Financial Secretary John Tsang's Fourth Budget hasn't exactly been received with glowing praise. He said he saw combating inflation as his main task. But while the Financial Secretary was delivering his speech various organizations outside the Legislative Council building were saying he should have been combating poverty. The public wants its money back. Or at least some of it. In the current fiscal year the government has a surplus of 71.3 billion Hong Kong dollars. The response from politicians was among the most negative for any Budget in the past decade. With us in the studio to discuss the Budget is Professor Ho Lok-sang, economist and director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies at Lingnan University. Officials from Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Macau have outlined a controversial series of development projects entitled "The Action Plan for the Bay Area of the Pearl River Estuary". Its aim is, say its proponents, to improve the region's quality of life. It could affect close to 25 million across the region. This month, Hong Kong ended its three-week public consultation, but it's been so low-key you may not have noticed. The plan's been criticized as being full of bureaucratic buzzwords, and much less full of information that will allow better comprehension. A mainland-led research team conducted the study. Hong Kong legislators were not consulted. People's uprisings in the Middle East have been spreading across the region. Some are hoping, while others are worried, that they may even reach Asia. There were calls for a "Jasmine Revolution" to begin last weekend in many Chinese cities. No one knew who made those calls, authorities were on the alert, and they fizzled out. But carrying a bunch of flowers isn't without its risks even in Hong Kong. Ask legislator Lee Cheuk-yan.