She said her family wanted her to retire and the government’s overhaul of the district council election system had also played a part.

The election process, changed under Beijing’s principle of “patriots ruling Hong Kong” after the opposition camp’s 2019 landslide, slashed the proportion of popularly elected seats from more than 90 per cent to less than 20 per cent.

New rules, which demand candidates get at least nine nominations from members of three district committees packed with Beijing loyalists, led to opposition candidates being excluded from the poll.

“We have not only gone back to the starting point of the election system, but we have also fallen two steps backwards,” Poon said.

Poon added she planned to hold a small gathering on Saturday to thank constituents for their support over the years.

“It is a public way for me to tell everyone ‘thank you for your support all these years’ and that I am really grateful for Telford Gardens for helping me develop as a person,” she said.

Other opposition district councillors preparing for the end of their terms include Johnny Chung Lai-him, who represents Ma On Shan Town Centre on Sha Tin District Council.

The 29-year-old social worker has prepared tote bags decorated with illustrations featuring the biodiversity of Ma On Shan, which he said would last longer than calendars, a typical gift distributed by district councillors.

Chung, a former member of student activist group Scholarism, was among the hundreds of opposition district councillors elected for the first time in 2019 as the city was rocked by anti-government protests.

Hong Kong’s first ‘patriots-only’ district poll is ‘real, functioning democracy’

But Chung said he had decided against running for re-election under the new rules.

He added that the new system had an “obvious democratic backslide”, a requirement to support government policies and the constituencies served by each councillor had become larger.

“Instead of becoming the spineless politician that I don’t want to see myself becoming, why don’t I just decide to become a person and do things according to my own conscience?” Chung said.

He added it would have been ideal to serve two to three terms as he wanted enough time to carry forward his work in the community and focus on service to the community instead of winning votes.

“It is really hard for me to let go, because I never imagined that I would bid farewell so suddenly,” he said. “I think this is absolutely not a glorious way to step down.”

Chung fought back tears as he added it would be tough to lose his relationship with his constituents, especially people with mental health problems that he had helped.

“I am really worried that once they lose me as an outreach point, there will be one less person who will encourage them to leave home and get in touch with society,” he said.

Yau Tsim Mong district councillor Leo Chu Tsz-lok, of the Democratic Party, was among six party members that attempted to run in the last election, but failed to get enough nominations.

The 32-year-old said he and his colleagues knew at the start that it was a tough mission, but still decided to give it a try to “let everyone see what flaws the system has”.

Unlucky Hong Kong district poll candidates ‘not in the running for appointed seats’

Chu said the most memorable event as a councillor over the past four years was helping the family of an elderly man found dead in a toilet for the disabled at Hung Hom MTR station hours after relatives told staff he was missing.

The incident led to the railway operator installing motion detectors in toilets, which Chu said was an instance where his work had brought small changes to Hong Kong.

Chu, who had planned to complete three or four terms, is now also emptying his office in Yau Ma Tei, which will be renovated to restore it to its original condition.

“It is a real shame that I could not finish my career as I intended,” he said. “It is like things have ended before they have started, or when significant changes have been made.”

But veteran pro-establishment Kwun Tong district councillor Ivy Fu Pik-chun, who was part of a minority in the present term under the opposition’s leadership, was looking forward to carrying on her duties in the absence of the opposition bloc after she won re-election.

179 ‘patriots’ appointed to Hong Kong district councils; dozens lost in 2019 race

She said she expected that the new intake of councillors would focus more on livelihood matters, rather than politics, like the previous council.

“Political arguments are not that important,” Fu said. “As a district councillor, we should do our job as a ‘community nanny’ well … which means doing work that would be seen as a small affair for average people but are seen as large ones for those being assisted.”

Chung said he would return to his career as a social worker and Chu said he wanted a career in the legal sector after completion of his law degree.

Chu added he was still thankful for the experience of sitting on the council, even though a lot of its work had now “gone down the drain”.

“In the short progress of democracy in Hong Kong, at least I have made some contributions, which I won’t regret in the future,” he said.