A friend mentioned that the year 2012 seems to be a good one for 'political avengers'. It does seem that way: within the last three months, we've seen Aung San Suu Kyi, Francois Hollande and Hong Kong's very own Leung Chun-ying.
Leung, who has always been the underdog, from whom Beijing withheld its anointment until the 11th hour, had never been shy about the fact that he was eyeing the city's top job.
Many knew he was serious, but only a few thought he had any serious chance of winning. But the 'unlikely' candidate interestingly mattered enough early on, in 2009, to be the subject of a mud-slinging campaign over whether he was a card-carrying Communist Party member.
Leung had the audacity to run against a presumably pre-selected, 'predestined' favourite, and won the job. In just three weeks, Leung will have control. To be sure, he has been ready for a long time. The real question is: are we ready?
It's obvious that Leung has more than a few ideas on running Hong Kong. Having watched the previous two administrations, as the convenor of the Executive Council, he probably did have the perfect post for someone with ambitions for the chief executive office.
He also had the benefit of not being tied down with running a bureau and was insulated from the kind of political heat that could really burn.
His challenge now is whether he can carry the way he conducted his campaign - appealing to the common folk and garnering his own public support to outmanoeuvre political opponents - into the office he has won and the administration he will lead.