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Survey Findings on HKSAR Government’s Popularity in May 2020Released by Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at CUHK
A telephone survey was conducted from 20 May to 28 May, 2020 by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong to study the popularity of the HKSAR Government. A total of 732 respondents aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 36.6%. The sampling error is estimated at plus or minus 3.62 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
Major findings are summarised as follows:
Satisfaction with the HKSAR Government. According to the current survey in May 2020, 13.0% of the 732 respondents expressed satisfaction towards the HKSAR Government, 67.9% said they were dissatisfied, and 18.9% answered ‘in-between’. The corresponding figures for April 2020 were 17.7%, 60.4%, and 21.5%, respectively. The statistical analysis shows that the results for May 2020 were significantly different from those of April 2020. When comparing the figures with that from the same month last year (i.e. May 2019), it was also found that the percentage of satisfaction in May 2020 (13.0%) was substantially lower than that of May 2019 (22.6%). The difference in percentage distribution between May 2020 and May 2019 was statistically significant.
Rating of Chief Executive Carrie Lam. The survey in May 2020 indicated that the performance rating of Chief Executive Carrie Lam (with a point scale ranging from 0 to 100, 50 as the passing mark) stood at 22.2 on average, significantly lower than the rating for April 2020 (26.8). The statistical significance test (t-test) shows that the mean difference between the rating in May 2020 and the rating in April 2020 was statistically significant. When comparing her current rating (22.2) with that of May 2019 (48.1), the mean difference of the two months was statistically significant.
Ratings of Three Secretaries. The ratings of the Chief Secretary for Administration (Matthew Cheung), Financial Secretary (Paul Chan) and Secretary for Justice (Teresa Cheng) in May 2020 were 23.6, 27.9 and 16.6 respectively. The corresponding figures in April 2020 were 30.0, 32.0 and 19.6. The comparison of the ratings of the three Secretaries between May 2020 and April 2020 shows that statistically significant differences were found. Likewise, when their ratings in May 2020 were compared with the respective figures in May 2019, statistically significant differences were found for all of the three Secretaries.
Trust in the HKSAR Government. As of May 2020, 15.6% of the respondents showed trust in the HKSAR Government and 60.5% expressed distrust; 22.5% answered ‘in-between’. The results in April 2020 were 19.3%, 53.3%, and 26.0%, respectively. There was statistically significant difference being found in trust in the HKSAR Government between May 2020 and April 2020. Also, when comparing the figure in the current survey with those of May 2019, the statistically significant difference between the percentages in May 2020 (Trust: 15.6%; Distrust: 60.5%) and the percentages in May 2019 (Trust: 24.9%; Distrust: 30.1%) was observed.
Trust in the Central Government. Regarding the level of trust in the Central Government in May 2020, 13.7% said they trusted it, 68.2% answered the opposite, and 15.8% said ‘in-between’. The respective figures from April 2020 were 16.7%, 59.8%, and 20.2%. Statistically significant difference was found between May 2020 and April 2020. Again, the difference between the percentages in May 2020 (Trust: 13.7%; Distrust: 68.2%) and the percentages in May 2019 (Trust: 21.6%; Distrust: 41.1%) was found to be statistically significant.
In conclusion, the current survey results in May 2020 show that the public satisfaction level of the government performance, the performance rating of the Chief Executive, the three Secretaries, and even the trust in the SAR government and the central government were found significantly different from those in April 2020 (statistical significance test shows the differences are significant). When compared with the same month of the previous year, all the above popularity rating indicators in May 2020 were significantly lower than those in May 2019.
