Selina Chow
Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee | |
|---|---|
Chu lương thục di | |
 Selina Chow in 2020 | |
| Chairwoman of theLiberal Party | |
| In office 15 December 2012 – 1 December 2014 | |
| Leader | James Tien |
| Preceded by | Vincent Fang(acting) |
| Succeeded by | Felix Chung |
| Non-official Member of theExecutive Council | |
| In office 1991–1992 | |
| Appointed by | SirDavid Wilson |
| In office 22 September 2003 – 19 September 2008 | |
| Appointed by | Tung Chee-hwa Donald Tsang |
| Preceded by | James Tien |
| Member of theLegislative Council | |
| In office 1 September 1981 – 31 July 1995 | |
| Appointed by | SirMurray MacLehose SirEdward Youde SirDavid Wilson |
| In office 11 October 1995 – 30 September 2004 | |
| Preceded by | New constituency |
| Succeeded by | Vincent Fang |
| Constituency | Wholesale and Retail |
| In office 1 October 2004 – 30 September 2008 | |
| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Wong Kwok-hing |
| Constituency | New Territories West |
| Chairwoman of theHong Kong Tourism Board | |
| In office 1 April 2000 – 1 April 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Lo Yuk-sui |
| Succeeded by | James Tien |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Liang Shuk-yee 25 January 1945 Hong Kong,Empire of Japan |
| Nationality | Hong Kong Chinese |
| Political party | Liberal Party(1993–2022) |
| Spouse |
Joseph Chow Ming-kuen
(m.1969; died 2018) |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | Hong Kong |
| Alma mater | St. Paul's Co-Educational College University of Hong Kong Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama |
Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yeeGBSOBEJP(Chinese:Chu lương thục di;born 25 January 1945) is a former Hong Kong television executive and politician. She was a member of theLegislative Councilfor nearly three decades, and was also a member of theExecutive Council.She is honorary chairwoman of theLiberal Party,having formerly been its chairwoman.
JoiningTelevision Broadcasts Limited(TVB) after graduating from theUniversity of Hong Kong(HKU), she was Hong Kong's first weather girl. She went on to executive roles at all three of Hong Kong's major television broadcasting companies: TVB from 1967 to 1977, general manager ofCommercial Television(CTV) from 1977 to 1978 and chief executive ofAsia Television(ATV) from 1988 to 1991.
She was first appointed to the Legislative Council in 1981 and the Executive Council in 1991. She was the founding member of the pro-business Liberal Party and the vice-chairwoman from 1998 to 2008. She was appointed to the Executive Council for the second time in 2003. In 2004, she won a directly elected seat inNew Territories Westbut lost in her re-election in 2008. She continued to serve as party chairwoman from 2011 to 2012 and chairwoman from 2012 to 2014.
Education and television career
[edit]Selina was born Liang Shuk-yee on 25 January 1945 in Hong Kong. She was educated atSt. Paul's Co-educational Collegeand earned a bachelor's degree in English from theUniversity of Hong Kongin 1965. She later obtained a postgraduate diploma from theRose Bruford College of Speech and Dramaand Licentiateship in Drama (Teacher and Performer) of theRoyal Academy of Musicin the United Kingdom.[1]
Liang started her career in Hong Kong's television broadcasting industry as the first weather girl in Hong Kong at the first wireless TV stationTelevision Broadcasts Limited(TVB) in 1967.[2]She was an assistant producer at TVB inBroadcast Drivefor the English and Chinese channels under general manager Colin Bednall before being promoted to Assistant General Manager to run the entire programming section.[3]
Thinking her career in TVB had reached the glass ceiling, Chow left TVB in 1977 and joinedCommercial Television(CTV) as general manager in an attempt to resurrect the ailing station, along with around 200 former TVB personnel includingTsui Hark,Patrick TamandRingo Lamin a bidding war between CTV and TVB. However, despite spending HK$50 million on production in just three years, CTV was unable to survive in the highly competitive television broadcasting industry and ceased transmissions in 1978.[4]After she left CTV, Chow codirected her only feature film,No Big Dealin 1979, a teen comedy, withPo-Chih Leong.[5]
