Hong Kong polls: New Sha Kok councillor Billy Chan plans to start from 'the bottom up'
Billy Chan hopes discussion workshops will help win over the ageing residents of Sha Kok Estate
To political analysts, Billy Chan Shiu-yeung is one of the young NeoDemocrats who, in an unexpected result in the district council elections, captured a Sha Tin stronghold of Civil Force, the pro-establishment regional group founded by home affairs minister Lau Kong-wah.
But for residents of Sha Kok constituency, the 24-year-old Chinese-Korean owed his victory to his hard work, good looks and, perhaps most worrying to seasoned politicians, the voters' desire to give the next generation a chance.
"The incumbent district councillor was not reachable most of the time," said a housewife, one of about 30 residents who congratulated Chan during his one-hour interview with the Post close to a wet market.
"The younger generation, of course, supports democracy and that's why I voted for him," said another housewife in her 40s, defying the district-first priority of many of her fellow voters.