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Helena Wong (politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the writer with the same Chinese name, see Wong Bik-Wan.
For other people named Helena Wong, see Helena Wong (disambiguation).
In this Hong Kong name, the surname is Wong. In accordance with Hong Kong custom, the Western-style name is Helena Wong and the Chinese-style name is Wong Pik-wan.
Helena Wong
黃碧雲
Wong in 2020
Member of the Legislative Council
In office
1 October 2012 – 1 December 2020
Preceded byJames To
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
ConstituencyKowloon West
Personal details
Born (1959-03-21) 21 March 1959 (age 65)[1][2]
Political partyDemocratic Foundation (1989–90)
United Democrats (1990–94)
Democratic Party (1994–present)
Spouse
Shae Wan-chaw
​
(m. 2001)​
Residence(s)Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Alma materKowloon True Light School
Chinese University of Hong Kong (B.A., M.Phil.)
University of California, Los Angeles (M.A., Ph.D.)
OccupationLecturer

Helena Wong Pik-wan (Chinese: 黃碧雲, born 21 March 1959) is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for Kowloon West constituency. She is also an academic staff member at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.[3]

Background

[edit]

Wong was born in Hong Kong in 1959, and graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Master of Philosophy in Government and Public Administration. She continued on to receive her Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

She joined the Hong Kong Christian Council in 1984, working on Publication, public policies and social affairs, and promotion of civic education. She co-founded the Hong Kong Christian Institute in 1988, an ecumenical Christian non-governmental organisation outside the institutional constraints of the church. She also chaired the Hong Kong Women Christian Council from 1999 to 2002.[4]

She has lectured at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) from 1999 to 2019, with a focus on Hong Kong and mainland China, and women's issues. She held the coordinator position for the theme on “Chinese political system and legal system” of GEC2801 China Studies from 2004 to 2006. She retired from PolyU on 30 June 2019.

Political career

[edit]
Wong in 2016

Wong joined the Hong Kong Democratic Foundation in 1989 and co-founded the first major pro-democracy party, the United Democrats of Hong Kong which became the Democratic Party in 1994.[4]

She became a member in the Election Committee for the Higher Education sub-sector in 2011.[5]

In 2012, Wong was elected into the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for the Kowloon West constituency.[3][6]

She gained fame when she exposed the lead contamination in tap water at Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City. The incidents were dubbed the "Hong Kong water-gate" in July 2015.[4]

In the lead-up to the 2020 Hong Kong legislative election, Wong received the highest amount of opposition among Democratic Party members in the party's special convention to decide its candidates.[7] Following her loss in the 2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries, Wong announced that she would retire from the Legislative Council and not participate in the upcoming LegCo election as a candidate.[8]

Arrests

[edit]

Wong was arrested on 1 November 2020, along with six other democrats, in connection with the melee that had broken out in the LegCo on 8 May 2020. On that day, Starry Lee, the incumbent chair of the House Committee of the Legislative Council, had attempted to commence a meeting of the committee after extended stalling tactics of the pan-democratic camp over the previous months.[9]

On 6 January 2021, Wong was among 53 members of the pro-democratic camp who were arrested under the national security law, specifically its provision regarding alleged subversion. The group stood accused of the organisation of and participation in unofficial primary elections held by the camp in July 2020.[10] Wong was released on bail on 7 January.[11]

In late February 2021, after being charged with subversion, Wong was remanded in custody again along with other 46 activists and politicians.[12] On 4 March, she was among only 15 of the 47 to be granted bail, however, she remained in custody pending an appeal by the Hong Kong government.[13] Her bail application was later upheld by the High Court and she was released on bail. On 1 April 2021, High Court judge Esther Toh explained her rationale to release her on bail. Toh explained that Wong had not signed the declarations of hardcore democrats in maintaining the idea of, once elected, use the power of veto to block the budget and therefore force Chief Executive Carrie Lam to give in to the five demands of the 2019 protests. Toh also highlighted occasions in which Wong voted in favour of government measures and policies and cited her low-risk to reoffend.[14][15] However, Wong had to present herself before the court on 31 May 2021, when hearings on the subversion case resume.[14]

On 30 May 2024, Wong was found guilty of subversion in the primary elections case, along with 13 other defendants.[16]

Personal life

[edit]

Wong identifies as a feminist. She decided not to be a traditional housewife, choosing not to get married early in order to focus on her studies. In 2001, she married Shae Wan-chaw, an associate professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, at the age of 42.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Facebook
  2. ^ "2011 Committee Subsector Elections" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
  3. ^ a b "Dr Pik-wan Helena WONG". Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d Ng, Kang-chung (20 July 2015). "Hong Kong lawmaker Helena Wong moves from blunders to tainted water scandal". South China Morning Post.
  5. ^ "2011 Election Committee Subsector Elections - Election Results". www.elections.gov.hk. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Wong, Helena Pik Wan". Webb-site. 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  7. ^ 周禮希; 吳倬安; 鄧家琪 (17 May 2020). "民主黨特別會員大會通過7人籌組參選隊伍 強調尊重泛民協調爭35+" (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  8. ^ "黃碧雲承認初選落敗 不報名參選立法會" (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  9. ^ Ho, Kelly (1 November 2020). "Hong Kong police arrest 7 democrats in connection with chaos during May legislative meeting". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  10. ^ "National security law: Hong Kong rounds up 53 pro-democracy activists". BBC News. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  11. ^ Chau, Candice (8 January 2021). "'Hong Kong has entered a bitter winter,' says primaries organiser as 52 democrats in mass arrest bailed out". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  12. ^ Chau, Candice (28 February 2021). "47 democrats charged with 'conspiracy to commit subversion' over legislative primaries". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  13. ^ Cheung, Eric (4 March 2021). "Hong Kong court grants bail to 15 of 47 pro-democracy activists in landmark national security hearing". CNN. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  14. ^ a b Siu, Jasmine (1 April 2021). "Hong Kong judge explains bail decisions in city's largest national security law case involving 47 politicians and activists". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  15. ^ Cheng, Selina (1 April 2021). "Helena Wong 'voted for gov't motions': Judiciary reveals how Hong Kong democrat got bail under security law". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  16. ^ Pang, Jessie; Pomfret, James (30 May 2024). "'Hong Kong 47' trial: 14 democrats found guilty in landmark subversion case". Reuters. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Preceded by Member of Legislative Council
Representative for Kowloon West
2012–2020 		Succeeded by
Constituency abolished
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