Jaded professor ready for handcuffs
Lady Youde once told Chan Kin-man democracy in HK wasn't far off, but that was 26 years ago and the Occupy Central figure is losing patience
Chan Kin-man is no stranger to the delays and unfulfilled promises that define the city's long fight for a fully democratic system of government.
In 1987, Chan was talking with Lady Youde, wife of the late colonial governor Edward Youde, at a scholarship awards ceremony. Chan had been chosen for a postgraduate studies grant set up to honour the governor, who had died the previous year.
Lady Youde asked Chan whether he supported introducing direct election for the Legislative Council in 1988, a hotly debated issue at the time. Without hesitation, Chan, whose topic for his master's degree at Chinese University was democratic development in Hong Kong, said "yes".
"Lady Youde told me the business sector in Hong Kong was not ready for direct election and it may be introduced later," Chan recalled. The colonial government decided not to introduce direct election in 1988, and three years later, 18 directly elected seats of the legislature were returned by "one man, one vote" for the first time in the history of the colony.
Twenty-six years later, Chan, now an associate professor of sociology at Chinese University, said he was saddened that the prospect for universal suffrage in Hong Kong remained uncertain and that the business sector continued to resist its implementation.
For many years, Chan advocated engaging in dialogue with Beijing over Hong Kong's political reform. Whether certain outspoken critics liked it or not, communicating with the central government was necessary for reaching a solution, he said.