'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung was yesterday named Hong Kong's Personality of the Year 2004 - and said he was proud to inherit the title from last year's winner, the Yuen Long crocodile.
Mr Leung collected 40 per cent of votes - twice as high a percentage as his nearest competitors - in the poll, which closed yesterday morning. It was organised by RTHK's Radio Three.
The activist-turned-legislator topped a shortlist of 10 candidates selected by listeners to the English channel, which included Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, President Hu Jintao and action star Jackie Chan.
Mr Leung's victory came just three days after he was arrested for a breach of the peace when he clashed with stockbrokers demonstrating over the collapse of the Link Reit offering, his first arrest since he was elected to Legco.
The annual award is traditionally won by an anti-establishment character, with previous winners including outspoken Catholic church leader Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun.
'I am very glad to win the award and I am happy to inherit it from the crocodile,' Mr Leung said after his victory was announced. 'The crocodile was very naughty and I think Hong Kong people saw him as a kind of dissident. Maybe people see me in the same way.'
The crocodile was still on the loose last year when it topped the poll.