My Take | Opposition losing support of public opinion
Survey results confirm that the pro-democracy movement is in retreat with most Hong Kong people preferring a flawed government and political system over anarchy
If the latest surveys are anything to go by, the political pendulum is swinging in a direction favourable to the government.
Project Citizens Foundation, co-founded by democracy icon and former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang, might now regret having hired the University of Hong Kong polling service to study the priorities local people place on various social indicators.
On a scale of zero to 10, “public order”, “rule of law” and “corruption-free practices” were rated the most important indicators with the same mean score of 9.2, while “stability” and “freedom” coming next respectively with scores of nine and 8.9.
“Democracy” was rated the least important with just eight points.
This, of course, merely confirms what the opposition has been denying despite the obvious writing on the wall: the pro-democracy movement has been in retreat.
Having experienced the chaos of the Occupy protests and Mong Kok riot, and the self-destructive antics of university student leaders and localist lawmakers, most Hong Kong people prefer a flawed government and political system over anarchy.