Gary Chan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Honourable
Gary Chan Hak-kan
JP
陳克勤
Member of the Legislative Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 October 2008
Preceded by Li Kwok-ying
Personal details
Born (1976-07-13) 13 July 1976
Fujian, People's Republic of China
Nationality Hong Kong Chinese
Political party DAB
Alma mater Syracuse University
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Occupation Legislative Councillor

Gary Chan Hak-kan JP (simplified Chinese: 陈克勤; traditional Chinese: 陳克勤; pinyin: Chén Kèqíng; born 13 July 1976, Fujian, People's Republic of China) is currently the youngest member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. He represents the New Territories East constituency and is a member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) political party.

Chan graduated from the Department of Government and Public Administration at Chinese University of Hong Kong, and studied in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. He was a member of Sha Tin District Council from 1999 to 2003. He was appointed as special assistant to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Sir Donald Tsang, from 2006 to 2008, with an annual salary of HK$77,000.[1][2]

In 2008, Chan followed Lau Kong Wah in running to represent New Territories East in the Legislative Council elections after resigning as special assistant to the Chief Executive.[3] With about 100,000 votes for their party list, both Chan and Lau were declared elected.[4]

Shortly after the election results were announced, Chan was widely ridiculed for his poor English. He is quoted as saying in response to a reporter's question that the DAB would "try our breast ... to improve people's living hood [sic]".[5]

Controversies

Urine inspection

In a pre-election debate, Chan proposed to impose mandatory drug tests on teenagers returning from Mainland China, so as to fight against abusing narcotics by them. The plan was criticised as abusing human rights.[6]

Libel

In another pre-election debate, Chan questioned Leung Kwok-hung for his "one-minute attendance" in each LegCo meeting. Leung denied the accusation and considered that it is a libel on him. Then replied with the fact of over 95% attendance and asked for apology.[6]

Inadequate English proficiency for a Councillor

Shortly after the result of the Legislative Council was announced and Chan's victory into the Council was confirmed, Chan was interviewed by the press on live TV, where he was asked by one of the English-speaking reporter that:

Mr Chan, you are able to get a seat, but the government-friendly camp is losing one seat (because of that), does that (come) to your surprise? [7]

Chan replied:

It is a little bit surprise for us, but we will try our breast to….(stuttering with 5 consecutive “ers”)…still, er, try our breast to, er, not just, er, criticize the government’s policy, but also make some, er, good suggestions in order to improve the people’s livinghood. Ok?[7]

His mistake regarding the word "breast" for "best", in particularly was criticised in the media and the general public in Hong Kong for lack of English language proficiency as a Legislative Councilor. [8][9] The clip from that interview was uploaded on youtube.com and subtitled to enhanced those stutters and the phrase "try our breast".[10]

References

  1. Young DAB star set to join Tsang office
  2. Political parties look to young guns
  3. 29 DAB candidates to contest LegCo Election 9 July 2008
  4. DAB retains top spot in HK election, 9 September 2008
  5. "The struggle to keep abreast of it all". South China Morning Post (Hong Kong). 11 September 2008. p. 2. 
  6. 6.0 6.1
  7. 7.0 7.1 Television Broadcasts Limited, 7 September 2008, Legislative Council Election live interview, Hong Kong.
  8. 克勤叫人試胸?碩士學歷 英文答問出事 Ming Pao Newspaper, Hong Kong
  9. 隔牆有耳:網民恥笑陳克勤, Apple Daily, Hong Kong
  10. (陳克勤) "er...er...er...try our BREAST"
Government offices
New office Special Assistant of Chief Executive Office
2006–2008
Vacant
Title next held by
Ronald Chan
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Preceded by
Li Kwok-ying
Member of Legislative Council
Representative for New Territories East
2008–present
With: Andrew Cheng, Lau Kong-wah, Nelson Wong (2008–2012)
Emily Lau, Ronny Tong, Leung Kwok-hung (2008–present)
Fernando Cheung, Elizabeth Quat, Ray Chan, James Tien, Gary Fan (2012–present)
Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded by
Lam Tai-fai
Member of the Legislative Council
Hong Kong order of precedence
Member of the Legislative Council
Succeeded by
Chan Kin-por
Member of the Legislative Council
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.