POP in Macau shortly before its handover up to now, CE Edmund Ho's popularity in terms of support rating and support rate has dropped very significantly since 2005. Compared to their peaks in 2004, Ho's rating has dropped 15.4 marks by the beginning of this year, while his support rate has dropped 22 percentage points. Likewise, Macau people's satisfaction with their SAR Government has also dropped 23 percentage points."

Robert Chung added, "As an outsider, POP does not intend to take up the role of opinion monitor in Macau. Rather, we see ourselves as just conducting academic research in Macau. Nevertheless, in case local academics, journalists or researchers in Macau need our support or assistance, we feel obliged to help."

 

| Background | Latest Figures | Commentary |