Hundreds of Hongkongers have gathered to celebrate the defeat of two incumbent and controversial pro-Beijing district councillors in last week’s election.
The politicians, Chris Chung and Elizabeth Quat, both of whom are members of the pro-Beijing DAB party, were ousted in the district council election last Sunday by pro-democracy “umbrella soldiers”.
Roughly a hundred people gathered outside Chung’s office on Monday evening at Eastern District to commemorate his defeat, armed with alcohol, peanuts, and a celebratory banner. Amongst all of the jubilant music played, Mingpao reported that there was a particularly rousing “Tree Gun rap”, so called because of Chung’s nickname.
Similarly, dozens gathered outside Quat’s office to celebrate her defeat on Tuesday evening. The crowd played on the controversy on her reportedly forged qualifications by displaying mock degree certificates from her alleged alma mater. Participants were seen celebrating with champagne, beer, and singing some of the celebratory tunes played at Monday’s gathering.
Quat claimed to have earned three degrees from “Greenwich University” in Hawaii, an institution which was dubbed by Hong Kong Free Press as a “diploma mill”. Side note: when Elizabeth Quat is being particularly interrogative, does anyone ever say “hey, what’s with the third degree?”
Chung, also known by his moniker “Tree Gun”, has been heavily criticised for his language mistakes in both English and Chinese.
In a LegCo hearing with the MTR Corp. in May 2014, Chung was heard grilling then-CEO Jay Walder in what some people described as Chinglish, and reprimanded Walder with the newly coined phrase “same [sic] on you” – which was assumed to mean “shame on you”.
He is also known for misquoting multiple Chinese idioms in public, with many of his gaffes inspiring instant meme fame on the internet – including a popular quote “thou shalt study hard in thy youth or become Chris Chung”.
Quat has also been known to ridiculed for her statements, although for the content rather than delivery – in May, she suggested establishing an official database for the mentally disabled “to reduce un-cooperation with authorities”.
Two months earlier, Quat criticised the judicatory in a Legislative Council hearing for continuing to free Occupy protesters, which she regards as condoning violence.
Photo: Mingpao Screengrab
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