Poon to run in Kowloon Tong

APPOINTED legislator Steven Poon Kwok-lim yesterday ended weeks of speculation and revealed he would run in next month's district board elections.

Mr Poon is the first - and believed to be the only - Liberal Party legislator to stand.

He said: ''Politics involve the masses. I realise that if I want to spend more time on politics in future, I have to start with the grassroots.'' Mr Poon, ex-general manager of China Light and Power, denied he was being contradictory in saying that he wanted to be closer to the grassroots while running in the middle-class Kowloon Tong constituency.

He said: ''It doesn't mean you don't have livelihood problems if you own a car . . . It doesn't mean the district does not have grassroots if there is no public housing.'' Mr Poon, appointed to the Legislative Council in 1991, said he did not choose Kowloon Tong because there were no public housing tenants - perceived as supporters of the small ''l'' liberals - and therefore had a higher chance of winning.

''I chose Kowloon Tong because I lived there for 26 years and I know the district well,'' he said. Mr Poon now lives in Shouson Hill.

Mr Poon said it was too early to say whether he would run for Legco next year through the Election Committee. All district board members elected in September will form the committee which will return 10 legislators.