Lawmaker finds her balance

Life for barrister, legislator, party leader and mother-of-three Audrey Eu Yuet-mee is a succession of enriching challenges with a fiercely demanding schedule.

She sees herself primarily as a barrister - she became a senior counsel in Hong Kong in 1997 and is a former chair of the Bar Association - but almost all her time is taken up with Legislative Council duties and her policy focuses of high-quality education, environmental and nature conservation, and medical and health issues.

Her move into politics was largely accidental. Ten years ago, the Democratic Party asked her to run as its candidate in a by-election. 'My first reaction was, 'you're crazy!' - it was so far removed from my gentlemanly life as a barrister,' she says.

While put off by the prospect of having to promote herself to seek election, Eu found she could also promote the causes she believed in. She became a political convert and a highly regarded spokeswoman for democracy, equality and social justice.

In 2006, she founded the Civic Party, which she still leads. On a typical day, Eu attends several Legco meetings from 8.30am until 6.30pm. Before and after that, she meets people, lobbyists and the media, and gives speeches. She believes in the importance of bringing politics into people's lives.

Now that her children are grown up, Eu devotes most of her time to her work. She is married to Edmund Woo, and the couple have three daughters aged 26, 23 and 17. The girls show signs of inheriting Eu's predilection for pushing themselves to achieve the best of their abilities.