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Tony Cheung

Rex Mo Shing-fung, 29
Political affiliation: Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (since 2011)
Education: 2009 degree in policy studies and administration from City University
 
Many newly elected pro-establishment district councillors grew up in families which either supported Beijing loyalists or were uninterested in politics - but for Rex Mo Shing-fung, it was neither.
Mo's father supported the Democratic Party, and in 2004 both voted for Andrew Cheng Kar-foo in the Legislative Council election.
That was about a year after Mo joined the historic July 1 march in 2003, when 500,000 people - many of them university students - took to the streets and forced the government to shelve a controversial national security bill.
But about a week after unseating veteran Democrat district councillor Josephine Chan Shu-ying in Tuen Mun, Mo, now 29, insisted he was too young then to make educated political choices.
"I was not thinking about politics when I joined the July 1 march. I was only 17 ... and I just went there to take a look at what was going on," Mo said. "[In 2004,] I didn't know who to vote for. I discussed it with my dad and he said 'let's vote for the pan-democratic camp', and I did.
"In recent years, first-time voters and residents paid attention to politics, but it was not the case over a decade ago."
Mo reckoned it was not until two years after graduating from City University with a public policy and politics degree in 2009 that he made an educated political choice: joining the Beijing-loyalist Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong as a full-time community officer in Siu Hong, Tuen Mun.
"I used to work for the Tuen Mun District Women's Association, where I met some DAB councillors who asked if I wanted to serve the community. That was how I got involved in politics," he recalled.
Mo made his first bid in the 2011 district council poll. Although he was defeated by Josephine Chan, the party saw him as a rising star and listed him on then-chairman Tam Yiu-chung's four-member slate in the 2012 Legco election.
That poll helped Mo gain more experience, and in November he ousted Chan, who was already a district councillor in 1994 when Mo was just eight.
Mo said diligence and party support were key to his victory, but added that the DAB needed to try and win the hearts and minds of young people. "I think the party needs to do more on consulting the public on different issues," he said.
In recent years, Mo came under attack over the DAB's support for landfill expansion in Tuen Mun, which many residents opposed.
 


Rex Mo, rising star who upset the odds to win Tuen Mun district council seat

Rex Mo Shing-fung, who triumphed in Tuen Mun. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Young Liberal Dominic Lee says party needs to make changes

Lee represents Yau Yat Tsuen. Photo: K.Y. Cheng 

News

Hong Kong

Politics

Many newly elected pro-establishment district councillors grew up in families which either supported Beijing loyalists or were uninterested in politics - but for Rex Mo Shing-fung, it was neither.
 
