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Raymond Chan, aka 'Slow Beat'. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

'Slow Beat' says he's found his true love

Coming out of the closet has paid off for Raymond Chan Chi-chuen. The city's first openly gay lawmaker has found "the one", he told reporters at a recent gathering.

Coming out of the closet has paid off for Raymond Chan Chi-chuen. The city's first openly gay lawmaker has found "the one", he told reporters at a recent gathering. "We've known each other for a few months, and it's about a week we've called each other boyfriend," said the man whose previous career as a radio host earned him the nickname "Slow Beat". Still, the People Power representative is reluctant to tell us more about his love, fearing "no one will give me a lift after work any more" if he spills the beans. All we know about the lucky man is he's a professional with a keen interest in politics and took part in this year's July 1 march. So congrats to Raymond, who first came out as gay shortly after being elected to the legislature in 2012. We will watch with interest as he continues to advocate same-sex unions in the Legislative Council.

Jimmy Lai spent nearly HK$800,000 on a family trip.

The fact founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying gave generous donations to the pan-democrats will surprise few. But the more than 900 files from his Next Media conglomerate leaked to the media this week do give the public an insight into the private - and opulent - world of the media tycoon. A document dated July 11 last year showed that Lai spent almost HK$800,000 for a party of five, including his wife Teresa, son Sebastien and daughter Claire, to travel between three continents in as many weeks. Flying first class with Cathay Pacific, the party first journeyed from Hong Kong to Paris, then on to Florence and Milan in Italy before making a visit to New York. Another leaked file showed that Jimmy Lai, a noted art lover, spent 160 million yen (HK$12.7 million) on seven Japanese artworks in October. Hard-up staff may be hoping their boss will be more generous with the pay rises now that they understand his personal financial situation a little better.

 

The Democratic Party's Roy Kwong Chun-yu may not be a household name in his career as a politician. But the 31-year-old Yuen Long district councillor is a big hit with the city's teenage girls in his parallel career as a romantic-fiction writer. After big success with his debut book his second book, , sold more than 10,000 copies at the annual Hong Kong Book Fair, which ended this week. The young Democrat first drew attention online after he published a short love essay entitled on the internet in 2012. Since writing the essay, based around the phenomenally popular messaging app, his following on social media has soared. Kwong has attracted over 92,000 "likes" on Facebook; his party can boast just 5,700. While young girls seem to be crazy about the new-generation writer, some of his big brothers in the Democratic Party do have a question in mind: Could these online followers be transformed into votes? "After all, you still need concrete community work and an understanding of policies to garner voters' support," one party veteran says.

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