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Olga Wong

The popularity of security tsar Lai Tung-kwok went into free fall after police fired volleys of tear gas to expel protesters from outside the government headquarters in Admiralty last month.
The net approval rating of Lai, the secretary for security, plunged to zero in the latest monthly university poll on the popularity of the chief executive and his 12 principal officials.
Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, meanwhile, beat Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor for the second month since August as the most popular of the three senior principal officials. Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung is in third place.

Tsang has no direct role in handling controversial political reforms or the ongoing protests, having simply penned his worries on the happenings in his blog, which urged protesters to disperse.
The findings came from a monthly poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong's public opinion programme.
The latest survey was carried out on 1,012 people from October 6 to 9, after the Occupy operation got off to an explosive start with the firing of 87 tear-gas canisters at protesters - on top of the use of pepper spray, police batons and riot shields - on September 28.
"The public's view is clear," University of Science and Technology political scientist Professor Dixon Sing Ming said. "They found the government's excessive use of force on the peaceful protesters unacceptable."
According to the poll, 36 per cent of the interviewees said they would vote for Lai's reappointment as security minister.
But another 36 per cent said they would vote for his dismissal, resulting in a net approval rating - derived by deducting the disapproval rating from the approval rating - of "zero".
Lai's rating last month was 27 percentage points; the highest he ever achieved was 48.2, in 2012.
Programme director Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu said Lai's rock-bottom showing in the poll was probably linked to the "recent Occupy incident".
All three senior principal officials gained in popularity compared to a month ago, with Tsang making the biggest headway. He scored 58.7 marks out of 100, with a net approval rating of 40 percentage points.
Lam scored 56.3 marks, with a rating of 37 percentage points. The margins of error involved ranged from 1.7 to 1.8 marks.
Lam is the top official overseeing public consultations on the political reform as well as talks with student leaders to end the Occupy campaign. She cancelled their Friday meeting the night before, on the last day of the poll.
As expected, public support for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying continued to dwindle.
Leung scored 40.6 marks, down from 43.2 last month. It was a new low since November and the second lowest since he became the city's chief.
His net approval rating was minus 38 percentage points - prompting Chung to describe his performance as "depressing".
Leung was hit by a fresh scandal on the third day of the survey, when he was revealed to have received HK$50 million over the past two years from a deal with Australian firm UGL.
 


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Security tsar Lai Tung-kwok's popularity falls to zero over tear gas

Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok’s rating last month was
27 percentage points. His highest was 48.2, in 2012. Photo: SCMP

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Hong Kong

Lai Tung-kwok records rock-bottom showing in HKU poll, days after police's heavy-handed approach in dispersing Occupy protesters


The popularity of security tsar Lai Tung-kwok went into free fall after police fired volleys of tear gas to expel protesters from outside the government headquarters in Admiralty last month.


Security tsar Lai Tung-kwok's popularity falls to zero over tear gas

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Lai Tung-kwok records rock-bottom showing in HKU poll, days after police's heavy-handed approach in dispersing Occupy protesters

Lai Tung-kwok records rock-bottom showing in HKU poll, days after police's heavy-handed approach in dispersing Occupy protesters