11 hours ago
Pro-Beijing district councillor withdraws from Miss Hong Kong Pageant after official reminder of duties
Pro-Beijing District Councillor Angel Chong has decided to quit the Miss Hong Kong Pageant, one day after taking part in the first round of interviews for the beauty contest.
Chong made the announcement on Instagram on Wednesday afternoon, saying that she joined the beauty pageant because she believed it was a good platform to promote the work of district councillors, especially among young people.
However, after reading news reports and people's comments, she realised the public perception was not as positive as she had thought, she added.
The incident 'has affected the public perception of the District Council to some degree, and that was the last thing I wanted to see,' Chong wrote in Chinese. 'Therefore, we think we should follow the public perception and protect the image of the District Council… I've decided not to continue participating in the Miss Hong Kong Pageant.'
Chong's participation in the first round of interviews sparked controversy online on Tuesday.
Netizens commented on social media, with some asking why a district councillor had so much spare time to join the entertainment industry, and others suggesting Chong should join the contest only after she resigns from the District Council.
Chong's announcement comes after Alice Mak, the home and youth affairs chief, reminded district councillors of their duties on Tuesday, local media reported.
Mak told journalists that she had learned from media reports that a district councillor was taking part in the pageant.
Regardless of their profession, district councillors should follow the Performance Monitoring Guidelines for Members of the District Councils and fulfil their duties, Mak said.
Chong, a member of the city's largest pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), was appointed as a Sai Kung district councillor in late 2023 during the 'patriots-only' District Council elections.
It was the first time the number of seats chosen by the public was slashed to around 20 per cent, with the rest selected by the city's leader, government-appointed committees, and officials.
At that time, Chong was 23 years old – the youngest among 179 government-appointed district councillors, reported RTHK.
According to her declaration of interest, Chong previously worked at a subsidiary of Chinese Merchants Group, a state-owned enterprise as of early February 2024, but she quit by September that year.
Plans to overhaul the District Council elections were unveiled in May 2023 to ensure only 'patriots' were elected, following a pro-democracy landslide at the last polls in 2019.
The number of seats chosen democratically by the public were slashed from 452 to 88 – reducing the power of public votes to a fifth. The rest are to be chosen by the city's leader and government-appointed committees.
Constituency boundaries were redrawn, the opposition were shut out, voting hours were slashed by an hour, and each local council is to be chaired by a government official, similar to colonial-era arrangements. All candidates undergo national security vetting to ensure patriotism.
