From the President

2023-08-01	Tango with Time In our last press conference held in July, I explained that we at HKPORI would tango with time. I explained, having reflected seriously on whether we are actually advancing or receding with time, it seems most comfortable for me to conclude that we are, and should, simply tango with time. Sometimes we move forward, sometimes backward, sometimes in spirals. We are advancing with new analytical tools, like revamping our PSI methodology, but we are also relying on our empirical data collected over the past three decades to sharpen our methodological tools. We are promoting secondary data analysis, to provide new insights for future development. We will be writing history books and reports, based on our recently completed “One Country Two Systems Mid-term Review Series” among others. We will be launching our data archive services, but we are also reducing the scope of our community service and free publications. Are we moving forward or backward? May be only time can tell, because we are tangoing with time.
2023-07-07	Reflections on Double-Seven Double-seven is an important day, now or in history. Be it on ethnic, social or personal level, it has become a day for reflections. After HKPORI announced our re-positioning in July, many media and friends have wanted to know more. Let me report here our latest development, but many changes are yet to be announced. Firstly, we have reaffirmed ourselves to be a non-profit “civic society conscience enterprise” through our “shareholder’s pledge” and “company fact sheet”. We are established to promote and develop research, which would facilitate the growth of Hong Kong society and the global community. We have already formulated an anti-money laundering policy. Together with our data protection policies and professional codes of conduct, our operation is getting safer. Secondly, in the area of secondary data analysis, we have already started to release frequently our second generation of “Public Sentiment Index”. As for the public’s concern on the reduction of our research and public releases, we are now in the final stage of deliberation, and will announce it very soon. Please pay attention to the various online columns in our PORI website, including “PORI Express” and “Chung’s Blunt Words”.
2023-06-01	After Mid-term Thirty-two years ago in June, our research team was established. One year ago in June, our “25th Anniversary of One Country Two Systems Mid-term Review” was launched. By the end of June this year, all 25 review reports will be done. Every year in June and July, we conduct a major review, this year is no exception. Four years ago, I said we had a mission to preserve the historical data of the first half of “one country, two systems” for the future generations. This mission is almost complete. Starting this July, we will step up the development and application of secondary data, and to intensify our multi-media civic education efforts. However, due to resource constraints, we will also reduce our self-funded effort to collect and release primary data, so as to keep pace with the public demand for such data. If anyone has any suggestions or questions for us, please email them to us and we will answer them openly one by one.
2023-05-05	PORI 4th Anniversary In January, I became the President of WAPOR. I was bogged down with international affairs very often. In mid-April, WAPOR uploaded my 100 days in office sharing, in 10 human and 133 machine translated languages. It was a breakthrough, I will explain more later. HKPORI was symbolically established on May 4, which becomes our annual holiday. We kickstarted ourselves on the centenary of the May Fourth Movement, in order to raise the banners of science and democracy, and to find a new direction for this world. Two months later, we will have completed all 25 reports of our “25th Anniversary of One Country Two Systems Mid-term Review” series. We will reposition ourselves again, please stay tuned.
2022-12-12	The Twelve of Twelve of Opinion Research Ten days later, we will celebrate the winter solstice. Between November and December, a lot has happened, including the twists and turns of anti-pandemic policies, the come and go of top leaders, the changing situation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, and the annual conferences of public opinion research. They have provided us with good food for thought. By the time of winter solstice, we will have completed 15 reports in our “25th Anniversary of One Country Two Systems Mid-term Review” series, the remaining 10 will be completed in six months. Meanwhile, we are constantly enhancing our PORI website. The latest addition is the reprint of “Chung’s Blunt Words”, as another attempt of diversified sharing. Here are the concluding remarks of the latest article of the column: “China’s first emperor has died for more than 2,000 years, the appraisal of his rule is still inconclusive. Scientists recently announced that DNA samples collected… 16 years ago… could only wait until now for technology to advance… We will preserve the data as much as we can, just like scientists preserving their DNA samples, in order to facilitate future research.”
2022-11-01	The Opportunity of International Meetings October has passed, has the world rebooted? From the perspective of public opinion research, this November is really important. After three years of zero real meeting, the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) will finally hold its face to face annual conference in Dubai to discuss the new challenges of public opinion research. The conference will be held in conjunction with the annual conference of its Asia Pacific Chapter, and will include both independent and joint seminars, making it a professional event of all kinds. As for our HKPORI “25th Anniversary of One Country Two Systems Mid-term Review Series” which we started in June, we have already released 13 reports, which is just over half of the total 25 reports. In terms of civic education, we have posted a lot of infographics on social media in the past few months, and we have also started to train up young moderators to hold our press conferences, so that they can apply what they have learnt, especially in distinguishing the difference between figures and comments. Whether November is an opportunity remains to be seen.
2022-10-01	October Governance Traditionally, October is the beginning of Hong Kong’s policy year. This October is the first October of the second half of Hong Kong’s one country two systems. Looking back, our team first conducted our policy address instant poll in October 1992, we persisted for 30 years. In 1997, we added policy expectation surveys and also post-address follow-up surveys, but we gradually reduced the number and types of these surveys starting in 2020. Last year, we started to conduct our expectation survey using our online panel, but we did not conduct any follow-up survey. This year, after much discussion and deliberation, we have decided to continue with our instant poll, and to conduct expectation and follow-up surveys online. Compared to 1997, it is a retrogression, but compared to 2020, it can be regarded as a new start. Is there room for science and democracy in the second half of Hong Kong’s one country two systems? The development of PORI is an indicator.
