Two days after saying the government's voluntary minimum-wage initiative has been a failure, Executive Council convenor Leung Chun-ying went into full damage-control mode, making rare appearances on radio phone-in programmes to clarify his remarks.
He denied he had delivered a premature verdict on the 'wage protection movement' six months before a full review of the initiative, launched in October 2006, was due.
Mr Leung also dismissed speculation that his backing for a statutory minimum wage was aimed at pleasing the grass roots because he is eyeing a run for chief executive post in 2012. Admittedly, it is not the first time Mr Leung has questioned the effectiveness of the government's initiative, under which employers commit to pay - or ensure their contractors pay - cleaners and security guards at least the median rate for the job. Nor is he alone in having criticised the scheme.
Few employers have signed up since Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen launched the scheme 18 months ago as a substitute for legislation.
Mr Leung's critics say he has not just shot himself in the foot but given unionists fresh ammunition in their fight for a statutory minimum wage. He has also exposed himself to flak from opponents eager to shoot down any ambitions he may harbour of leading the next government.
Although Mr Leung has insisted he was speaking in a personal capacity, there is no denying his view carries more weight than those of ordinary people. His criticism of the scheme further reduces the government's room for manoeuvre on a minimum wage.
His high-profile approach to the issue was in such striking contrast to his usually cautious political style that it has, inevitably, fuelled speculation about his political ambitions.