Choy So-yuk, BBS, JP (, born 10 October 1950) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

politician. She was an elected member of Eastern District Council and a Hong Kong Deputy of the National People’s Congress. From 1997 to 2008 she was a member of the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kon ...

and its forerunner. Choy is a member of the

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) is a Pro-Beijing camp (Hong Kong), pro-Beijing Conservatism, conservative political party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Starry Lee and holding 13 Legislative Council of Hon ...

(DAB) and her main supporters are pro-

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

s and organisations, especially the Fujianese in

North Point North Point is a mixed-use urban area in the Eastern District of Hong Kong. Located in the northeastern part of Hong Kong Island, the area is named after a cape between Causeway Bay and Tsat Tsz Mui that projects toward Kowloon Bay. Loc ...

on Hong Kong Island.

Early life and education

Choy was born in Jinjiang,

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...

, China. Her family migrated to Hong Kong when she was very young. She holds a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in Chemistry and a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

in Chemistry, both from the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public university, public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest Higher education in Hong Kong, tertia ...

(1974 and 1980 respectively).Huafeng Environmental Protection Textile International Group - Directors' Biographies
/ref>

Political career

Choy joined the

Provisional Legislative Council The Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) was the interim legislature of Hong Kong that operated from 1997 to 1998. The legislature was founded in Guangzhou and sat in Shenzhen from 1996 (with offices in Hong Kong) until the handover in 1997 an ...

in 1997, replacing Maria Tam upon the

Handover In cellular telecommunications, handover, or handoff, is the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another channel. In satellite communications it is the process of transfe ...

from British to Chinese rule and went on to sit in subsequent Legislative Councils until 2008, representing the Hong Kong Island

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

. She was a member of the (pro-business, pro-Beijing) Hong Kong Progressive Alliance, but ran (and won) for the DAB for the 2000 Legislative Council Election, as part of a joint election strategy by the two parties, made possible through the agreement of the influential

community leaders in the district, who are loyal to her. Her former party anyway merged into the DAB in 2005. Her Legislative Council positions included chairman of the Panel on Environmental Affairs, chairman of the Panel on Home Affairs, and member of the Panel on Development. In the 2008 Legco election, Choy was placed second to

Jasper Tsang Jasper Tsang Yok-sing ( zh, t=曾鈺成; born 17 May 1947) is a Hong Kong politician. He is the founding member of the largest pro-Beijing party the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) from 1992 to 2003 and ...

on the DAB list for the Hong Kong Island constituency. Choy's loss of her seat was reportedly because the party's vote was split with

Regina Ip Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee (; ' Lau; born 24 August 1950) is a Chinese politician. She is currently the Convenor of the Executive Council (ExCo) and a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), as well as the founder and current chairp ...

, who was the candidate endorsed by the DAB in the

2007 Hong Kong Island by-election The 2007 Hong Kong Island by-election was held on 2 December 2007 and was won by Anson Chan with 54.6% of the votes cast. It was precipitated by the death of the then chairman of the Pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progre ...

. Since 2000, she has been a member of Eastern District

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

, representing Kam Ping constituency. In the

2003 election The following elections occurred in the year 2003. Africa * 2003 Beninese parliamentary election * 2003 Djiboutian parliamentary election * 2003 Guinean presidential election * 2003 Mauritanian presidential election * 2003 Nigerian parliamentary ...

, she almost lost out to

Leung Kwok-hung Leung Kwok-hung ( zh, t=梁國雄; born 27 March 1956), also known by his nickname "Long Hair" (), is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. He was a member of the Legislative Council, representing the New Territories East. A Trotskyist ...

("Long Hair"), as part of the fallout from widespread public dissatisfaction with incumbent pro-government representatives across the board, while in the 2007 election she successfully saw off a challenge by fellow government supporter and Fujian elder Charles Chiang Yu-tui, winning 75 percent of the vote. In other elections for the seat, she has been unopposed. She stepped down in 2019, and her successor was defeated in 2019 by the candidate from the Civil Party. In 2008, Choy was appointed a Hong Kong Deputy of the National People’s Congress and is therefore an ex officio member of the

Election Committee The Election Committee is a Hong Kong electoral college, the function of which is to select the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, to elect 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong ...

.Webb-site: Choy So Yuk (Positions)
/ref> Other public positions held by Choy, currently or previously, include: member of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, member of the Appeal Panel of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong and director of Fujian Middle School.

Support for environmental issues

Choy is an ardent supporter of environmental issues. She notably broke ranks with her party to vote with conservationists for the preservation of Queen's Pier. She joined democrats to oppose application for HK$50 million to fund the dismantling and relocating of the pier on 9 May 2007.Ambrose Leung, "Pier failure shows Tsang team 'like a weak crab'", '' South China Morning Post'', page 1, 11 May 2007 Choy, however, abstained in a re-submitted request for funds to dismantle and relocate Queen's Pier two weeks later. She revealed that she had been lobbied by Michael Suen and

Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...

; party whips did not allow her to cast an opposing vote, and the government won by 10-7.Diana Lee
"Pier demolition cash bid gets nod"
, 24 May 2007

Business interests

Choy is a

non-executive director A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of ...

of Ping Shan Tea Group, an investment holding company listed in Hong Kong. Formerly Huafeng Group, a

textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not th ...

company, it was acquired in 2013 by China Natural Tea Holdings Company Limited, in a

reverse takeover A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public com ...

. The company was renamed to Ping Shan Tea Group Limited, and Choy's position remains unchanged. She is also an independent non-executive Director of Evershine Group Holdings Limited, and of Loudong General Nice Resources (China) Holdings Limited, as well as the founder and Managing Director of Oriental-Western Promotions Ltd (formerly SHK International Ltd).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choy, Soyuk 1950 births Living people People from Jinjiang, Fujian Hong Kong businesspeople District councillors of Eastern District Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Delegates to the 11th National People's Congress from Hong Kong Delegates to the 12th National People's Congress from Hong Kong Delegates to the 13th National People's Congress from Hong Kong Hong Kong Buddhists Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong politicians Businesspeople from Fujian People's Republic of China politicians from Fujian Hong Kong Progressive Alliance politicians Members of the Provisional Legislative Council HK LegCo Members 1998–2000 HK LegCo Members 2000–2004 HK LegCo Members 2004–2008 Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong Recipients of the Bronze Bauhinia Star Politicians from Quanzhou