According to the lopsided surveys we are subjected to these days, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's popularity rating has 'slumped' from 78 per cent last July, to 71 per cent now.
'Troubles never come singly' as we say in English jargon, and considering all the unfortunate circumstances of the past eight months, the 'slump' in popularity, if true, is negligible. The surprise is that it has not fallen lower because of deliberate attempts to discredit him.
The Chief Executive has driven himself hard and shown care for people of all ranks; he has inspired many with his emphasis on Chinese virtues and on Hong Kong's well-known resilience and hard-working attitude in which he sets a very good example.
Personally I do not believe that Mr Tung's popularity has slumped at all. The problem is that, anything good he supports, such as housing for caged people (a problem neglected for decades by the previous government), and his efforts to assist those affected by the economic downturn or disasters, are scarcely publicised. Yet every possible public scare is made headline news by the media, be it chicken flu, cholera, pig's liver, red tide, pesticide usage, mad cow disease, hospital errors, or whatever.
Some of these scares are genuine; others fade out in a few days, because they were publicised more for media sensation than actual danger. Mr Tung's main fault is that he does not sufficiently 'display all his goods in the shop window', unlike his predecessor who did little else but that.
Consequently, for lack of sensational news, the media are looking for something for the headlines that will adversely affect his popularity and make him appear ineffective.
