High-flying Hong Kong pilot looks to stay down to earth with Kowloon East poll bid for Civic Party
Jeremy Tam Man-ho insists he is interested in grass-roots issues despite his high-flying career
Most people seem to know him only as a pilot but Jeremy Tam Man-ho says he is much more than that.
The Civic Party member insists he is a down-to-earth person interested in grass-roots issues, having done district work in Tung Chung and Kwun Tong and having run – and lost – three times in district council elections.
“A pilot’s job is to solve problems arising from the ever-changing situation up in the air,” Tam, who works for a passenger airline, said. “The skill set for a councillor is very similar, I’d say.”
Tam, who spent his teenage and university years in Australia where he studied aerospace engineering, said his first involvement in political life began on July 1, 2003 during the historic protest march that drew 500,000 people angry with then chief executive Tung Chee-hwa’s governance.
“I then thought, ‘If you want to get something properly done, do it yourself,’ and I want to change society for the good of my two kids,” he said.