'Bus Uncle' surfaces yet again at polls to champion for prostitutes

While political parties and groups are gearing up for the Legislative Council election fray, one familiar name that has appeared in the run-up to elections over the past 12 years is back.

Roger Chan Yuet-tung, better known as 'Bus Uncle' to Hongkongers since a video of him scolding a young man on a bus was posted on YouTube in 2006, said he would run for a Hong Kong Island seat.

Mr Chan's attempts to run in the chief executive polls and last year's Legco by-election on Hong Kong Island were rejected because he failed to come up with sufficient nominations or cash for a deposit. He is running on a platform calling for the legalisation of the sex trade.

'[Sex workers] contribute their youth and serve the society by satisfying single men's needs, helping minimise sex crime,' he wrote in the platform he sent to the media and sex worker concern group Zi Teng.

He argues that the government should set up a red-light district.

The maverick contender also says Hong Kong should make laws to promote 'fair competition' among triad societies, so that 'the dark corners of Hong Kong can be brightened up'.