The most popular man in Australia’s second-largest city is an Asian

Was it jealousy or admiration in the Victorian premier’s voice today at the mention of Melbourne’s popular Lord Mayor John So? Mr So has received rousing cheers from the crowd throughout the Commonwealth Games and they seemed to escalate at every mention of him during last night’s closing ceremony. This was a fact sharply noted by Premier Steve Bracks this morning when he walked into a media conference and was casually asked by a reporter: “Is John So coming today?” “He’s coming to the parade,” the Premier quickly replied. Do you want me to mention his name and you can clap?”

Later, Labor’s Mr Bracks was asked whether he feared the beleaguered Liberal Party would recruit the well-liked mayor. First, the Liberals will have to be able to say that John So is their ‘bro’, as Mr Bracks does. “I’ve said this in the past, I think I said it at another press conference that John So is my bro, and I put my arm around him,” Mr Bracks said. “This is a popular catch cry around Melbourne, as I understand it.” In fact, people are wearing T-shirts brandishing the slogan.

Besides, Mr Bracks said he thought of Mr So as “a true independent, in the true meaning of the word”. “I think the fact that he’s popular is a great thing for Melbourne, a great thing for Victoria,” he said. “We’re in competition really, nationally, for attention for head office companies, for a seamless interface between federal and state governments and also between state governments and (the City of Melbourne). “So I think we’ve got a great advantage really in attracting people and activity into Melbourne and having John So with his popularity doesn’t hurt that at all.”

Likewise, Mr Bracks is no stranger to popularity. In mid 2000, he was ranked the most popular premier in Australia, with a personal approval rating as high as 74 per cent. Lately, his approval rating has been about 50 per cent and judging by the 80,000 people at last night’s closing ceremony, that’s about half of John So’s.

Source

It may be worth recalling that a Chinese businessman—Quong Tart—was also very popular in the early days of Sydney

Posted by jonjayray on Monday, March 27, 2006 at 02:20 AM in
Comments (5) | Tell a friend

Comments:

Posted by Al Ross on March 27, 2006, 04:38 AM | #

It is unthinkable that a city dominated by Overseas Chinese would elect a White mayor. Mr So, we can be sure, would like to increase the numbers of his fellow Chinese in Australia to a level of numerical majority at which point the country would undergo an irrevocable alteration in its national character.

Posted by Mark Richardson on March 27, 2006, 06:24 AM | #

John So is popular as a “character”. He speaks an amusingly mangled, barely intelligible English, he is a publicity seeker to a monstrous degree, and he regularly makes appearances next to the coolest of people in the coolest of ads, as a smilingly out of place, uber-nerd.

Even his politically correct, left-wing politics never quite comes off. He had himself painted in possum skins for his mayoral portrait, as a gesture of support for Aborigines. But there was not the usual venom in it - to see a paunchy, middle-aged Chinese man dressed this way had just enough of the ludicrous about it to lose all punch.

Posted by AD on March 27, 2006, 09:34 PM | #

An article in a newspaper claims that this guy(who i’ve never even heard of) is more popular than Lebanese Steve Bracks, who is deeply unpopular.

Jon Jay ‘me-luv-u-looong-time’ Ray of course, almost exploding with homo-erotic delight, goes further than the original baseless piece and claims that he is indeed “the most popular man in Australia’s second largest city”.

Way to ‘stir the possum’(or as they say in Jon’s beloved multicultural slums, ‘garnish the kitten’)!

Posted by anna on April 01, 2006, 07:07 AM | #

do you know where you can get the t’shirts from? i really want one.

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