Newly elected pan-democrat lawmaker Alvin Yeung ‘slightly overwhelmed’ at Legco swearing-in

Newly elected Civic Party lawmaker Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu said he was “slightly overwhelmed” when taking his oath on Wednesday morning.

Yeung won the New Territories East by-election on Sunday, securing 160,000 votes, to replace former party colleague and mentor Ronny Tong Ka-wah, who quit in the wake of a failed bid to reform the chief executive election.

He attended the Legislative Council meeting surrounded by party associates. At 11am, when the session started, the first item on the agenda was to witness his swearing-in in front of Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing.

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Tsang welcomed him as “legislator Alvin Yeung” as the ceremony concluded.

Yeung then walked to his seat with a confident air that stood in contrast to his more casual manner when meeting the media.

Upon requests from journalists, Yeung pretended to walk into the chamber again for photo purposes, as the other lawmakers surrounding him had blocked the cameras the first time around.

Speaking to the media, Yeung, a barrister by profession, said: “It’s a heavy responsibility to be shouldering the expectations of the 160,000 people who voted for me.”