James Tien finds favour with his honest fervour
The fact that former Liberal Party leader James Tien Pei-chun was sacked from the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for asking Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to consider quitting could be a blessing in disguise to him and the party.
The fact that former Liberal Party leader James Tien Pei-chun was sacked from the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for asking Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to consider quitting could be a blessing in disguise to him and the party. Dismissing fears of an exodus of members from the pro-business party, chairwoman Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee said the opposite was in fact happening after Tien was stripped of his seat on the nation's top political advisory body on October 29. Since then, potential new members had approached the party's leadership to ask about joining, she said. "They are eager to join our party because they consider us outspoken despite our pro-establishment background," Chow told . Tien said he was pleasantly surprised to find people in the street asking to take photos with him. So while Tien has lost his seat, he has won fans for speaking his mind.
Fellow Liberal lawmaker Vincent Fang Kang, who represents the wholesale and retail sector, had previously said fellow party member Felix Chung Kwok-pan was his top choice of a candidate to succeed Tien as leader. But Chung said he "felt relieved" after the reported that Fang would likely win the post himself in the leadership election to be held as early as next month. Chung had said that he was not a suitable candidate because he was only elected to the Legislative Council in 2012 to represent the textiles and garment sector, while the 71-year-old Fang served as a legislator for 10 years. Independent lawmaker Lam Tai-fai told separately that Fang was a strong candidate to succeed Tien. In September, Tien said he hoped Lam would join the Liberals and succeed him, but Lam dismissed the idea, saying that he might end his Legco career in 2016 if the government's political reform proposal was not passed next year.
In July, former New People's Party deputy chairman Dr Louis Shih Tai-cho quit politics to lead the Medical Association as president, saying he could contribute more to doctors that way. But he recently found himself straddling a divide in the medical sector over the city's hottest political issue as his members urged him to take a stand against or in favour of Occupy Central. On Tuesday, when the association had a second round of discussion on whether to poll doctors on their views about universal suffrage, some half a dozen young doctors who backed the Occupy movement gatecrashed the meeting and demanded that Shih adopt a stance. The association decided the poll should wait until the second round of consultation on political reform, as the current situation was "too emotional". Last month, some 600 doctors including former association president Dr Choi Ki issued a statement condemning police violence. Another 500 doctors and leading professors published a newspaper advertisement that called the movement "a cancer". If not handled carefully, the dispute could be the biggest crisis that Shih has faced in his short time as head of the association, some medical practitioners said. Shih, who made his name as a dermatologist, has treated thousands of patients suffering from skin disorders but is still searching for a cure to the disunity in the association.
