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

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 ...

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, 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 ...

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 political party registered since 1992 in Hong Kong. Chaired by Gary Chan and holding 19 Legislative Council of Hong Kong ...

(DAB) and her main supporters are pro-

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

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 ...

s and organisations, especially the Fujianese in

North Point North Point is a mixed-use urban area in the Eastern District, Hong Kong, 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 ...

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

Early life and education

Choy was born in Jinjiang,

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern 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 capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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

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

degree in

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and a

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

in Chemistry, both from the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

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

Political career

Choy joined the Provisional Legislative Council 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 transf ...

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

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 ...

. 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 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 politician in Hong Kong. She is currently the Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, Executive Council (ExCo) and a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), as w ...

, who was the candidate endorsed by the DAB in the 2007 Hong Kong Island by-election. 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 natio ...

, representing Kam Ping constituency. In the 2003 election, 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 the electoral college in Hong Kong that selects the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, elects 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong Kong which states ...

.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 Queen's Pier, named after Queen Victoria, was a public pier in front of City Hall in Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong. For three generations it served not only as a public pier in day-to-day use but also as a major ceremonial arrival and ...

. 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 The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

'', 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 Michael Suen Ming-yeung (7 April 1944 – 22 October 2024) was a Hong Kong politician who served as the acting Chief Secretary for Administration in 2005 and 2012 and as Secretary for Education (Hong Kong), Secretary for Education of Hong Ko ...

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 A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

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

textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

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 compa ...

. 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 Chinese emigrants to Hong Kong 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