Survey shows residents’ trust in gov’t dropping

The latest findings from a Hong Kong academic institute, published on Thursday, suggested that Macau residents’ net trust in both the Macau government and the central government have dropped by 7 percent. Political scientist Eric Sautede said that the drop is not surprising and described 2014 as “a bad year” for the government. Lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong believes that the government can only win back residents’ trust by stringently carrying out the policies that the public demand.
The survey was carried out by the University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Program between December 1 and 3. A total of 502 Macau residents were interviewed over the telephone. The results showed that Macau residents’ net trust in the MSAR government and the central government has decreased compare to a year ago. The trust in the MSAR government decreased by 5 percent to 53 percent, and distrust rose 2 percent to reach 21 percent. This has led to a 7 percent net drop in trust. A similar trend was also shown in the net trust in Beijing. Macau residents’ trust in the central government was 52 percent, having fallen 4 percent. The distrust of the central government was 19 percent, rising 3 percent. This has resulted in 33 percent net trust, down by 7 percent compared with figures for 2013.
Apart from their trust in the government, the Public Opinion Program also asked the residents to appraise society’s conditions and found that 69 percent of the respondents are most concerned with issues surrounding livelihood. This is followed by economic problems (24 percent) and political problems (4 percent).
As for the four core social indicators, namely “prosperity”, “freedom”, “stability” and “democracy”, the program found that two of them have decreased according to residents. The respondents suggested that, out of 10, the degrees of prosperity and freedom were 7.22 and 6.71, down 0.19 and 0.11 respectively. While the degree of stability remained unchanged at 7.20, the degree of democracy has increased slightly by 0.02 to 5.51. Nevertheless, it is still the lowest among the four indicators.
Moreover, respondents’ confidence in Macau’s future dropped from 76 percent in 2013 to 74 percent in 2014.The confidence in “One Country, Two Systems” also decreased, falling 5 percent to 70 percent this year.
Scholar Eric Sautede told the Times that he “would be surprised if trust actually goes up”. He said that 2014 was a bad year for the government, especially because of the controversy surrounding the proposed compensation bill, which triggered one of the biggest protests in Macau since the 1999 handover. The political scientist also believes that the Hong Kong Occupy Movement has played a role in encouraging people to speak up about their dissatisfaction.
Furthermore, Sautede said that the drop of residents’ trust in government does not necessarily translate into an increase in trust in the opposite, namely the pro-democratic camp in Macau. Nevertheless, he thinks that it might mean that people may support groups and individuals who can provide an alternative to the current policies.
Meanwhile, lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong told the Times that if the government wants to regain the public’s trust, the new Secretaries have to clearly lay out their future plans and policies in accordance with public demands. Moreover, he said that officials have to draw up a timeframe for their works and observe it strictly. Ng said that if the government does not solve the issues, such as the public’s current distrust, while the economy still in good shape, it might face some serious problems in the future as the living conditions of residents start heading south.