Dr. Robert Chung is the Director of the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at Hong Kong University. POP is organizing an online and offline poll/election, scheduled for March 23, 2012, to ascertain the views of more Hong Kong permanent residents than will be allowed to participate in the actual selection of that jurisdiction's Chief Executive, since that position will actually be filled by the vote of a 1,200-member Selection Committee.
Etopia News sent Dr. Chung a list of questions about this poll/election and has just received his answers, presented below:
1. Welcome to Etopia News.
2. What is the jurisdictional relationship between Hong Kong and
the People's Republic of China?
3. What is the role of the Chief Executive?
4. How is the Chief Executive chosen?
Ans. I will let you search the HKSAR Government site for standard answers to the above questions.
5. What is the background and mission of the Public Opinion
Programme at Hong Kong University? What kind of polling does it normally do?
Ans. Please visit our website at http://hkupop.hku.hk.
6. Who are the current candidates for the position of Chief
Executive of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong?
Ans. Mr CY Leung, Mr Albert Ho, and Mr Henry Tang.
7. Who will get to vote in the official election?
8. How are these voters chosen? When will they vote?
Ans. Please see the official website of the Registration and Electoral Office at http://www.reo.gov.hk.
9. Why did you decide to conduct a poll to determine the
preferences for Chief Executive of the general population of Hong Kong? What purposes do you hope it will serve?
Ans. To reflect public opinion. We see it as our duty.
10. How will you conduct this poll? When will it take place?
11. Who has created the online, Internet polling/voting system
that you will use to collect the preferences of the general population?
12. Who will be eligible to participate in this electronic poll?
Ans. I guess you are referring to our "3.23 Civil Referendum"
Project. If so please click on http://popvote.hk.
13. How will people identify themselves to the system?
Ans. HK Identity Card. If they vote off-site using the internet, they will need a UNIQUE cell phone number to send a confirmation SMS to us.
14. What are you doing to make sure that no one hacks into the
system and interferes with an accurate and fair compilation of the vote?
Ans. We can not be 100% fool-proof, but we are barring e-voting from outside Hong Kong. We will also report all irregularities to the public at the close of our e-poll.
15. Will you also allow people without computers and an Internet
connection to participate in the polling?
Ans. Yes, they can go to our PHYSICAL polling stations and vote onsite (via some computers).
16. Can people use smartphones to participate?
Ans. Yes, there will be Apps for iPhone and Androd smart phones. We are still waiting for administrative clearance from Apple and Android.
17. How much will it cost to conduct this poll?
Ans. Our target was to raise HK$0.5m, and we made it.
18. Where are you getting the money? Can you accept money from
outside of Hong Kong or China from people who support what you are doing?
Ans. They can log on our website at http://popvote.hk and pledge a donation.
19. What more will you be able to do depending on how much money you raise?
Ans. We will conduct a "3.21 Mock Civil Referendum" at schools on March 21, because we have raised more funds than needed to just kick off the project.
20. What is the "School Mock Voting" system that you mention on
your website?
Ans. Same as "3.23", only that all students would be required to vote onsite at polling stations set up inside participating schools.
21. What impact do you expect your poll will have on the voting
in the official selection process?
Ans. I don't know. Probably same as other random surveys which we conduct.
22. What reaction to your plans have you had from authorities in
Hong Kong and in Beijing?
Ans. Doesn't matter to me.
23. What reaction to your plans have you had from the media and
people of Hong Kong?
Ans. University students are very supportive. Many laymen have made donations to our project.
24. How many people do you expect to take part in this project?
Ans. Using government spending standards on "real" polls, each actual vote costs about HK$150. So if we can get 4,000 votes, we would be "up to standard". Since we are using e-voting, we would like to multiply the figure by 10, so 40,000 votes should be a big success.
Anything near 100,000 votes would be more than ideal.
25. Thank you for talking to us today on Etopia News.
Ans. Thanks for asking the questions.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
Jane Foody's change.org petition to AT&T asks them to stop throttling data
Jane Foody, who signed up for an "unlimited" data plan with AT&T, talks about her petition on change.org, which asks AT&T to give her the unlimited data usage she's paying for, recorded from Yonkers, NY, on March 2, 2012.
Monday, February 27, 2012
How does the U.S. Government feel about the upcoming Internet vote for Chief Executive in Hong Kong?
