appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Jeffie Lam

Owen Fung

To many people across the political spectrum, lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king is so considered and cautious she almost lacks personality.
That reputation explains why when the 42-year-old became the first chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong last year it was widely perceived as a strategic step to eventually pave the way to her candidacy for the city’s top job one day.
She had already been appointed by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to the city’s top decision-making body in 2012, making her a three-tier councillor of the district, legislative and executive councils.
She ranked second when she ran for one of the five “super” seats in the citywide constituency of the legislature with 277,143 votes.
Lee, an accountant, was the first professional to lead the city’s biggest pro-Beijing force, opening a new chapter for the decades-old party as it extended its reach from the grass roots to the elites and the middle class.
Since she’s quite fresh and there’s a group of veterans in the party, sometimes she can be jittery
DAB lawmaker Leung Che-cheung
Graduating from the University of Science and Technology, Lee launched her political career in 1999 at the age of 25, winning a seat on Kowloon City District Council as an independent and making her the youngest district councillor at the time.
In 2004, she was recruited by Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, a DAB veteran, to join the party alongside other young professionals.
Her induction came among the “darkest hours” of the DAB, which had suffered a huge setback in the elections a year earlier after 500,000 people took to the streets to protest against government policies and plans to introduce controversial national security laws.
Lee contested the Legco election for the first time in 2004, ranking third on a DAB list in Kowloon West led by her mentor Tsang, and eventually entered the legislature in 2008.
When she took over the reins of the city’s biggest party last year from veteran heavyweight Tam Yiu-chung, 65, it was seen as a generational shift. Lee pledged at the time to nurture young talent and lead the DAB to greater success in crunch elections.
But despite her smooth rise through the ranks since her entry to politics, some pro-establishment lawmakers believed it was still difficult for Lee to become a figure as authoritative as her predecessors given she was still relatively green.
That perception could be evidenced in the bungled walkout led by the camp in the political reform vote last June. It was Tam who offered the public an explanation and apology in the press conference, with Lee speaking not a word.
DAB lawmaker Leung Che-cheung said he thought Lee was up to the post as the party’s chairwoman, but, being relatively young within the pro-establishment camp, she still didn’t command the same level of authority as Tam or Ip Kwok-him.
“Trust with other parties takes time to build up,” he said. “Since she’s quite fresh and there’s a group of veterans in the party, sometimes she can be jittery.”


Will China’s new local surtax provide relief for its regions’ fiscal headaches?

New York City’s rich Chinese grapple with Beijing tax rules as enforcement deadline nears

How one company’s choice – resignation or the factory – left China’s young workers floored

Beijing’s ‘trust issue’ with Hong Kong and what the city can promise in its 5-year plan

In Focus

Starry Lee, the cautious accountant battling to impose her authority

Starry Lee with DAB vice-chairmen Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan (left) and Brave Chan Yung. Photo: David Wong

News

Hong Kong

Politics

When she took over control of Hong Kong’s biggest political party, many saw it as another step towards the city’s top job – but not everyone is convinced by her leadership skills


Starry Lee Wai-king