The remaking of financial chief John Tsang into ‘local Hong Kong boy’

From his suave smile fringed by his trademark moustache, John Tsang Chun-wah appears the beaming picture of popularity, but there was a time when he attracted more brickbats than bouquets.

Such has been his makeover into one of the most popular department secretaries in the last five years that he is often praised for being “honest”, “less confrontational”, and having a “sense of humour”.

Watch: Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang resigns

As veteran political public relations consultant Peter Lam Yuk-wah said: “Depending on your political stance, you may think all of this is a kind of public relations, but in politics authenticity can be a powerful trait.”

Tsang’s popularity rating has been over 60 out of 100 for the past two years, according to tracking polls by the University of Hong Kong’s public opinion programme.

When he was appointed financial secretary in July 2007 by then chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, his rating was 57.8. It soared to 67.9 – the highest of his nine-year tenure – in February 2008.

But trouble hit him in 2011. The annual budget he presented to the legislature came under heavy fire from all quarters. At issue was what to do with a HK$71 billion surplus.