But people wanted to be reassured. It was not long after the handover that people around Tung began talking about ways to improve the government's image. In October 1998, Tung finally took their advice and hired a spin doctor, okay, information coordinator. Too bad the appointment itself was a public-relations nightmare. Lam hasn't been on the job long, but you can tell where he's been at work.
Officials seem to have stopped contradicting one another.
Policy secretaries have started acting like politicians, selling their plans on television and radio. Whether they are the right ones for Hong Kong is another matter altogether. After Financial Secretary Donald Tsang presented the budget in March, officials were promoting it wherever they could. Lam can only do so much, though. Tung may act like a modern politician, visit housing estates, greet crowds, give interviews.