| The Honourable Leung Kwok-hung 梁國雄 |
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| Talking to reporter after anti-Japan protests in Hong Kong, 17 April 2005 | |
| Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong |
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| In office 2004–2012 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 March 1956 Hong Kong |
| Nationality | Hong Kong Chinese |
| Political party | April Fifth Action |
| Residence | Hong Kong |
| Profession | Legislative Councillor |
| Website | http://www.longhair.hk |
| Leung Kwok-hung | |||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 梁國雄 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 梁国雄 | ||||||||||||||
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Leung Kwok-hung (born 27 March 1956 in Hong Kong), also known as Long Hair (Chinese: 長毛; Jyutping: coeng4 mou1), is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (representing the New Territories East constituency), a founding member of the League of Social Democrats and a democratic political activist.
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Leung is a self-proclaimed Trotskyist and a member of April Fifth Action, a radical socialist group. Leung contested but lost in both the 2000 LegCo elections and 2003 District Council elections. He considered the latter battle in 2003 a victory from the number of votes he got in a district which traditionally supports pro-Beijing candidates.
Leung ran again in the LegCo Election 2004 and succeeded in winning a seat in LegCo with 60,925 votes,[1] an over 200% increase in votes compared to the 18,235 votes[2] he received in the 2000 LegCo election.
Leung's key campaigns include universal suffrage, and working- and under-classes welfare. His political agenda include introduction of a liveable minimum wage and a comprehensive social security system, restoration of workers' right to collective bargaining, and setting a tax on business speculation.
He has been briefly jailed several times for offenses such as shouting from the LegCo's public viewing gallery and burning the national flag of the People's Republic of China.
Although he expresses his fondness of Che Guevara and the ideals of revolutionary Marxism, Leung has yet to indicate a 'proletariat' revolution agenda on his election platforms, and many of his ideas and proposals would be readily accepted by most mainstream left (social) liberal and social democratic parties.
Leung has reportedly vowed not to cut his hair until the government of the People's Republic of China apologizes for the Tiananmen Square Massacre [3] although he has denied this. His long hair has become one of his visual icons and a political statement - the same name was applied to troops of the Taiping Rebellion against Imperial China. His locks have only once been cut, against his will, when he was briefly imprisoned following a political action. He is usually seen wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt.[4]
For the swearing-in ceremony of the Hong Kong Legislative Council on 6 October 2004, Leung's fellow members arrived in business attire. Long Hair, in contrast, wore a T-shirt with Tiananmen Square on the front and Che Guevara on the back. When he was called to come forward and take the oath, he raised his left fist, encircled with a black wristband, a memorial to those who died in the 1989 protests.
Leung had planned to alter his oath of office, but a Hong Kong judge said such a step would make it impossible for him to serve. Instead, Leung added his own messages to the standard oath, demanding vindication for those killed in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, calling for the release of political prisoners and an end to one-party rule on the Mainland.
Leung shouted at the ceremony: "Long live democracy! Long live the people!" He was then sworn in as a council member. Observers watched closely the reaction from the Mainland government, as Leung's statements touched upon a politically sensitive issue that is often considered taboo in official public settings.
In the aftermath of the Article 23 political storm and debate over freedom of expression, many were concerned about possible Mainland reaction to the incident. However, the Mainland government did not respond in any dramatic fashion.
Leung's populist and unorthodox confrontational style contrasts with the usually restrained atmosphere of LegCo. Rita Fan, the LegCo chairperson, seemed more concerned by Leung's attire for LegCo meetings than any of his political opinions. One legislator commented that "Legco has to get used to Leung, and he has to get used to Legco."
On 29 September 2007, Leung vowed to support Jose Maria Sison, a politician from the Phillipines and founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Leung was in Europe at the Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. He sits in the Hong Kong legislature as member of the Finance and House Committees, and of the Legislative Panels on Constitutional Affairs, Housing, Manpower, Transport, and on Welfare Services.[5]
On 26 January 2010, Leung and four other pro-democracy legislators handed in their resignation, forcing by-elections in all five geographical constituencies of Hong Kong which they characterized as a "de facto referendum" on democracy. Leung explained that his resignation was, "in keeping with [his] campaign promise... to fight for direct elections."[6] He was reinstated as a legislator after receiving over 100,000 votes in the by-election.
In 2005, Leung took part in the protests against the WTO Conference in Hong Kong and was injured during the violent demonstrations. Leung was arrested along with 900 other demonstrators. As with almost all other persons rounded up on that day, Leung was released shortly after and was not prosecuted.
On 4 July 2008 Leung was scheduled to visit areas in Sichuan damaged by the Sichuan earthquake as part of a 20-member delegation. Leung's travel permit applications was rejected at the last minute on suspicions he would protest in China during the 3-day trip.[7] Sichuan officials claimed to have seen Internet reports saying Leung planned to do something not relevant to the purpose of the trip. Rita Fan further explained that was the reason he was not approved.[8] Leung responded saying: "It's so ironic. People said the Olympic Games will make China more open up. I think it's going backward."[8]
Over the years, there have been several documentaries about "Long Hair". The most recent are:
| Legislative Council of Hong Kong | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Nelson Wong |
Member of Legislative Council Representative for New Territories East constituency 2004 – present With: Emily Lau, Lau Kong-wah, Andrew Cheng, Ronny Tong (2004–present) James Tien, Li Kwok Ying (2004–2008) Nelson Wong, Gary Chan (2008–present) |
Incumbent |
| Order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Alan Leong Member of the Legislative Council |
Hong Kong order of precedence Member of the Legislative Council |
Succeeded by Tanya Chan Member of the Legislative Council |
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