(Central Station) John Lee ‘strikes back’ over ‘We and Us’ campaign slogan

Chief Executive-hopeful John Lee Ka-chiu explained in a Facebook post over the use of the campaign slogan “We and Us,” saying what the election team wanted the most was to spread the message of togetherness. 

The post was published early on Saturday after the slogan unavoidably caught the public’s attention at the Friday campaign rally. 

To directly translate Lee’s Chinese slogan, the first part would say: “I and We.” Yet, the English slogan read “We and Us.” 

Lee, in the post, said the team has discussed this issue so many times and believed it would be better not to translate the phrase directly, adding the most important issue is to send a message to the public. 

“In Chinese, the word ‘we’ can be used as both the subject and the object, but the same doesn’t apply to the English language. So, the message we want to spread is the sense of togetherness, without distinguishing ‘you’ or ‘me,’” Lee said. 

“Another message we want to spread during this election is that although we all have different views, we can respect our differences, making Hong Kong a diverse city.”