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I was born and raised in Hong Kong.
	My father was a seaman who was rarely at home. I am the eldest brother among four siblings. I got used to being the leader.
	The seven people in our family lived in a subdivided unit of around 100 square feet in Sham Shui Po.
	There were four other families packed in the same unit. Your neighbors next door could hear you. We had to share a kitchen and toilets.
	Living there, we learned to be really good at time management. People would knock on the door when you spent too much time in the toilet.
	The biggest pain was there wasn’t enough water. Before the Dong River started supplying water to Hong Kong, the water was cut off if there was no rain. The water supply came for one hour every four days. Sometimes we had to take basins to other districts to collect water.
	We didn’t have much entertainment in childhood. Most of the time we stayed at home. Having a bicycle was a privilege.
	Before I could graduate [from secondary school], I dropped out to work at a department store. I was doing shop window displays.
	I was young and willing to learn. I studied English and graphic design after work.
	I joined the Department Store Workers Association and later became vice-president.
	Then I joined the Federation of Trade Unions. I was responsible for cultural and recreation activities. Cheung Ming-man only became well known after he won our singing contest.
	At 32, I was a representative for the Labour Advisory Board. I was young and energetic—seniors kept pushing me up. I then left the department store at 1979 to concentrate on fighting for worker’s rights.
	A group of people including Szeto Wah and I represented the employee side of the LAB, while Henry Tang represented the employers.
	1985 was the turning point of my life. I joined the Basic Law Drafting Committee and the Legislative Council.
	It was a great opportunity to work with committee members from the mainland. They were all important figures including government officials, scholars and specialists.  
	I picked up Putonghua from those meetings.
	People always say “One Country, Two Systems.” Some don’t notice that the starting point should be “One Country.” If there is no “One Country,” there’s no “Two Systems.”
	We have to protect the integrity of China, banning foreign political parties from making issues within the territory, and cutting contact between them and Hong Kong. Therefore we need to carry out Article 23 [of the Basic Law].
	It says “Hong Kong shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People’s Government…” There’s a “shall” in the sentence, so that’s a thing we should do.
	In fact, there was a similar article in the [pre-1997] Hong Kong Law, but at that time Hong Kong still belonged to the Queen.After the Handover, we should update the law to close the loophole.
	People know I am rational, practical and take my job seriously. If I criticize someone, people really take it as a serious matter.
	I asked Donald Tsang to increase the “fruit money” [old age allowance] when it was around $700. At first he said “OK” but it had to be means-tested beforehand. I criticized him for “turning back the clock,” and he changed his mind.
	But I have never thought of being Chief Executive. On a committee what you have to do is watch the government and point out if they have done anything wrong. As a Chief Executive you need to lead the whole of Hong Kong, which requires lots of abilities. I don’t think I am capable of this.
	I married at 25. But I rarely spend time with my wife. Besides the daily six to seven hours of sleep, I spend all my time at work.
	My wife never complains. She doesn’t have to work so she learns piano, draws and plays with our grandson.
	For me there is no difference between weekdays and weekends. I can only rest and spend time with my family during longer holidays.
	I enjoy swimming and badminton. Nowadays since I’m getting old, I’ve started to do tai chi.
	I am already 65. I will step down from the presidency of the DAB this month. It’s time to give opportunities to the young.
	I am still a member of the Legislative Council until next year. Let’s see what happens after that.


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Tam Yiu-chung 

Photo by Kirk Kenny

Magazines

After eight years, Tam Yiu-chung has stepped down as chairman of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong. The member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference tells Isabelle Hon about his challenging childhood, his path to politics, and why he would never want to be Chief Executive.
