James Tien Pei-chun's campaign on the Peak starts at the top. Among the potential district council voters the Liberal Party chairman has canvassed are Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang, and Chief Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang. And the precincts of the Legislative Council Building in Jackson Road have also become a canvassing ground for Mr Tien, fighting his first direct election, trying to win the votes of Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming, who lives in Magazine Gap Road, and Hong Kong Progressive Alliance chairman Ambrose Lau Hon-chuen of Homestead Road. It is easier for Mr Tien, lawmaker for the General Chamber of Commerce, to pass through the legislature than some of the homes in his exclusive constituency. Mr Tien admitted he had not realised it would be such an uphill struggle to conduct home visits. Dozens of buildings have rejected requests by him and his election rival Louis Leung Wing-on, an independent, for home visits. In spite of his obvious confidence, Mr Tien said it was difficult to gauge the level of support when giving out election pamphlets on the street. Even more so, if he distributed the pamphlets to tourists as he has already found himself doing in error. 'It's hard to tell whether they support you or not as they usually accept election pamphlets from both sides and appear to be very courteous to both of us,' Mr Tien said. Mr Leung said he had met Mr Tung and Mrs Chan recently at public functions but had not made use of the occasions to ask for their support. He said he had only raised some issues about which voters were concerned. 'I won't adopt a hard-sell approach. I highlight the issues of concern in my constituency and seek to help my constituents,' Mr Leung said. 'Unlike Mr Tien, who has so many public offices, I can focus my work at district level and help solve my constituents' problems in an efficient manner.' Political analyst Professor Lau Siu-kai said: 'From a self-interested point of view, the Government must be eager to see more people from conservative parties running in popular elections as it doesn't want to face the prospect of having a legislature dominated by the opposition.'
