Government's popularity dips
Satisfaction with the chief executive and his administration continued to fall amid the global financial turmoil, with a pollster saying the policy address had failed to boost public confidence.
The number of people who expressed satisfaction with the government's performance fell 0.9 percentage points to 20.3 per cent from last month, and Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's popularity fell 1.8 points to a record low of 51.6 out of 100, according to a Chinese University survey.
The public's dissatisfaction with the administration rose 4 percentage points from last month to 31 per cent.
Respondents were also dissatisfied with Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen, whose popularity fell 2.1 points. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah was 2.3 points down and Justice Secretary Wong Yan-lung lost 1.4 points - all the lowest scores since they assumed their posts.
More than a third of respondents said they were dissatisfied with this year's policy address, a significant increase of 21 percentage points from last year's figure. Only 16.1 per cent said they were satisfied with the address, 14.7 percentage points lower than for last year.
Pollster Timothy Wong Ka-ying said Mr Tsang's popularity would continue to fall in the wake of the economic slowdown and the public's outcry over 'fruit money', but he said Mr Tsang's position was secure as long as his government maintained a stable financial system.
The survey also found that a third of respondents were confident about the stability of Hong Kong's financial system, while 18.1 per cent felt the opposite.
Nearly 45 per cent said they were pessimistic about the city's economic prospects in the coming three years.
The university's Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies interviewed 825 respondents and the survey had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.41 percentage points.
