Author：Lee Yuk-yin Daisy 145089
For the last few days of February, news items popping up were mostly about the New Territories by-election. It’s an event that makes people feel intense, worried and gloomy. People were searching for a unique candidate who may lead Hong Kong people to find relief from a complicated political situation. The election has been described as the battle between the pan-democrat camp and the pro-establishment camp. Also, localism with forceful power and radical belief joined the battle too. Undoubtedly, it judges the brand-new atmosphere and order for Legislative Council, which explained the reason for the worries of voters: The one who gets a seat in LegCo determines the new manner.
In recent years, the pan-democrats were keen on exercising the freedom of speech in the chamber. Filibustering was their only action in certain conferences in which they participated. Expectedly, rumor has it that if Holden Chow, the only representitve from pro-establishment camp won the election, as there will be enough votes to pass a bill, regarding to renew the Rules of Procedures. At last, the pan-democrats may lose the only way to monitor the government. Bills are passed easily; amendments are slipped through the fingers with the always-“yes”-practice of the pro-establishment camp. On the 28th February, It’s the day of election. For the morning session, the voting rate reported was lower than the rate of last Legislative Council Election in 2012 by more than 2%. I was on duty at Sha Tin District to report instant news and doing interviews with voters. Most people put their focuses between No.3 (Holden Chow), No.6 (Edward Leung) and No.7 (Alvin Yeung), the representatives from Civic Party, DAB and HK Indigenous. Some adolescents said they were affected by the Mong Kong Clashes and wanted to voice their needs by a vote. From the comments collected, It was easy to conclude that some youngsters turned their focus on localism and voted for a new way; the remaining ones paid support to a peaceful road to fight for democracy.
In the evening, I went to the campaign for Holden Chow in Tai Wai to take shots for video news. Compared to other contestants, Holden Chan received lots of support from different institutions and political parties, including Regina Ip from New People’s Party, Stanley Ng, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions and more pro-establishment supporters. They spoke up for Chow and it shows the pro-establishment parties have mashed up all the resources, in order to send Chow into the Legco. “Vote for No.3, Treasure Hong Kong, we are on the right path!” they shouted. The election result may be rather surprising as the Pro Establishment camp is well-known for its deep pockets. I was off from work later around 10pm. As a reporter, I am neutral on doing news reporting; I am neutral in writing any news stories. However, when duties ended, I am a fan of Pan-democrats. I went to a counting station in Lek Yuen, where I voted in the morning.
When the counting started, I could actually see that most of the votes were located in the No. 3 and No.7 box. It could be a good news or bad news, as there is only a slight difference in the number of votes. There were a number of youngsters there to witness the counting process. The Returning Officer announced the result later. I was quite nervous when I heard that Holden Chow received 1056 votes, which occupied about 35.2% of all votes in this counting station. Indeed, the officer at last announced that Edward Leung got 471 votes and Alvin Yeung got 1085, which was slightly higher than Chow. Although it’s just a small success for Yeung, it means a lot in the election battle. Another morning, stories about the winner of the election occupied most of the news feed in social media. It’s delightful to see Alvin Yeung, No.7 winning the election, which may bring some changes to the dispirited political atmosphere. Now, I am glad to see “No.7” reading his statement in chamber, who survives in the election in order to protect the seat of pan-democratic camp. His winning in the election truly presents the idea of “ last but not the least”, who may not be a hero, but definitely the “Lucky 7” for Hongkongers.