In August 1988,Lai Sun GroupfounderLim Por-yentook overAsia Television(ATV) and hired Chow as the station's chief executive. Chow proceeded in the same month to unveil a $233 million six-year investment plan to improve ATV's competitive edge against TVB. Chow's first year in office saw ATV's annual budget rocket to an estimated $300–350 million, just $100–150 million less than TVB. It also poached many talents from TVB, including comedy starsLydia ShumandEric Tsang,as well as producers, technical staff and administrators.[6]The growing deficit sapped Chow's power as chief executive and in March 1991 she was formally dismissed and replaced by Lam Por-yen himself.[7]
Legislative Council
[edit]Colonial period
[edit]Chow first stepped into politics when she was appointed to theUrban Councilin 1980. She was subsequently appointed to theLegislative Councilin 1981 byGovernorMurray MacLehose.She also held numerous public offices at the time, including the membership of the Law Reform Commission, theHousing Authorityand theEducation Commission,a well as the chairmanship of theConsumer Council.[8]
In 1991, she was appointed to theExecutive Council,the top advisory board in the government, by GovernorDavid Wilson.She resigned the following year after the arrival of the last GovernorChris Pattenwho wanted to reshuffle the council. Chow was also a member of theCo-operative Resources Centre(CRC) headed bySenior Memberof the Legislative CouncilAllen Leeconsisting of the appointed members who aimed to counter the rise of theUnited Democrats of Hong Kong(UDHK) in the legislature after their landslide victory in thefirst ever direct electionin 1991.
The CRC soon transformed into theLiberal Partyto actively lobby against Chris Patten'sconstitutional reform proposal,which they thought would damaged the smooth transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong due to Beijing's strong opposition. In the1995 Legislative Council election,Chow contested in theWholesale and Retailfunctional constituencyand won the seat againstWong Kwok-hingof theBeijing-loyalistDemocratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong(DAB). She was later elected to the Beijing-controlledProvisional Legislative Council(PLC) after the dismantling of the "through train" of the last colonial Legislative Council.
SAR period
[edit]In thefirst SAR Legislative Council electionin 1998, Allen Lee resigned as Liberal Party chairman lost in the direct election.James Tiensucceeded as chairman and Chow became party vice-chairwoman. After 1997, the Liberal Party became the partner inTung Chee-hwa's "governing coalition" which saw Chow being appointed to theHong Kong Tourist Associationbefore it was transformed into theHong Kong Tourism Boardin 2001.
She has also been a board member of theHong Kong Airport Authority,honorary adviser to Against Child Abuse, and director of the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Society. As the most senior member in the Legislative Council, she was also the chairwoman of the House Committee of the Legislative Council from 2000 to 2003. From 2003 to 2008, she was also a member of the 10th National Committee ofChinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC).
Public opposition to thenational security legislationof theBasic Law Article 23,and the historic2003 July 1st protestagainst it, led to the resignation of Liberal Party chairman James Tien from the Executive Council on 6 July. Without Liberal support in the legislature, the government was short of sufficient votes to pass the bill, which it later shelved. In September 2003, Chow was appointed to the Executive Council to fill Tien's vacancy.[9]
Riding on the popularity from the 2003 crisis, Chow and Tien left their trade-based functional constituencies and ran ingeographical constituencies.Chow won a seat inNew Territories Westwith more than 50,000 votes, more than 10 per cent of the vote share, and was elected with Tien.
In the2008 Legislative Council election,she lost her re-election in the New Territories West by receiving only about 21,000 votes, ending her 27 years of service in the legislature. Chow blamed the loss of her seat onHeung Yee Kukchairman and Liberal Party memberLau Wong-fatfor canvassing for the DAB candidateCheung Hok-mingduring the elections.[10]As a result, both Tien and Chow resigned from the party organ with Chow also resigned from the Executive Council.
