Peking University student and angel who helped fight Covid is youngest councillor

Peking University student Angel Chong Nga-ting, 23, will be the youngest district councillor this term after being appointed to represent Sai Kung district.

Chong, raised in Hong Kong, is currently studying in Peking University's School of Government and Guanghua School of Management.

During the pandemic she took a year off from school to help in the Covid fight in Hong Kong.

A member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, Chong helped deliver supplies to families calling for assistance and volunteered at vaccination centers as well as elderly care homes.

"I deeply understand that China has come a long way to come to this point," she said. "There is no home without a country, so serving the country, Hong Kong and citizens is my mission and responsibility."

Chong is one of 179 district councillors appointed by the government, which said that 15 percent of them are under 40 years old and 81 percent are aged between 40 and 64 years.

The median age of the appointed councillors is 47, and they hail from all walks of life.

Among them, 69 participated in the 2019 district council election - 49 lost and 20 were elected.

Nine of the 17 appointed councillors to Sha Tin district councils ran in the 2019 polls. Eight lost and only Lam Kong-kwan won in Di Yee constituency in Sha Tin.

The highest percentage of appointed district councillors who were former election hopefuls is in the Eastern district council - where seven out of 12 appointed councillors ran in 2019- accounting for 58 percent of the total number of appointed councillors. None of them won.

Only two district councils saw none of the appointed councillors being an election candidate four years ago. They comprise four councillors appointed to the Wan Chai district council and eight appointed to the North district council.

All 470 district councillors will start their four-year term on January 1, while the ratio of seats held by the five traditional pro-establishment parties remains largely the same.

The DAB remains the biggest party, holding 31 percent of seats across 18 district councils - or 147 of 470 seats - with 38 appointed members.

The Federation of Trade Unions is second after 16 of its members were appointed, and will hold 43, or 9 percent, of the district council seats, and the New People's Party trails at third, followed by the Business and Professionals Alliance and the Liberal Party.

But FTU president Stanley Ng Chau-pei expressed dissatisfaction with the DAB's dominance in district councils, citing a lack of diversity due to a large party monopoly.

Regarding the electronic voters' system failure on polling day, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said he has required the Electoral Affairs Commission to submit a preliminary report.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com