PORI Express: Q&A

From the Editor: On September 22, HKPORI received an email from a citizen signed “Mother of a Little Flying Fish”, expressing her concerns about compulsory vaccination of children. HKPORI hereby publishes the email and our reply. The English translation is compiled by HKPORI.

Letter from a Citizen

What is the outlook for our little athletes?

I am the mother of a young swimmer. In the past week or so, I faced a dilemma like many parents of young athletes.

The government announced that children aged 5 to 11 must receive their first dose of the vaccine by September 30, then the second dose by November 30.

Many parents felt very sad after seeing the news. I have learned that many children have never been vaccinated and most of them do not want to be vaccinated in the future....Read MoreWe’ re all in a dilemma, and I have heard that many parents can only choose to leave Hong Kong now and go to other countries that do not require mandatory vaccinations to continue their lives.

My eldest daughter is also a great swimmer. She loves swimming very much and has won many awards. Since she was a young child, she has been hoping to represent the Hong Kong swimming team when she grows up to win medals and glory for Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, I saw that many young athletes with potential and quality chose to leave Hong Kong as soon as possible within a week or so. I feel very sad, and it is a pity.

In addition, I have seen a lot of news reports, especially on the issue of economic development, and the continuous wave of poaching in our neighboring areas has led to the departure of many Hong Kong professionals, highly educated and high-income people, which has a profound impact on the long-term development of Hong Kong in various fields.

Hong Kong will always be our home port, and we do not want to leave this beautiful home.

Finally, I hope that the HKPORI can help us to conduct a comprehensive study, so that everyone can understand the concerns of parents like us, thank you.

From a mother of a little flying fish.

Reply from HKPORI

Mother of the little flying fish:

Thank you for your email, giving me so many mixed feelings.

It is very difficult for HKPORI to conduct a study on the compulsory vaccination of children. We would rather share your email with the public, after deleting your email address. Hopefully this would contribute to the public discussion on this topic.

It so happens that we will have a press conference tomorrow related to people’s livelihood issues, covering pandemic measures. We will share your email with our guest commentators, and let them discuss it freely. This may well be a better option.

IF possible, please reply to this email, and let us know your WhatsApp number. Our press conference starts at 2:30pm tomorrow, so and early reply is appreciated.
From Robert Chung.

From the Editor again:

Press conference video cut (related to the email): https://youtu.be/1Ssu8VJDkWI

All opinions expressed are that of the commentators, not HKPORI.

Q: When comparing the popularity ratings of previous chief executives and governors when they took office, why does PORI use the figures of a single survey rather than the average figures of the first month?

A: In PORI’s latest press release and social media tweets, PORI compared the first popularity rating of the Chief Executive John Lee with that of all former chief executives and Governor Chris Pattern. The intention is to create the comparison between the moment of ‘opening’ of respective leaders. Using the average score of multiple surveys may blur the concept of ‘opening’. Moreover, on the website of PORI, readers can choose freely from ratings per poll, ratings per monthly average, or ratings per half-yearly average. It should be noted that in the past, usually before the Chief Executive took office, PORI had already conducted relevant popularity surveys. ...Read MoreHowever, there was only one candidate in this year’s election, and there was no extensive interaction between the citizens and the candidate before he took office, PORI hence did not conduct any popularity surveys on the Chief- Executive-Elect. It was a loss in the field of public opinion research.