After Legislative Council
[edit]Selina Chow and James Tien returned to the party leadership after the intra-party split between James's brotherMichael TienandTommy Cheungover theMinimum Wage Billwhich resulted Michael's departure from the party. In January 2011, Chow succeeded Tommy Cheung as the vice-chairwoman for the second time.[11][12]In the2012 Chief Executive election,the Liberals initially supported their former member andChief Secretary for AdministrationHenry Tangbut withdrew their support after Henry Tang'sillegal basement controversy.However, they refused to support another Beijing-supported candidateLeung Chun-ying.Selina Chow and party chairwomanMiriam Laudefended their null vote as "the responsible decision" as they could not with all conscience vote for either Tang or Leung; their internal poll of 1,900 people showed 30 percent would cast blank votes.[13]
After Miriam Lau was defeated inHong Kong Islandin the2012 Legislative Council electionand resigned as party chairwoman, Selina Chow was elected chairwoman, unopposed, on 15 December 2012.[14][15]Under her chairmanship, the new office of party leader was created and assumed by James Tien. She held the chairmanship for two years until she was succeeded byFelix Chungand became the party honorary chairwoman.
In the2017 Chief Executive election,she split with other party figures in the election to nominate formerFinancial SecretaryJohn Tsangon the capacity as anElection Committeemember for Wholesale and Retail with James Tien, Miriam Lau and Felix Chung against the former Chief Secretary for Administration, the Beijing-supportedCarrie Lam.[16]
Personal life
[edit]Liang is married to engineer Joseph Chow Ming-kuen, having proposed on the phone when he was in Britain in 1968. The couple have two daughters, Chee-may and Chee-kay, she also has five grandchildren ages 13, 11, 11, 8 and 2[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Members' BiographyArchived26 February 2008 at theWayback Machine,Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Retrieved 24 January 2008
- ^Emily Tang,Stars unite to kick-off Selina Chow's Legco bidArchived22 May 2011 at theWayback Machine,The Standard,26 August 2004
- ^ab"Selina Chow".South China Morning Post.4 August 2003.
- ^Zhang, Yingjin (2004).Chinese National Cinema.Routledge. p.184.
- ^Yau, Ching-Mei Esther (2001).At Full Speed: Hong Kong Cinema in a Borderless World.U of Minnesota Press. p.44.
- ^Tsim, T. L.; Luk, Bernard H. K. (1989).The Other Hong Kong Report.Chinese University Press. p. 297.
- ^Sung, Yun-Wing; Lee, Ming-Kwan (1991).The Other Hong Kong Report 1991.Chinese University Press. p. 459.
- ^"Selina CHOW"(PDF).World Services Congress Hong Kong.
- ^"Chief Executive appoints Selina Chow to Executive Council".Hong Kong Government.22 September 2003.
- ^Ambrose Leung & Fanny Fung, "Heung Yee Kuk chairman quits Liberal Party", 12 September 2008, Page A2,South China Morning Post
- ^Leung, Ambrose; Fun, Fanny W. Y. (17 December 2010)."James Tien and Chow leading Liberals again".South China Morning Post.
- ^"Tự do đảng chính, phó chủ tịch đích tuyển cử kết quả công bố (2011 niên 1 nguyệt 6 nhật )".Liberal Party.6 January 2011.
- ^Siu, Phila (22 March 2012)."Tang or Blank"Archived17 February 2013 atarchive.today.The Standard
- ^Liberal Party picks acting chairman,SCMP, City Digest, 18 September 2012
- ^Chow new chairperson of Liberal Party,RTHK News, 15 Dec 2012, retrieved 15 December 2012
- ^【 đặc thủ tuyển chiến 】 tằng tuấn hoa 160 trương đề danh bộc quang hữu mị kiến chế phái xanh? Nhĩ đông thăng điền thiếu chu lương thượng bảng.Apple Daily(in Traditional Chinese). 25 February 2017.
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- Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong
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