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A telephone survey was conducted from 20 to 22 January 2015 by Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong to gauge public views on the 2015 Policy Address.  713 respondents aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 44.2%.  The sampling error is + or – 3.67% at a confidence level of 95%. 

Major findings are summarized as follows: 

In the survey, the respondents were asked about their overall evaluation of the 2015 Policy Address.  Concerning the subjective perception of its usefulness to boost government’s popularity, 47.8% of the respondents did not find it helpful, 20.1% believed otherwise, and 26.3% said “in-between”.  While nearly two-fifth (39.0%) showed dissatisfaction towards the new Policy Address, 22.9% of them found it satisfactory.  33.1% answered “in-between”.  The overall rating of the 2015 Policy Address was 45.9, which is lower than the passing mark of 50. 

The respondents were also asked about their views on several issues that attracted public discussion in the 2015 Policy Address.  First, in the Policy Address, the Chief Executive commented that the Hong Kong University Students’ Union had misstated some facts (1) in its official magazine “Undergrad”, a cover story entitled “Hong Kong people deciding their own fate” and (2) in a book named “Hong Kong Nationalism” published by “Undergrad” which advocated that Hong Kong should find a way to self-reliance and self-determination.  He then suggested Hong Kong people to stay alert.  More than two-fifth of the respondents (45.4%) disagreed with the remarks given by the Chief Executive, while almost one-third (31.0%) agreed, and 17.3% reported “in-between”. 

Second, with regard to the measures of strengthening Mainland-Hong Kong educational exchange and co-operation, including the provision of a subsidy for students to join at least one Mainland exchange programme each in the primary and secondary stages, and the support for increasing the number of primary and secondary sister schools in Hong Kong and the Mainland, while 42.9% of the 713 respondents disagreed with these measures, 36.2% thought otherwise.  19.4% said “in-between”. 

It was also announced that suitable flats among public rental housing developments under construction will be identified for sale to Green Form applicants with prices set at a level lower than those of Home Ownership Scheme flats.  43.1% of the respondents agreed with this proposal, a quarter (25.6%) disagreed.  28.5% answered “in-between”.  When asked if they agreed with the proposal of increasing the Statutory Minimum Wage rate to $32.5 per hour, over half of the respondents (54.5%) agreed and 17.8% disagreed.  A quarter (25.3%) said “in-between”.  In addition, it was proposed in the Policy Address to offer support for the survival and development of local agriculture by establishing an Agricultural Park and a Sustainable Agriculture Development Fund.  While 43.6% of our respondents showed agreement, 17.3% did not agree and 34.9% said “in-between”.