Survey | HK residents positive towards Macau citizens but not gov’t

Pedestrians walk on a footbridge in the Central business district of Hong Kong

A poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme showed that its residents regarded Macau citizens positively, but not its government.

The university’s telephone poll, carried out earlier this month, asked residents if they felt positively or negatively towards certain governments and their people.

Singapore scored most positively in the list of 14 regions, according to the poll’s 502 participants.

The poll also showed that 37 percent said they felt positive towards Macau’s government, while 22 percent said they felt negative. Fifty-
one percent of the participants said they felt positive towards Macau’s people, while 14 percent said the opposite.

The net score for Macau residents was about 50, while the MSAR’s government scored below 20.

Hong Kong residents showed fondness towards Singapore’s government, as 62.5 percent said they felt positively towards it, while only 7.4 percent said they felt negative.

Andrew Fung Ho-keung, director and CEO of the think tank Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, said that Hong Kong residents admired the Lion City’s government, as cited in a report issued by the South China Morning Post.

“Singapore has always given people the impression of a very progressive, modern and efficient city. […] They have a democratic election, there is no corruption, they place importance on a diverse city, and they have affordable housing – these are all qualities and values that Hong Kong people like,” Fung said.

However, Joe Chau, president of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Small and Medium Business believed that Hong Kong was a much better place than many other overseas countries, be it Singapore or the U.S.

“The general public might easily get the impression that the Hong Kong government is not efficient because of news of project delays. But very often, consultation takes a long time,” he said.

The poll found people in Taiwan, Japan and Singapore were regarded positively, but did not echo the same sentiments towards mainlanders, who ranked the lowest in terms of net score for its people.