Raymond Chan Chi-chuen (born 16 April 1972 in Hong Kong, ), also called Slow Beat () in his radio career, is a former 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 ...
constituency), presenter and former chief executive officer of
Hong Kong Reporter.
Chan is the first
openly gay
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...
legislator in Hong Kong and
East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
.
He resigned from the Legislative Council on 28 September 2020, citing that he would not serve in an "appointed legislature" after Beijing had extended the legislators' terms by a year.
[
] Chan, along with most other pro-democracy politicians in Hong Kong, is currently imprisoned.
Education
Chan graduated from the
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...
in 1994 with a
Bachelor of Social Science
The Bachelor of Social Science (BSocSc or BSocSci) is an undergraduate degree. It typically requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations.
It c ...
degree in Sociology.
Career
In the early 1990s, under the stage name Slow Beat, he teamed up with
Tam Tak-chi
Tam Tak-chi (; born 2 February 1973), also called "Fast Beat" () in his radio career, is a former Hong Kong radio presenter, actor and currently a social activist. He was the vice chairman of the pro-democracy political party People Power.
Early ...
(aka Fast Beat) to host a radio show on
Commercial Radio Hong Kong
Commercial Radio Hong Kong (CRHK, , also known as Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company Limited, is one of the two commercial radio broadcasting companies in Hong Kong, alongside Metro Radio Hong Kong. CRHK offers a variety of radio prog ...
, known as ''Fast Slow Beats'', with help from
Winnie Yu. The duo gained popularity when they hosted ''Challengers of Fire'' on
Asia Television
Asia Television Limited (, also known as ATV) is a digital media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television () on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial televis ...
in 1997, but left the show one year later. They remained partners after joining
Metro Showbiz in 2000 until Chan quit his career as radio host in 2007. He then spent one year practicing
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
in Japan. He returned as radio host at Internet radio station
Hong Kong Reporter in 2010 and was named its chief executive officer in 2011.
Ray Chan is a Buddhist. In early 2009, he was a Buddhist monk in a Japanese temple, and he can read some fundamental Sanskrit.
In September 2010, along with several fellow hosts of Hong Kong Reporter, Chan became a co-founder and deputy spokesperson of political group
Power Voters
The Power Voters was a pro-democratic political group in Hong Kong. The core members formed the radical party People Power in early 2011 and became one of its branches.
Its major aims were to punish the largest pro-democratic party Democratic ...
(later part of
People Power
"People power" is a political slogan denoting the Populism, populist driving force of any social movement which invokes the authority of grassroots opinion and Will (philosophy), willpower, usually in opposition to that of conventionally organis ...
), whose objective was to oppose the
Democratic Party in the
2011 district council elections. Chan failed to challenge Democrat
Lee Wing-tat
Lee Wing-tat (; born 25 December 1955) is a former Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), returned by direct election as representative of the New Territories West constituency. He was the former third Chairman of the Democra ...
in
Lai Wah of
Kwai Tsing District Council
The Kwai Tsing District Council () is the district council of Hong Kong, district council for the Kwai Tsing District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. It currently consists of 32 members of which 6 are directly elected from the three ...
.
In 2012, he teamed up with
Erica Yuen in running for the
Legislative Council election and was ultimately elected. After the election, he
came out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...
as a gay man and voiced his support for
LGBT rights in Hong Kong
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) people in Hong Kong (a special administrative region of China) may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents.
History
After the 1967 decriminalisation of homosexuality in the ...
, including the legislation of the Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance.
With the successful strategic voting among the pro-democracy voters, Chan was one of the five non-establishment candidates to be re-elected in the
2016 election with 45,993 votes. In the
2017 Chief Executive election
The 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election was held on 26 March 2017 for the 5th term of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE), the highest office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Former Chief Secretary for Administration ...
, he supported radical legislator
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 ...
of the
League of Social Democrats
The League of Social Democrats (LSD) is a social democratic party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Chan Po-ying, wife of Leung Kwok-hung, it positions itself as the radical wing of the pro-democracy camp and stresses on "street actions" and "parlia ...
(LSD) to run for the Chief Executive through an unofficial civil petition, despite the mainstream pro-democrats backing former
Financial Secretary
Financial secretary is an administrative and executive government position within the governance of a state, corporation, private or public organization, small group or other body with financial assets.
A financial secretary oversees policy con ...
John Tsang
John Tsang Chun-wah, GBM, JP (; born Mui; born 21 April 1951) is a Hong Kong former senior civil servant and government official who was the longest-serving Financial Secretary of Hong Kong SAR to date, from 2007 to 2017.
Born in Hong Kong ...
.
On 4 June, in an attempt to disrupt the third reading of the National Anthem Bill at the
Legislative Council
A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
, Chan and fellow lawmaker
Eddie Chu
Eddie Chu Hoi-dick (; born 29 September 1977) is a Hong Kong social activist and politician. He is a member of the Local Action and founder of the Land Justice League which are involved in conservation and environmental movements. He is kno ...
attempted to disperse pungent liquid towards the President of the Legislative Council,
Andrew Leung
Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen (; born 24 February 1951) is a Hong Kong politician who is the current President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco), representing the Industrial (First) functional constituency. From October 2012 to Octobe ...
. They were stopped before they could reach the rostrum; Chan dropped the liquid and a lantern on the floor.
On 16 June, Legislative Council president Leung announced that Chan and Chu would be fined roughly HK$100,000 each for their actions. Chu declared the same day that he and Chan would examine and possibly challenge the decision.
Chan resigned from the Legislative Council on 28 September 2020, citing that he would not serve in an "appointed legislature". Prior to his resignation, the Legislative Council term had been extended, upon authorization by the central government on request of the Hong Kong government, by a year in order to resolve the limbo that had been created by the
postponement of the 2020 legislative election.
In a brief statement issued through his sister on 2May 2021, Chan, who was in jail at that time, announced that he was quitting People Power and withdrawing from politics.
Arrests
Chan was arrested on 1 November 2020, along with six other democrats, in connection with a melee that had broken out in the LegCo on 8 May 2020.
On 6 January 2021, Chan was among 53 members of the pro-democratic camp who were
arrested
An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be Interroga ...
under the
national security law, specifically its provision regarding alleged subversion. The group stood accused of the organisation of and participation in unofficial primary elections held by the camp in July 2020. Chan was briefly released on bail on 7 January, but returned to custody on 28 February along with most others charged.
On 16 September 2021, Chan was released on bail after his application was granted by High Court judge Esther Toh. On 2 November, High Court judge Esther Toh upheld her decision to grant bail to Chan because he had a history of cooperating with the government during his time in the legislature, he had been named by LegCo president
Andrew Leung
Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen (; born 24 February 1951) is a Hong Kong politician who is the current President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco), representing the Industrial (First) functional constituency. From October 2012 to Octobe ...
as the most diligent lawmaker, and he had previously supported some government bills.
On 30 May 2024, Chan was found guilty of subversion in the primaries case, along with 13 other defendants.
References
External links
Legislative Council of Hong Kong Member BiographyPeople Power NT East*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Raymond Chi-chuen
1972 births
Alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Gay politicians
Hong Kong television presenters
People Power (Hong Kong) politicians
The Frontier (Hong Kong, 2010) politicians
Living people
Hong Kong LGBTQ rights activists
Hong Kong LGBTQ politicians
Hong Kong gay men
Hong Kong Buddhists
HK LegCo Members 2012–2016
HK LegCo Members 2016–2021
Political prisoners held by Hong Kong