Politics is second to solving people's problems: New People's Party's Judy Chan Ka-pui

Four months ago, few in Hong Kong - not to mention the political arena - would have heard of the name Judy Chan Ka-pui.

Yet, the New People's Party freshman shot to fame in the small hours of March 24 when she defeated Democratic Party lawmaker Sin Chung-kai and People Power chairwoman Erica Yuen Mi-ming to win a Southern District Council by-election. The poll was triggered when former Democrat Andrew Fung Wai-kwong resigned to become the information co-ordinator for the Chief Executive's Office.

Chan, who turns 34 this week, will represent the South Horizons West constituency after winning 2,023 votes, beating Yuen's 1,083 votes and Sin's 920 votes.

While much of the post-election analysis focused on how a radical People Power candidate had managed to out-poll a moderate pan-democrat for the first time, some political commentators also wondered whether New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee had been the decisive factor in the pro-establishment party's first victory in the middle-class community on Ap Lei Chau.

On Friday, Chan told the South China Morning Post that her "teacher" Ip had played a pivotal role in the election. But she also believes that residents recognised her work in the community over the previous seven months.

"The main reasons [for the victory] are that Ip has [maintained an office] here in the last six years … and that I am familiar with a group of residents, whom I live with in this community. That has been helpful [during my campaign]," Chan said.