{"id":15549,"date":"2019-11-24T01:24:15","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T17:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=15549"},"modified":"2021-06-24T16:57:32","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T08:57:32","slug":"former-student-activists-standing-in-the-district-council-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2019\/11\/former-student-activists-standing-in-the-district-council-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Former student activists standing in the District Council elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Howard Li<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2019 Hong Kong District Council elections are approaching. This year\u2019s elections have seen a lot of young faces emerge. Some of them are former student activists who led the 2014 Umbrella Movement. Five years on, after experiencing the depressing ending of the campaign which failed to achieve any concessions from the government and witnessing Beijing\u2019s tightening grip on the city\u2019s freedoms, especially the disqualifications of young opposition lawmakers, will the Umbrella Generation still regard the elections as an opportunity to make a difference? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varsity<\/em> talks to two former\nstudent activists who run for the coming District Council elections, Tiffany\nYuen Ka-wai and Lester Shum Ngo-fai, to learn about their perspectives and\nvisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA\nchoice for Tin Wan\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiffany\nYuen Ka-wai, former Vice Chairperson of pro-democracy Demosisto party, is contesting\nthe seat in Southern District Council for Tin Wan constituency. She is now\nserving as an assistant to legislator Au Nok-hin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing next to her campaign banner bearing a slogan, \u201cA choice for Tin Wan\u201d, Yuen says Tin Wan constituency has been a stronghold of the pro-establishment camp for many years and she wants to give residents one more option in the upcoming election. \u201cI like Tin Wan because I enjoy warmness and friendliness of residents here,\u201d she adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare various problems in Tin Wan that remain unsolved. This year, Wycombe Abbey\nInternational School has rented space at Tin Wan Shopping Centres, the district\u2019s\nonly shopping centre which has been left idle for more than two years after Link\nREIT sold it to a mainland-based company in 2015. As a result, the mall cannot\nbe fully utilised to meet residents\u2019 needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traffic\ncongestion is another concern. \u201cEarly on, there were many tour groups visiting Tin\nWan, which led to increasing burden on the public transport,\u201d Yuen says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nelected, Yuen pledges to press the government for policies which could improve\nthe living conditions of Tin Wan\u2019s residents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Tiffany Yuen Ka-wai is campaigning at her street counter. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough\nI may seem too young and inexperienced to be a district councillor in the\neyes of many residents, I think having the passion for serving the community is\nmore important,\u201d says the\n26-year-old. \u201cI make every effort to listen to the residents and spend much\ntime in dealing with community affairs to win confidence from them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuen says her decision of running for the election is not facilitated by the ongoing anti-government protests, but she adds that the protests may have politicised the elections which typically centre on community matters and prompt voters to be inclined towards the pro-democracy camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cStill, we will focus on fundamental livelihood\nissues without adding political spice into them. But at the same time, we shall\nexplain our stances and current political situation to the residents instead of\nshying away from doing this for fear of being labelled as \u2018radicals\u2019 or\n\u2018troublemakers\u2019 by\nthem,\u201d says Yuen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking\nof the series of strikes, class boycotts and shutdown of shops, Yuen\nsays they are important in exerting political pressure on the government to\nrespond to protesters\u2019 demands. She thinks Hong Kong people should strive\ntogether to sustain the pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\na former student activist who actively took part in the 2014 Occupy movement,\nYuen says the movement has equipped her with stronger communication skills which\nhelp her better convey political views to the residents in her community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nstresses that the Occupy movement does have an impact on the current\npro-democracy protests as this civil disobedience campaign which happened half\na decade ago has gone down in Hong Kong\u2019s history as an important lesson in\ncivic engagement and will continue to serve as a mirror to future social\nmovements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Determination\nto change<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nsignificance of the Occupy movement also finds an echo in Lester Shum Ngo-fai\u2019s\npolitical career. Shum, former deputy secretary-general of the Hong Kong\nFederation of Students and one of the key student leaders of the 79-day\noccupation, is now campaigning to win Hoi Bun constituency seat of Tsuen Wan\nDistrict Council. He currently serves as an assistant to lawmaker Eddie Chu\nHoi-dick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn\nthe positive side, the movement encourages more people to pay attention to politics.\nOn the other hand, people are frustrated as their efforts hasn\u2019t paid off. The\npolitical divide gets deeper and deeper in the aftermath of the movement. But it\nis an experience in the past which won\u2019t be written off,\u201d Shum comments on the Umbrella\nmovement he once played a leading role in but ultimately faltered.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n26-year-old decided to throw his hat in the ring for district councillor this\nApril. At the time, he considered the election as a way to change the status\nquo given the society\u2019s lack of confidence in starting another large-scale\nsocial movement since the Occupy Central campaign ended in failure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lester Shum Ngo-fai is at Eddie Chu’s ward office. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Should\nhe be elected, Shum says he will help improve the recycling mechanism in his\ndistrict. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nthree-coloured waste separation bins placed in the communities do not perform\nvery well in sorting out different kinds of waste materials. Shum says it is also\nvery discouraging to see the endeavour made by residents to clean up bottles for\nconvenience of reclamation is in vain since all the waste is eventually ended\nup in the landfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is told by the residents that setting up a reclamation depot could resolve the problems above, but he hasn\u2019t outlined any concrete plan yet. Shum explains, \u201cWaste management concerns many parties, including management companies, cleaning companies and so on. It also takes a long time to negotiate with different parties and reach the consensus to look for solutions. The first step is to get elected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the months-long protests in the city, Shum becomes more determined to win the election. \u201cEvery pan-democracy candidate is fighting against Beijing and trying to secure as many seats as possible. If I lose the election, I will feel that I fail my supporters as well as the people who have devoted themselves into the social movement,\u201d says Shum. He adds that his reputation established in the Umbrella movement allows him to gain trust from voters easily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nfor the 2020 Legislative Council election, both Shum and Yuen say they haven\u2019t\ndecided whether to stand in it or not.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nother candidate for Tin Wan constituency is Chan Fu-ming. The other candidates\nfor Hoi Bun constituency are Mok Yuen-kwan, Timmy Chow Ping-tim and Leo Chan\nYue-hai.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Gloria Li<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Varsity talks to two former student activists who run for the coming District Council elections, Tiffany Yuen Ka-wai and Lester Shum Ngo-fai, to learn about their perspectives and visions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1318,107],"tags":[627,1319],"class_list":["post-15549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-district-council-polls-2019","category-specials","tag-district-council","tag-district-council-poll"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15549"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15583,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15549\/revisions\/15583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}