Raymond Chan
Newly elected legislator and radio personality Raymond “Slow Beat” Chan Chi-chuen is Hong Kong’s first openly gay politician, and is affiliated with radical political group People Power. When he’s not in Legco representing his New Territories East constituents, he’s also the CEO of online radio station HK Reporter. Chan talks to Adele Wong about his days in radio entertainment, and how he’s coping with his new role as a de facto ambassador for gay rights.
After graduation, my first job was at Commercial Radio. I wanted to do news and public affairs, so I was at their FM 88.3 station. But before I even passed probation, my then-boss Winnie Yu-ching turned myself and another guy [Tam Tak-chi] into [radio personalities] “Fast Beat” and “Slow Beat,” and we started doing more entertainment and lifestyle coverage.
I was at Commercial Radio for seven years, and then switched to Metro Radio, where I also focused on entertainment. I’ve always wanted to be a commentator, but when you’ve done entertainment for over a decade, it’s very difficult to switch to news. Your image is one thing—other people might not think you know your stuff. Plus, your income in entertainment is better—you can do commercials, voice-overs, be an MC.
In 2008, I started to get bored with work. As you get older, it’s harder to do well in entertainment. Someone younger, fresher and more energetic might be better than a 40-year-old uncle, plus they’re cheaper to hire. I resigned at the end of 2008. I then went to Japan to finish my Buddhist studies and become a monk. It’s not as extreme as people think—it was more like a master’s degree.
In 2010, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) sponsored a DAB-hosted show on Commercial Radio. They broke a rule—mass media isn’t allowed to do political advertising. The DAB are pro-Communists. Commercial Radio had a commentator [Lam Bun] who was burned to death in his car by leftists in the ‘67 riots. So Commercial Radio has always had anti-Communist leanings.
After Commercial Radio accepted the DAB sponsorship, ex-Commercial Radio staff, including myself, got really angry.
In 2010, the Democratic Party supported Donald Tsang’s constitutional reform package. In response, a group of us created the Power Voters group. Our goal was to let people know that the DP had betrayed the voters, and we needed to punish them by taking back their votes. In April 2011, Power Voters and the League of Social Democrats’ (LSD) Raymond Wong and Albert Chan joined to become [political group] People Power.
September was the Legislative Council elections. My vote count was more than the Democratic Party’s vice chairman Emily Lau—I was very happy. I am a political baby. I’ve never even been a district councilor. I had 38,042 votes, which was fifth in my district. Even [the Civic Party’s] Ronny Tong had fewer votes than I did.