My Take | Political ideology does not pay the bills
- Former radical localist Lee Wai-fung has moved to mainland China and successfully started an English language software company
- Perhaps others will realise that even if you disapprove of the Chinese Communist Party, it’s still perfectly justified to work on the mainland
You can’t live on politics alone. That may be why Lee Wai-fung has given up People Power for what may be called “yuan power”.
Formerly a member of the radical localist party and assistant to its legislator Raymond Chan Chi-chuen, Lee has moved to the mainland and successfully started his own language software company.
Three years ago, according to a profile on Now TV, he was running for a district council seat in Sha Tin on an anti-mainland platform with the slogan “Protect Hong Kong, protect your homeland”.
Now, he is completely focused on his business, which generates annual sales of more than HK$10 million by producing software for teaching the English language. He has never been harassed and never felt unsafe working on the mainland, despite his political background in Hong Kong.
When asked if he had given up on his youthful political ideals, he said it was a mistake to separate politics from economics and livelihood issues. He no longer calls on his former comrades and doesn’t belong to any political party.