Starry Lee

The Honourable Starry Lee Wai-king JP
李慧琼
Chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 April 2015
Preceded by	Tam Yiu-chung
Non-official Member of the Executive Council
In office 1 July 2012 – 17 March 2016
Appointed by	Leung Chun-ying
Preceded by	Lau Kong-wah
Succeeded by	Ip Kwok-him
Member of the Legislative Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2012
Preceded by	New constituency
Constituency	District Council (Second)
In office 1 October 2008 – 30 September 2012
Preceded by	Tsang Yok-sing
Succeeded by	Ann Chiang
Constituency	Kowloon West
Personal details
Born	13 March 1974 Hong Kong
Political party	Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong
Alma mater	University of Science and Technology (BBA) University of Manchester (MBA)
Occupation	Accountant

Starry Lee Wai-king, JP (Chinese: 李慧琼; pinyin: Lǐ Huìqióng, born 13 March 1974 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong politician, chairwoman of the largest Beijing-loyalist party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB). She is a Legislative Councillor and a Kowloon City District Councillor. From 2012 to 2016, she was a member of the Executive Council.

Biography

Born in 1974 in Hong Kong into a working-class family and brought up on a public housing estate,^[1] Lee obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Master of Business Administration from the University of Manchester. She became a professional accountant, working for KPMG in Hong Kong and is currently the principal at CCIF CPA Ltd.

Lee first stood in the District Council elections in 1999 for the Kowloon City District Council, the neighbourhood where she lived. She was elected aged 26, the youngest district councillor at that time.^[2] She joined the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong when she was approached by the former party chairman Tsang Yok-sing around 2004. She was asked to become the part of Tsang's team in the following Legislative Council election in September 2004.^[3] She was listed third on the candidate list and helped Tsang to win a seat in the Kowloon West.

With her professional background, Lee became a new star in the party and also the pro-Beijing camp. She was elected to the Legislative Council when Tsang left the constituency for Hong Kong Island in the 2008 Legislative Council election. In 2011, she was elected as the vice-chairwoman of the party.

In 2012, she was appointed to the Executive Council by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. She served on the Executive Council until her resignation in March 2016, when she said she wanted to focus on her work on the Legislative Council and the party. Her position was taken by Ip Kwok-him, a veteran DAB legislator.^[4]

In the 2012 Legislative Council election, Lee contested in the newly created territory-wide District Council (Second) constituency. Her list received over 270,000 votes in total.

On 17 April 2015, she was elected as the first woman to chair the DAB, succeeding Tam Yiu-chung.^[5]

Controversies

In 2010 DAB legislator Starry Lee refused to sign a petition to help ban import of highly endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna to Hong Kong, saying that her daughter loves sashimi and she does not want her daughter to get mad at her.^[6]

See also

• District Council (Second)

References

1. Chan, Bernard (30 April 2015). "Breaking the mould in Hong Kong politics". South China Morning Post.
2. Jasper Tsang – Laws of attraction
3. Chan, Quinton (21 August 2006). "Life in the patriotic camp". South China Morning Post.
4. Wong, Hermina (17 March 2016). "Breaking: CY Leung appoints Ip Kwok-him to Executive Council following Starry Lee’s resignation". Hong Kong Free Press.
5. "民 建 聯 領 導 層 改 選 　 李 慧 琼 當 選 主 席". RTHK. 17 April 2015.
6. "A beastly feast". HK Magazine, 2010

External links

• Official Website of Starry Lee