As the annual policy address draws near, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has plenty to think about. As is customary, he would have been inundated with demands and requests from the consultation sessions held over the past couple of months.
Then there is public anxiety about the global financial crisis, grim economic prospects and shrinking job market.
If that's not enough to focus his thoughts, Mr Tsang is also coming off a string of opinion polls which suggest that the public is unhappy with his government over a range of issues including the political appointment of undersecretaries and political assistants, the debacle over the suspension of the maid levy and the row over the post-retirement employment of former housing chief Leung Chin-man.
Early last month, a University of Hong Kong poll revealed that Mr Tsang's approval rating had dropped to 51.8 per cent, its lowest level since he took office in 2005. The dissatisfaction rate for the administration, meanwhile, had risen to 30 per cent, for the first time exceeding the satisfaction rate.
Against this backdrop, Mr Tsang has a tough job on his hands to convince the public that - in his words - Hong Kong's core values have not changed and the effectiveness of his administration has not fallen.
'The chief executive should tackle the immediate and pressing livelihood issues such as the widening wealth gap,' said Joseph Wong Wing-ping, a former secretary for the civil service. 'He should also give a definitive position on the implementation of a statutory minimum wage. [Mr Tsang] should restore people's confidence in government by removing doubts about collusion between government and the business sector, political favouritism and the decline in the standard of governance.'
Mr Tsang addressed the livelihood issue in July when he pledged an HK$11 billion relief plan. This followed a 2008-09 budget in which Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah provided close to HK$40 billion in one-off or short-term measures for disadvantaged groups, as well as raising recurrent spending on certain services and giving tax concessions at a cost of HK$8 billion annually.