Financial Secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung was all smiles last week when he announced the birth of his first daughter.
Ignoring the critics who said his mainland wife - former Olympic diver Fu Mingxia, 26 - was abusing already-strained health resources by giving birth in a public hospital, Mr Leung was a happy family man starting a new chapter in his colourful life.
Over the next few months, mother and baby will, no doubt, continue to be the target of the hungry paparazzi, who have been camped around the clock outside their home in Shouson Hill Road for weeks.
And given the intense media scrutiny and potential for public relations embarrassment over the hospital arrangements, Mr Leung, 51, appears to have emerged relatively unscathed.
But when he returns to the public spotlight today in the Legislative Council, the flamboyant financial secretary faces a different set of challenges.
At stake will be more than his public relations reputation. Everyone is waiting to see how he will manage public finances to avert a budgetary crisis and, more importantly, inject new vigor and confidence into the stagnant economy.
Almost two years after he took over the purse strings from Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, there are growing doubts about the former banker's ability to restore fiscal health and rejuvenate the economy. Public opinion polls show his popularity has been on a slippery slope since he took office. With the unemployment rate sticking at 7 per cent and wage benchmarks falling, the financial chief is an easy target for criticism.
