A disappointing loss for Ir A.L, who was narrowly beaten by incumbent R.H by 193 votes. R.H. will thus be commencing another term as LegCo Engineer FC representative for the third consecutive time.

Until I watched a live recording of one of the debates held among the three candidates, I had not, to be honest, really really felt the need to strongly support a particular candidate, primarily because I did not want to make my work politicized in some sense. But after the debate on Saturday it was clear that A.L (in my opinion) deserves to be elected, and as one voter succinctly puts it, it will be "a breath of fresh air". A.L represents positive change and political integrity, whilst R.H comes from an old breed of elitist who do not share the same views on democracies and representative powers. Although I've technically always gave some support to A.L, since I'm helping him with his campaign and being able to interact with him clear that he is a very kind person with a strong dedication to promote and deliver sustainable development.

In this respect, it seems as if this political climate is a typical one that shares some similarities with U.S. politics regarding Presidential elections. (From now on, it will be quite clear that what I say is still identifiable even though I'm not explicitly identifying the two camps). On the one hand, we have a democratic party which stands for the majority of the working and middle class. They may also contain working professionals because they share in the same values regarding work ethics and civic duties. The other, wealthier party consists of politically powerful politicians whose primary interest for politics is power in making use of politics to further private interests. This seems to be the case regarding rivalry/oppositiong between DAB and CP. Unfortunately, unlike the U.S., Hong Kong remains an unusually passive city when it comes to politics and voting. This year, approximately 45.8% of the people voted (or let's say, bothered to vote), which was 10% less than the last election.

Of course, I have to say that I am definitely very very grateful to have the chance to get involved. It is a rare opportunity to take part in a healthy, political organization without ever having to worry about my conscience (if that's the right word, I suppose), because in the end I did get involved and the only way to make this a great experience is to throw yourself in, learn as much as you can and as much as you care (because no one can order you to specifically take great interest in a particular activity). To this end, volunteering for the Civic Party personally turned out to be very good exposure to Hong Kong politics and Hong Kong culture. The Pan-democrats managed to gain at least the minimum 21 seats required to establish a veto-ing type power in making sure that some elements of democratic politics and good governance are maintained in issuing a more than 1/3 voting bloc. I find this particularly interesting because it is very logical (they already did the maths) and because it generally reflects the pragmatism of Hong Kong people as a generalized statement.