Andrew Cheng Kar-foo () (born 28 April 1960 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

) was a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and solicitor. He is a former Democratic Party member of the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...

representing the

New Territories East New Territories East is the eastern part of New Territories, covering North District, Hong Kong, North, Tai Po District, Tai Po, Sha Tin District, Sha Tin, and Sai Kung District. History All districts except Sai Kung District have been connected ...

geographical constituency In Hong Kong, geographical constituencies, as opposed to Functional constituency (Hong Kong), functional constituencies, are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated constituency, constituencies. There are currently 5 ...

Biography

He was a founder member of the Democratic Party, previously a member of the

Meeting Point Meeting Point ( Chinese: 匯點) was a liberal and moderate Chinese nationalist political organisation and party in Hong Kong formed by a group of former student activists in the 1970s and intellectuals for the discussion for the Sino-British ...

. He was a member of Southern District Council (representing

Ap Lei Chau Estate Ap Lei Chau Estate () is a public housing estate in Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is the first public housing estate in Ap Lei Chau. Completed in two phases in 1980 to 1982, respectively, the estate consists of 8 residential blocks ...

) between 1994–99 and of Tai Po District Council (representing Tai Po Central) from 1999 to 2011. Cheng was first elected to the Legislative Council in 1995 representing the Financial, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services constituency but left the council when it was replaced by the Provisional Legislative Council in July 1997. He was elected to represent the New Territories East constituency in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and won re-election in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. In June 2010, Cheng publicly pondered his moral dilemma in supporting the vote in support of the revised electoral reform proposals put forward by the government and backed by the Democratic Party. The proposal draw unprecedented controversy in the pan-democratic camp as the leaders of the Democratic Party had met with and sought approval from the officials of the Central Government Liaison Office. He subsequently decided to vote against the proposals, and announced in his Legco speech that he would quit the party because "small, but critical differences of opinion" prevented him from fulfilling his election pledge to strive for universal suffrage in 2012.Wong, Albert (24 June 2010) "Electoral reform row makes one Democrat a quitter, others bitter", ''South China Morning Post'' Cheng stood down at the 2012 election, in which he supported several pan-democratic candidates in New Territories East. He helped Gary Fan, who stood second in his list in previous elections and also quit the Democratic Party owing to disagreement over the 2010 electoral reform proposals, of Neo Democrats to win a seat in the constituency. He joined D100 as a radio host after retiring from the Legislative Council. Although once denied rejoining electoral politics, Cheng changed his mind and contested the 2016 legislative election in New Territories East. He lost the bid with only 3.08% support. Three of Neo Democrat's Shatin District Councillors defected from Gary Fan to Cheng on the election day; they were subsequently dismissed from the party for Fan's failure in re-election.

Personal life

Cheng is married to Chan Kwai-ying, who is a cousin of his fellow Democrat

Wong Sing-chi Nelson Wong Sing-chi (born 11 October 1957) is a Hong Kong politician and social worker. He had been member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong between 2000–04 and 2008–12. He was the founding member of the Democratic Party before he ...

, and is a father of two.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Andrew 1960 births Living people Alumni of the University of Hong Kong District councillors of Tai Po District Alumni of Hong Kong Baptist University Charter 08 signatories Meeting Point politicians Democratic Party (Hong Kong) politicians HK LegCo Members 1995–1997 HK LegCo Members 1998–2000 HK LegCo Members 2000–2004 HK LegCo Members 2004–2008 HK LegCo Members 2008–2012 University of New South Wales Law School alumni