Anson Chan's Group To Study Extradition Bill Saga

An organisation co-founded by former chief secretary Anson Chan has hired renowned pollster Robert Chung to conduct a study on the extradition bill controversy.

The Project Citizens Foundation plans a telephone poll, a study focusing on young people and a detailed analysis of public sentiment. They hope to raise a million dollars through crowdfunding to help pay for this.

Chung, who had just retired from the University of Hong Kong, has now set up his own organisation, called the Public Opinion Research Institute.

The Project Citizens Foundation's chairman, Tsim Tak-lung, said the findings of the study will be useful for society and the government.

“If done properly, this would give us insight into a lot of things: how young people feel about policies; what are their aspirations; what they feel aggrieved about most. So, the purpose of the survey is more general than just one specific incident,” he explained.

“This government is out of touch, and we need to find out where it is out of touch,” Tsim added.

Chan said the telephone poll will reveal more as to what led to the massive outpouring of public discontent recently.

“Some people would say it’s because of the extradition bill removing the firewall and affecting our civil liberty. That’s clearly one [aspect],” she said.

“But there are also some people, particularly in the opposite camp, who suggest it’s not so much about the extradition bill. It’s just that people are unhappy about the unaffordability of housing, the competitiveness in the job market, the fact that mainlanders are coming into our job market and crowding out everybody else,” she said.

She said a comprehensive survey will be “an objective, reasonably comprehensive study” that will give “a better insight which we can then use as a basis for drawing conclusions and hopefully making better policies”.