Public confidence in the Government has plummeted in the past two years, according to a survey published yesterday.
But satisfaction with the work of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has been steadily rising, the Hong Kong Transition Project study shows.
The survey - conducted during the first week of this month - showed 51 per cent were satisfied with the Government's performance, compared with 73 per cent in 1995. Yet 60 per cent were satisfied with Mr Tung.
Fifty-seven per cent were 'somewhat satisfied' and three per cent 'very satisfied' with Mr Tung, compared with 46 per cent and four per cent respectively last June, and 48 per cent and five per cent last February.
Baptist University academic Michael DeGolyer said: 'It's the Reagan factor: the people are not sure who to blame but think it has something to do with the civil service.' He said the trends might mean the 'pre-handover esteem for the civil service . . . has been tarnished somewhat by the repeated instances of civil service errors and neglect of the public'.
'They need the watchdog barking at them to keep their own performance levels up.