2022-09-01	Eyes on the World, Respect Each Other As we enter September, HKPORI has released nine review reports of one country two systems. We will continue to break new ground amidst this time of adversity. Hongkongers should have a broad vision, as here is where the East meets West. The call of the times lies in culture immersion and globalization. When I was a teenager, I witnessed Apollo landing on the moon. It deepened my curiosity about everything in the universe. Half a century later, Artemis took up the torch. This drives me and HKPORI to accelerate our trans society trans nation and trans reality studies. Hopefully a few months later we will have a new look. Exactly how to discover and establish a new order in the barbaric world of social media and virtual reality may remain a surreal issue.
2022-08-01	After Mid-term HKPORI launched the “One Country Two Systems 25-year Mid-term Review” in June, seven reports have been released. Eight more are expected before the end of the year, another ten in the first half of the next, making a total of 25 reports. After that, I will follow heaven’s call whether I should fade away from Hong Kong and focus on promoting international professional development. In the midst of this deep summer, the public is burning and PORI is still working hard. Albeit slight adjustments to the many plans, our work has remained intact. Starting this month, our regular press conferences will be reduced to twice a month as planned, while we get ready for our civic education work. We will first increase the number of columns in our website, then enrich their content, then add more services, in order to keep up with the times and start a new chapter in the second half of “one country, two systems”.Tomorrow will be our first “Press Event” in August. We will release our tracking surveys including CE popularity and GGPI, as well as launch our online “PORI Express”.
2022-07-01	New Challenges in Public Opinion Research I joined the newly established Social Sciences Research Centre at The University of Hong Kong in 1987, when the return of Hong Kong’s sovereignty was already a foregone conclusion. Four years later, I founded the Public Opinion Programme at The University of Hong Kong, it was six years before the handover. Today, I have just passed 35 years of professional research career, so perhaps it is time to retire. This day in 2022, Hong Kong’s one country two systems has just started its second half-life, and our research team has witnessed it after working for 31 years, the last three of which as an independent institute outside the university. We have completed one important stage of a historical task. Now that Hong Kong’s future is uncertain, and public opinion research still has a long way to go. We now face the new challenge of how to keep the flags for science and democracy waving high, while we find a new direction for the society, the nation and the world. Recently I was asked, “How far can we still go?” I replied, “We walk out the paths, so let us keep walking.”
2022-06-06	One Country Two Systems Mid-term Review HKPORI reviews and adjusts its work once every six months. Some changes have already been started last month, including reducing the frequency of press conferences and developing online civic education. In June, we kickstart the “One Country Two Systems 25-year Mid-term Review”. The first phase of the review will take two months, in different forms of releases each week. We will start with the popularity of officials this week, then June Fourth wrap-up, then ethnic identity and then handover anniversaries, details to be announced. Starting from July, we plan to reduce the frequency of our tracking surveys from twice a month to once a month, in order to conserve resources for civic education and mid-term review.
2022-05-04	PORI 3rd Anniversary HKPORI was symbolically established on May 4, 2019 and then officially started to operate on July 1. We have chosen to launch ourselves on the centenary of the May Fourth Movement, in order to wave high the flags of science and democracy, and to find a new direction for the development of the world, our country, our nation and our society. Incidental to PORI’s ongoing half-yearly review, we would like to make this announcement: After May Fourth this year, PORI will reduce the frequency of our press conferences to about four times a month, in order to spare more resources for our online civic education work. Besides, PORI would also like to stress the separation of comments from figures, so that the responsibility of all personal comments arising from our scientific research lies entirely on the commentators concerned, not HKPORI.
2022-04-29	Regarding Responses to Media Enquiries Starting from today, HKPORI will centrally respond to all media enquiries via email, in order to record the time and content of such enquiries, and to clarify our answers when necessary. We have recently reviewed our work over the past six months, and found that some media have started to use unprofessional practices to handle enquiries, or even fabricate false documents to discredit PORI. Every time, PORI would consider whether to report to the police or take legal action in light of the seriousness of the case. All said, PORI still wants to handle these incidents as part of its civic education effort, in order to help Hong Kong society get back on track. Please note that PORI may not be able to respond to media enquiries promptly outside its office hours. PORI’s email address is [email protected], and we will handle them during office hours by triage.
2022-04-26	Deputy Chief Executive Officer of HKPORI Chung Kim-wah attended the last press conference of his term today, before stepping down from this position by the end of April. The President and Chief Executive Officer of HKPORI Robert Chung would like to thank Kim-wah for his contributions to the Institute, and also thanks the public for caring so much about its development. Robert Chung announces that HKPORI is operating normally, complies with the laws as usual, and would cooperate with all law enforcement units as much as possible. HKPORI usually reviews its operation once every six months. The current exercise is expected to be completed within two months, some changes may be implemented as early as next month.

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