They are unlikely to succeed in next week's by-election, but their determination brings character to the polls

JENNIFER Chow Kit-bing would appear to be the most determined candidate in next Sunday's Legislative Council by-election for Hong Kong Island. This is her fourth attempt to win a seat in the legislature since 1991, having lost the previous three battles by a wide margin. Her campaign poster declares that she has braved 'storm and rain' in politics for a decade.

Three months ago she won 14,534 votes in the same constituency, a number which would not impress any political analyst. But the result was a big boost to Ms Chow when she compares it to the 10,950 votes she received in 1998. She also avoided losing her $50,000 deposit, which has to be forfeited if a candidate fails to win five per cent of the vote.

This was why she immediately decided to try her luck again when disgraced Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong legislator, Gary Cheng Kai-nam, resigned amid the scandal over his failure to declare his interest in a public relations firm.

'There is a chance here, and I am looking for my votes to be doubled or tripled,' she said. 'Even if I lose again, I am pretty sure that I will win in the next election in 2004.'

The Eastern District Councillor says she has devoted her life to becoming a full-time politician and a lawmaker's seat is her goal: 'This is the path that I have chosen. I can't give up. And there will be one day that I will succeed.'

Ms Chow, however, is one of the four candidates who seem destined to lose in this by-election.