Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has confessed he has a hot temper, and pledged to remain humble, in an interview for a magazine for civil servants. Meanwhile, John Tsang Chun-wah, the financial secretary, has taken a leaf out of his boss' book and launched a weblog reviewing his first 20 days in office. In an interview with Civil Service Newsletter, published yesterday, Mr Tsang admits he has difficulty staying cool-headed when provoked. 'I am not always able to keep my cool when I am agitated, pushed and cornered, although I have tried my very best in recent years to overcome those defects,' he said in a special edition of the newsletter published yesterday to mark the 10th anniversary of the handover. Citing the Chinese saying, 'Haughtiness invites ruin; humility receives benefits,' Mr Tsang said he was learning to be a humble man. 'One thing I have tried to learn and cultivate is greater humility in my job and in my daily dealings. This is so important to me now. 'I know that if I do not have humility I am going to have humiliation,' he said in the interview with Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, the newsletter's chief editor and the new secretary for labour and welfare. Asked why he thought his popularity remained high, Mr Tsang said: 'I am by no means a perfect candidate. I have my faults, but these are well appreciated by Hong Kong people. They also know a few strengths of mine. They understand that I am sincere and passionate about Hong Kong and I understand what service to the people means.' His re-election manifesto also reflected people's anxieties and aspirations for the future, he added. The veteran civil servant said it was essential to set aside a specific time each day for self-reflection, though he found himself having less time to do so as his career advanced. 'Once I had some romantic idea that when I became the chief secretary I would have very little to do, but I was wrong. Then I had these fantastic ideas that when I became the chief executive, I would have even less to do. I was certainly wrong about that, too,' he said. To maintain a healthy body, half an hour jogging on the treadmill before dinner has become 'sacrosanct' in the top leader's daily routine. 'Because of my age, my gaining weight and my good appetite, I must mark out time to do exercise every day,' he said. Meanwhile, in his first blog, John Tsang summed up his first three weeks - endless briefing sessions, visits, speeches and documents of encyclopedic volume. He said he was not only grateful for the colleagues who had helped him do the job, but also to his wife, who had been busy attending to the fitting out of the financial secretary's official residence at Shouson Hill Road.
