Sin Chung-kai

Sin Chung-kai
單仲偕
Sin in 2008
Member of the Legislative Council
In office
1 October 2012 – 30 September 2016
Preceded byKam Nai-wai
Succeeded byHui Chi-fung
ConstituencyHong Kong Island
In office
1 July 1998 – 30 September 2008
Preceded byNew parliament
Succeeded bySamson Tam
ConstituencyInformation Technology
In office
11 October 1995 – 30 June 1997
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byReplaced by Provisional Legislative Council
ConstituencyNew Territories South
Personal details
Born (1960-06-15) 15 June 1960 (age 64)
Hong Kong
NationalityChinese (Hong Kong)
British National (Overseas)
Political partyHong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (until 1990)
United Democrats (1990–94) Democratic Party (since 1994)
SpouseYvonne Sin Chan Ying-yee
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Hong Kong (BSc)
Chinese University of Hong Kong (MBA)
OccupationLegislative Councillor
Sin Chung-kai
Traditional Chinese單仲偕
Simplified Chinese单仲偕
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShàn Zhòngxié
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationSihn Juhng gāai
JyutpingSin6 Zung6 gaai1
Sin Chung Kai at Chinese Wikimedia Conference 2006

Sin Chung-kai (Chinese: 單仲偕; born 15 June 1960) is a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. He was the chairman and a member of Kwai Tsing District Council for the Wah Lai constituency. He was one of the two vice-chairmen of the Democratic Party until December 2012, and now serves as a member of the Executive Committee.

Early career

In 1982, Sin obtained his bachelor's degree at the University of Hong Kong, where he served as the Current Affairs Secretary of the Student Union. In 1997, he obtained a Master in Business Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.[1][2]

Sin was formerly employed as an Information Technology manager at HSBC, resigning in 2011 to focus on his political career.[3]

Political career

District Council

Sin's political career began in 1985 when he was first elected to the Kwai Tsing District Board. He was re-elected in subsequent elections, remaining in this role until 2003. Between the years 1994–1999, Sin served as the chairperson of the board.[4]

In 2011, Sin was one of the contenders in the district council election, representing the Tai Hang constituency. He got 40.9% of the votes, losing to Wong Chor-fung of the New People's Party (NPP).[5] In 2014, Sin participated in the by-election for the South Horizons West constituency, where he got 22.9% of the votes and lost to Judy Chan from the NPP.[6]

In 2019, Sin contested in the district council election for the Wah Lai constituency. He won the seat with 51.93% of the votes, defeating pro-Beijing incumbent Wong Yiu-chung.[7] He also became chairperson of the Kwai Tsing District Board again, starting in January 2020.[8]

Legislative Council

In 1995, Sin ran the Hong Kong legislative election for the New Territories South constituency, winning dominantly with 70.74% of the votes over two other candidates. In 1998, Sin participated in the legislative election, representing the Information Technology functional constituency. He was elected to the Legislative Council with 63.71% of the votes. Sin was re-elected in 2000 and 2004 within the same constituency.[1]

Sin contested in the 2012 Hong Kong legislative election, where he represented the Hong Kong Island constituency. He came in second place after Kenneth Chan Ka-lok with 12.26% of the votes, which secured him a seat on the Legislative Council.[9]

Political activities

Sin served as an executive committee member in the United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) between the years 1990–1994.[2] Since 1994, he has been affiliated with the Democratic Party. He was also the former vice chairperson of the party.[10][11] In December 2012, Sin contested in the leadership election of the party, following the resignation of Albert Ho in the aftermath of the 2012 Legislative Council election. Sin lost narrowly to Emily Lau, who had 149 votes to his 133 votes.[12][13]

In 2007, Sin was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star for his contributions to public affairs.[14] During his political career, Sin had advocated for human rights, economic prosperity, and free flow of information in Hong Kong. He introduced numerous initiatives to develop the city's IT and telecommunications industries.[15]

On 18 April 2020, Sin was among the 15 prominent pro-democracy figures arrested in Hong Kong.[16] His arrest was made based on the claim that he took part in an unauthorized assembly on 1 October 2019 during the anti-extradition bill protests.[17][18]

On 10 June 2022, Sin, along the two other pro-democracy figures, had his Silver Bauhinia Star honour removed, and his Justice of the Peace appointment was revoked by the government due to his jail sentences related to anti extradition-bill protests.[19][20]

Personal life

Sin has been married to his wife since 1986. They have two sons.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b "議員資料庫". app.legco.gov.hk. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Biography of Sin Chung-kai". www.martinlee.org.hk. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  3. ^ "隔牆有耳:單仲偕辭工全力搞選舉 - 李八方". Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  4. ^ "【泛民怎樣守住一區 2】三十年江山未改 | 立場報道 | 立場新聞". 立場新聞 Stand News. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Results of the 2011 District Council Election" (PDF). Electoral Affairs Commission. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  6. ^ "EAC : 2014 Southern District Council South Horizons West By-election - Result". www.eac.hk. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  7. ^ "2019 District Councils Election - Election Results (Kwai Tsing)". www.elections.gov.hk. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  8. ^ "葵青區議會 - 葵青區議會議員資料". www.districtcouncils.gov.hk. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  9. ^ "2012 LegCo Election - Election Results". www.elections.gov.hk. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  10. ^ "單仲偕 - 民主黨". www.dphk.org. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Webb-site Who's Who: positions of Sin, Chung Kai 單仲偕". webb-site.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  12. ^ Emily Lau Wai-hing elected Democratic Party chairwoman, South China Morning Post, 16 December 2012
  13. ^ Lau makes political history Archived 5 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 17 December 2012
  14. ^ "Civil And Miscellaneous Lists : Recipients of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Honours and Awards Grand Bauhinia Medal (G.B.M.)". www.info.gov.hk. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  15. ^ "Housing Authority and its Committees" (PDF). Hong Kong Housing Authority. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  16. ^ Yu, Elaine; Ramzy, Austin (18 April 2020). "Amid Pandemic, Hong Kong Arrests Major Pro-Democracy Figures". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  17. ^ Wong, Rachel (18 April 2020). "15 Hong Kong pro-democracy figures arrested in latest police round up". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  18. ^ "Brief Report on the Arrest and Prosecution of Fifteen Human Rights Defenders for Organising or Taking Part in Unauthorised Assemblies" (PDF). Civil Rights Observer. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Opposition veteran says 'no regrets' over loss of Hong Kong civic honours". South China Morning Post. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  20. ^ Lee, Peter (10 June 2022). "3 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have honours revoked by gov't". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  21. ^ "隔牆有耳: 單雞晒情史挑戰男神鍾 - 李八方". Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
Political offices
New title Member of the Kwai Tsing District Board
Representative for Kwai Chug West
1985–1994
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of the Kwai Tsing District Board
Representative for Wah Fung
1994–2003
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Kwai Tsing District Board
1994–1999
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Kwai Tsing District Council
Representative for Wah Lai
2020–2021
Vacant
Preceded by Chairman of the Kwai Tsing District Council
2020–2021
Succeeded by
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
New seat Member of Legislative Council
Representative for New Territories South
1995–1997
Replaced by Provisional Legislative Council
New parliament Member of Legislative Council
Representative for Information Technology
1998–2008
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Legislative Council
Representative for Hong Kong Island
2012–2016
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Vice Chairperson of Democratic Party
2006–2012
With: Tik Chi-yuen (2006–2008)
Emily Lau (2008–2012)
Succeeded by