After Occupy, Liberal Party head seeks middle ground in divided Hong Kong

When Felix Chung Kwok-pan came back to Hong Kong at the age of 24 in 1987, his career didn't seem to be heading in a direction that would see him becoming a political leader.

Fresh from studying in Scotland, with an MBA and a bachelor's degree in surveying under his belt, he joined a local firm of surveyors.

"But business was not too good at that time," Chung said. "Property prices slumped in the early 1980s when China and Britain started negotiations on Hong Kong's future … and in 1984, [when the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed], a flat in Heng Fa Chuen was as cheap as HK$500 a square foot.

"When I returned to Hong Kong, the market had stabilised, but was not really growing … So I told my dad I wanted to help him with his garment business, and he was happy," he recalls.

It was a decision that was to change his life. Two decades later, Chung had risen to become chairman of the Hong Kong Apparel Society and decided to challenge as an independent for the textile and garments seat in the Legislative Council.

His rival in 2008 was Sophie Leung Lau Yau-fun, who had represented the sector for a decade - ironically, as a member of the Liberal Party, of which Chung is now chairman.