Alan Leong sheds elitist image with a little direction

What made Alan Leong Kah-kit stand out in the chief executive debate last week?

The man who helped coach the challenger has revealed the secret - and it all began with a suggestion to vent his passion with a hard kick on the stage.

Mr Leong's main problem, according to film director and corporate consultant Alfred Cheung Kin-ting, was how to break from his elitist image as a barrister. Cheung says Mr Leong was reborn in a 21/2-hour training session at the director's studio late last month.

'Mr Leong said he had difficulty going beyond himself as a barrister,' Cheung wrote in an article in the Hong Kong Economic Journal yesterday.

Mr Leong campaigned with the passion of Don Quixote, but felt restrained in unleashing his emotions, Cheung said. His campaign team felt like an army losing in battle after opinion polls showed the Civic Party member was still way behind Donald Tsang Yam-kuen.

To make him better settle into the role as the underdog in the debate, Mr Leong was told to play to the extreme at the rehearsal - say his closing lines with the highest passion, kick away the table and storm off camera.