U.S. State Department “does not have a statement on” the March 23rd Internet poll in Hong Kong to ascertain the public’s preference for Chief Executive, but it did say that “this is an internal decision for the people of Hong Kong.”
In an e-mail sent to Etopia News, a State Department spokesperson wrote:
“In response to your inquiry, the Department does not have a statement on this since this is an internal decision for the people of Hong Kong.”
Very diplomatic of them.
In an e-mail sent to Etopia News, a State Department spokesperson wrote:
“In response to your inquiry, the Department does not have a statement on this since this is an internal decision for the people of Hong Kong.”
Very diplomatic of them.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Outside support for Hong Kong Internet poll is “probably not a good idea,” says Brookings expert
Richard C. Bush is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Director of its Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies. According to the Brookings web site:
“Richard Bush’s two-decade public service career spans Congress, the intelligence community and the U.S. State Department. He currently focuses on China-Taiwan relations, U.S.-China relations, the Korean peninsula and Japan’s security.”
His background and expertise makes him ideally suited to comment to Etopia News about the March 23rd Internet-based “civil referendum” poll/election that seeks to ascertain the preferences of all the millions of permanent residents of Hong Kong 18 and older for that jurisdiction’s Chief Executive two days before an unelected Selection Committee of 1,200 makes the official choice for that position.
For one thing, Mr. Bush does not think that Westerners who’d like to see more democracy in China ought to get involved in that polling process. “Because suspicious Chinese will easily believe that Washington is behind the current effort, it is probably not a good idea for outsiders to ‘actively’ support this effort,” he writes in an e-mail.
The Brookings-based China-watcher provides a useful context for this exercise in popular democracy when he writes:
“This exercise at bottom-up democracy does challenge both the authority that Beijing believes it has to set the boundaries of political activity and its assumption that the selection committee [SC] represents the interests of the community. It would be rather embarrassing for the regime if the electronic tally was the opposite of the SC result (although I’m sure there would be a propaganda offensive to discredit the citizens’ count or perhaps a hacking effort to undermine it)."
He also provides some background information on the man who heads the Public Opinion Programme at the University of Hong Kong and who is the organizer of this exercise in quasi-popular sovereignty:
“Actually, this is not the first time that Robert Chung has tested the tolerance of the regime. He recently released a poll that showed that more people in Hong Kong have a Hong Kong identity than a Chinese identity, and he was roundly criticized in China for being a ‘political player in academic disguise’ and for being a cat’s paw for the United States.”
Clearly, this civil referendum and the controversy surrounding it in China and its Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong will provide a lot of fodder for those concerned about the future of democracy in China. Mr. Bush’s considered advice to them at this point seems to be simple: look but don’t touch.
Meanwhile, the JakartaGlobe reported in its February 23rd edition that a poll already conducted by Mr. Chung shows that:
“[Beijing’s reported choice] Henry Tang was favoured by only 16 percent of the 506 respondents polled in the latest survey commissioned by English daily the South China Morning Post when respondents were asked to pick between him and main rival Leung Chun-ying. Leung is well ahead of Tang with the backing of 63.9 percent of respondents."
The JakartaGlobe went on to say that:
“’If Tang finally gets elected against landslide public opinion, there will be a governance crisis,’ pollster Robert Chung from the University of Hong Kong, who conducted the poll, told the Post.”
The article goes on to relate personal details of an unflattering nature about Mr. Tang, here.
“Richard Bush’s two-decade public service career spans Congress, the intelligence community and the U.S. State Department. He currently focuses on China-Taiwan relations, U.S.-China relations, the Korean peninsula and Japan’s security.”
His background and expertise makes him ideally suited to comment to Etopia News about the March 23rd Internet-based “civil referendum” poll/election that seeks to ascertain the preferences of all the millions of permanent residents of Hong Kong 18 and older for that jurisdiction’s Chief Executive two days before an unelected Selection Committee of 1,200 makes the official choice for that position.
For one thing, Mr. Bush does not think that Westerners who’d like to see more democracy in China ought to get involved in that polling process. “Because suspicious Chinese will easily believe that Washington is behind the current effort, it is probably not a good idea for outsiders to ‘actively’ support this effort,” he writes in an e-mail.
The Brookings-based China-watcher provides a useful context for this exercise in popular democracy when he writes:
“This exercise at bottom-up democracy does challenge both the authority that Beijing believes it has to set the boundaries of political activity and its assumption that the selection committee [SC] represents the interests of the community. It would be rather embarrassing for the regime if the electronic tally was the opposite of the SC result (although I’m sure there would be a propaganda offensive to discredit the citizens’ count or perhaps a hacking effort to undermine it)."
