He promised much but delivered little, and his dull repetition of the need for patriotism made many wonder if he really believed in his own message, or was simply pleasing his bosses in Beijing.

Simplicy and single messages work fine for leaders like US President George W. Bush, whose patriotism mantra fuels his presidency. But Mr Tung had neither the communications skills nor the ideology-driven aides to either sell his message or fool the people into believing it. Political promises - like Mr Tung's many pledges of a better tomorrow - are rarely if ever kept. Still, they are often believed, with the cut-off date determined by how patient the people are.

Except for style of leadership, Mr Tsang has more or less hijacked Mr Tung's promises. He says he will keep them, but when the tycoons push their own interests at the expense of the masses - as they often did during Mr Tung's time - will he expose them in public? And when his Beijing bosses pull the strings on political reforms, will he dare tell them he is not their puppet?

Having been shocked and awed by the march of half a million, Beijing has retreated on most fronts, but is stubbornly holding the line on democratic reforms. Conventional wisdom says on this issue we must balance Hong Kong's interests with those of Beijing.

Mr Tsang has already used poll findings to conclude that the people are not interested in politics. He will be tempted to use the shrunken size of this year's democracy march to bolster his point.

That would be the easy way out. The harder way, and one that would set him apart from Mr Tung, is to look his Beijing bosses in the eye and ask them either to explain their fear of greater democracy or to accept it.

The tycoons, too, seem to fear people-power - none has spoken up in its defence - although I am not sure if their fear is genuine or they merely want to please Beijing. If the former is the case then it is somewhat puzzling, since the world's richest tycoons, like Bill Gates, are thriving in one of the world's biggest democracies.

In any case, Mr Tsang need not heed the counsel of our tycoons. Aren't they the same people who saluted Mr Tung, then trashed him when he fell out of favour with Beijing, and are now raising their glasses to Mr Tsang instead?

If he, too, fails to impress the central government, you can be sure all he will see are the tycoons' backs.

To impress Beijing, Mr Tsang will need a long and loving honeymoon with the people. He will likely see the large-scale spurning of last week's democracy march as a signal that the people want to embrace him, instead. That may be so. But smart politicians know the people can be in the mood for love today - yet find more than 50 reasons to leave their lover the very next day.

Michael Chugani is editor-in-chief of ATV English News and Current Affairs