It's hard not to feel bad - at some level - for the chief executive. There's been a lot of recent talk about the 'hot kitchen' the new leadership has found itself in. But look around, it's a 'hot kitchen' for the rest of the general population too. And it's going to get hotter, with the race for the legislature having only just begun, so the best advice - unsolicited, though - for this government is to stay low and cool.
First things first - it can't get any worse. The political firestorm that was the chief executive election will run to this September's election. The new chief is already a campaign issue and that is why the smartest thing Leung has done so far is suspending his town hall meetings. Why give the candidates more target practice on your government?
To be sure, there is a ton that needs to be done, and the Leung administration better have something to show for it before its one-hundredth day in office. As for the unsubstantiated rumour that Beijing has in mind a 'Plan B' - a replacement for Leung - if things don't look up for him by October 8, it's best to listen to political insider Tsang Yok-sing. If he says he absolutely does not believe there is a Plan B, then that should be it.
And if Leung considers how politics has changed so drastically since the Tung Chee-hwa years, when there was a clearly drawn but rarely crossed line between political 'friend' and 'foe', then it would be smart for him to take Tsang's categorical denial of the possibility at face value. Tsang is no friend - nor foe - and a more seasoned politician used to the heat, and his credibility isn't the one being called into question.
The 'uncomfortable level' of heat Leung's Food and Health Secretary Dr Ko Wing-man admitted to feeling during recent cabinet meetings needs desperate addressing by the chief himself. If his team believes - even for a second - that the rug may be pulled from underneath them come the second week of October, then we can basically declare the new government dead now, to all intents and purposes.
The only way this new government is going to be able to bear the Legislative Council election heat is to keep its cool. Whether Leung succeeds or fails will rest solely on his ability to operate, short-staffed and under pressure, and deliver. All eyes will be on his political manoeuvrings. Any one can lead in smooth-sailing conditions. A good leader does it even in the worst possible conditions.