He also provides some background information on the man who heads the Public Opinion Programme at the University of Hong Kong and who is the organizer of this exercise in quasi-popular sovereignty:
“Actually, this is not the first time that Robert Chung has tested the tolerance of the regime. He recently released a poll that showed that more people in Hong Kong have a Hong Kong identity than a Chinese identity, and he was roundly criticized in China for being a ‘political player in academic disguise’ and for being a cat’s paw for the United States.”
Clearly, this civil referendum and the controversy surrounding it in China and its Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong will provide a lot of fodder for those concerned about the future of democracy in China. Mr. Bush’s considered advice to them at this point seems to be simple: look but don’t touch.
Meanwhile, the JakartaGlobe reported in its February 23rd edition that a poll already conducted by Mr. Chung shows that:
“[Beijing’s reported choice] Henry Tang was favoured by only 16 percent of the 506 respondents polled in the latest survey commissioned by English daily the South China Morning Post when respondents were asked to pick between him and main rival Leung Chun-ying. Leung is well ahead of Tang with the backing of 63.9 percent of respondents."
The JakartaGlobe went on to say that:
“’If Tang finally gets elected against landslide public opinion, there will be a governance crisis,’ pollster Robert Chung from the University of Hong Kong, who conducted the poll, told the Post.”
The article goes on to relate personal details of an unflattering nature about Mr. Tang, here.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Karlyn Bowman at AEI discusses recent political polling results
Karlyn Bowman, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she studies public opinion, comments on recent poll findings regarding Congress, President Obama, the Republican presidential race, where people get their news, and immigration, recorded from Washington, D.C., on February 22, 2012.
POP at HKU has decided to go ahead with its online civil referendum
The Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong, under the leadership of Dr. Robert Chung, has initiated a plan to conduct an online poll open to all permanent residents of Hong Kong over the age of 18 on March 23rd to ascertain public opinion about who ought to become the Special Administrative Region’s next Chief Executive. The “real” election for that office will involve an Electoral Committee of 1,200 voters (out of a population of 7 million).
On February 8th, POP announced a fund-raising campaign in support of this online poll, saying that it needed at least 500,000 Hong Kong dollars (HKD) in order to carry it out.
Today POP said that it had already raised HKD 480,000, had another HKD 90,000 in pledges, and that it “has decided to go ahead” with this polling project, which will let hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people express their preferences regarding who should become Chief Executive of the jurisdiction.
In order to explain the latest developments of the project, POP will hold a press conference tomorrow at 3:30 pm at 5/F, Kennedy Town Centre, 23 Belcher’s Street, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong, at 3:30 pm. Appearing at that event will be Dr. Chung, Director of POP, and Mr. Jazz Ma, IT Manager of POP.
The agenda for the press conference includes: “progress of fund-raising and the latest ideas,” “basic concept of the ‘3-21 Mock Civil Referendum’ Project,” and a question and answer period.
On February 8th, POP announced a fund-raising campaign in support of this online poll, saying that it needed at least 500,000 Hong Kong dollars (HKD) in order to carry it out.
Today POP said that it had already raised HKD 480,000, had another HKD 90,000 in pledges, and that it “has decided to go ahead” with this polling project, which will let hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people express their preferences regarding who should become Chief Executive of the jurisdiction.
In order to explain the latest developments of the project, POP will hold a press conference tomorrow at 3:30 pm at 5/F, Kennedy Town Centre, 23 Belcher’s Street, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong, at 3:30 pm. Appearing at that event will be Dr. Chung, Director of POP, and Mr. Jazz Ma, IT Manager of POP.
The agenda for the press conference includes: “progress of fund-raising and the latest ideas,” “basic concept of the ‘3-21 Mock Civil Referendum’ Project,” and a question and answer period.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Internet voting planned for March 23rd Hong Kong Civil Referendum
In the February 23, 2012 edition of the Economist, in the ”Banyan” column, reference is made to “a scheme by pollsters at the University of Hong Kong to hold a ‘virtual’ online election two days before the official ballot” for the Special Administrative Region’s Chief Executive. The binding, official election will be held on March 25th, between C.Y. Leung, Henry Tang, and the Democratic Party’s Albert Ho.
According to the Economist, “The electorate is a committee of 1,200 voters (out of a population of 7 million). Some are politicians; most are chosen by 'functional constituencies’ to represent sectoral interests. Their main job is to carry out China’s decision on who runs its special administrative region of Hong Kong.”
In order to gauge the views of a larger segment of the Hong Kong population, Robert Chung, Director of the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong, is organizing a poll, open to all Hong Kong permanent resident 18 and older, to be called a “civil referendum.” The purpose of this exercise is three-fold, according to a February 8th press release from the group (“HKUPOP rolls out the “3.23 Civil Referendum Project”):
“1) to integrate with the results of public opinion surveys to form a comprehensive reference for the public and the election committee, 2) to construct a civil society by promoting civil participation, and 3) to demonstrate the electronic voting system.”
The press release puts this civil referendum in context:
“As an independent academic institution, POP has worked hard to develop a task-based electronic voting system to facilitate the general public and people from different sectors to express their will through civil referendum. POP plans to hold a ‘civil referendum’ on March 23, 2012 to echo with the fourth Chief Executive election to be held on March 25. POP hopes to let the general public vote via the civil referendum in order to express their support towards different candidates.”
According to the project’s website, at, http://popvote.hk:
“’Although the civil referendum does not have legal status, and will not be carried out as strictly as official voting, if the civil referendum can be conducted fairly and independently, and the number of votes count up to five digits, then it will have very high reference value,’ says Robert Chung.”
As of February 18th, the project had raised 145,218 Hong Kong dollars (HKD), or $18,733.12, to carry out its work. The referendum’s website says that it is seeking at least HKD 500,000 in order to set up its online voting system and one brick-and-mortar polling station. According to the website:
• For HKD 500,000 ($64,500) raised, there will be an offsite voting system and 1 onsite polling station
• For HKD 600,000 ($77,400) raised, there will be up to 3 onsite polling stations
• For HKD 700,000 ($90,300) raised, there will be up to 5 onsite polling stations
• For HKD 800,000 ($103,200) raised, there will be an extra "School Mock Voting" system constructed
• If over HKD 800,000 is raised, the surplus will be used to develop online platforms and other civil referendum projects
According to the Economist, “The electorate is a committee of 1,200 voters (out of a population of 7 million). Some are politicians; most are chosen by 'functional constituencies’ to represent sectoral interests. Their main job is to carry out China’s decision on who runs its special administrative region of Hong Kong.”
In order to gauge the views of a larger segment of the Hong Kong population, Robert Chung, Director of the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong, is organizing a poll, open to all Hong Kong permanent resident 18 and older, to be called a “civil referendum.” The purpose of this exercise is three-fold, according to a February 8th press release from the group (“HKUPOP rolls out the “3.23 Civil Referendum Project”):
“1) to integrate with the results of public opinion surveys to form a comprehensive reference for the public and the election committee, 2) to construct a civil society by promoting civil participation, and 3) to demonstrate the electronic voting system.”
The press release puts this civil referendum in context:
“As an independent academic institution, POP has worked hard to develop a task-based electronic voting system to facilitate the general public and people from different sectors to express their will through civil referendum. POP plans to hold a ‘civil referendum’ on March 23, 2012 to echo with the fourth Chief Executive election to be held on March 25. POP hopes to let the general public vote via the civil referendum in order to express their support towards different candidates.”
According to the project’s website, at, http://popvote.hk:
“’Although the civil referendum does not have legal status, and will not be carried out as strictly as official voting, if the civil referendum can be conducted fairly and independently, and the number of votes count up to five digits, then it will have very high reference value,’ says Robert Chung.”
As of February 18th, the project had raised 145,218 Hong Kong dollars (HKD), or $18,733.12, to carry out its work. The referendum’s website says that it is seeking at least HKD 500,000 in order to set up its online voting system and one brick-and-mortar polling station. According to the website:
• For HKD 500,000 ($64,500) raised, there will be an offsite voting system and 1 onsite polling station
• For HKD 600,000 ($77,400) raised, there will be up to 3 onsite polling stations
• For HKD 700,000 ($90,300) raised, there will be up to 5 onsite polling stations
• For HKD 800,000 ($103,200) raised, there will be an extra "School Mock Voting" system constructed
• If over HKD 800,000 is raised, the surplus will be used to develop online platforms and other civil referendum projects
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
