The Honourable
Alice Mak Mei-kuen
SBS BBS JP
麥美娟
Headshot photograph of a frowning Chinese woman with short hair
Mak in 2023
Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs
Assumed office
1 July 2022
Preceded byPosition established
Member of the Legislative Council
In office
1 January 2022 – 18 June 2022
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byAdrian Ho
ConstituencyElection Committee
In office
1 October 2012 – 31 December 2021
Preceded byWong Kwok-hing
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
ConstituencyNew Territories West
Member of the Kwai Tsing District Council
In office
1 October 1994 – 31 December 2019
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded bySin Ho Fai
ConstituencyWai Ying
Personal details
Born (1971-11-01) 1 November 1971 (age 52)
Hong Kong
Political partyHong Kong Federation of Trade Unions
Residence(s)Tsing Yi, New Territories
Alma materCNEC Christian College
Chinese University of Hong Kong
OccupationLegislative Councillor
Signature
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese麥美娟
Simplified Chinese麦美娟

Alice Mak Mei-kuen SBS BBS JP (Chinese: 麥美娟; born 1 November 1971)[1] is a Hong Kong politician, currently serving as Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs. She was formerly a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for the Election Committee, representing the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions. She graduated from Department of English of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She has been a member of the Kwai Tsing District Council since 1993, and represented the Wai Ying constituency until 2019.

Political career

Mak was handpicked by Wong Kwok-hing to run in the 2012 Hong Kong legislative election.[2][3][4] She came in 8th place after Civic Party's Kwok Ka-ki received the most votes, and was elected to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong with 7.07% electorate support.[5] Mak also participated in the 2016 legislative election, coming in 6th place after popular localist camp Eddie Chu topped the race with the most votes. She kept her seat on the Legislative Council after receiving 49,680 votes, which represented 8.32% of the electorate.[6]

She lost her seat in the District Council during the 2019 elections following a general rout of pro-Beijing candidates amidst the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.[7] She was defeated by Civic Party's Henry Sin Ho-fai, losing to him with 40.12% of the votes.[8] Mak admitted that she, along with other pro-establishment candidates, lost because the Hong Kong government "provoked many people with its way of administering".[9]

On 18 June 2022, she resigned from the Legislative Council to become Hong Kong's Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs.[10]

Controversies and views

Insulting Carrie Lam with profanities

During the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, Chief Executive Carrie Lam called for a meeting on 18 June with pro-Beijing lawmakers in Government House to explain her reasoning for suspending the controversial 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill. It was reported that Mak, who had publicly supported the bill in solidarity with the government up to this point, berated the chief executive for around five minutes using Cantonese profanities until Lam appeared to be in tears, to which Mak retorted in tears, "what use is crying now? You know how to cry, I do too!".[11] The account was confirmed by a leaked conversation between pro-Beijing lawmaker Christopher Cheung and Independent Police Complaints Council chairman Anthony Neoh, who did not realise their microphones were still on during their breaks.[12]

On 19 June, Mak was asked about the truthfulness of the account, but Mak refused to reveal the details of the meeting, stressing that the pro-Beijing camp does not support the government blindly.[13] Hong Kong's two civil service unions, the Hong Kong Chinese Civil Servants’ Association and the Federation of Civil Service Unions, urged Mak to address the accusation and apologise to Carrie Lam if the reports were true.[12]

National security law

In October 2020, Mak pushed for an inquiry into whether filibustering at LegCo should be considered illegal, against the newly-enacted National Security Law.[14]

Flag raising

In February 2021, Mak insisted that universities in Hong Kong should be mandated to hold a weekly flag-raising ceremony of the PRC flag.[15]

Patriots

In March 2021, Mak supported changes proposed by the NPCSC to allow only "patriots" to govern Hong Kong, and claimed that the public was being misled by foreign forces, claiming that "I think the [Hong Kong] government should explain the articles in the Constitution [that electoral reform is under the NPC's purview], otherwise the public will be misled by these wrongful arguments put forward by foreign forces."[16]

In April 2021, Mak claimed of the changes that "This is for the benefit of the whole society, so I hope the people of Hong Kong will vote in the coming election and I do hope that we'll have a high voting rate" and that the government should spread more propaganda on the changes.[17]

Passports

In April 2021, Mak said that candidates to the Legislative Council should disclose if they have foreign passports, including BN(O) passports.[18]

Police state

In June 2021, Mak said that there would be nothing wrong if Hong Kong were a police state; later, she claimed she was being sarcastic.[19]

Youth Development Blueprint

In December 2022, Mak said of youth that "We think understanding the nation is the first step of growing-up," and the Youth Development Blueprint would encourage nationhood, China's history, the Basic Law, and strengthening their sense of nationality.[20]

District Council

In May 2023, after the government announced plans to reduce the number of democratically elected District Council seats, Ming Pao newspaper published a cartoon which made fun of the changes; Mak said she strongly condemned the cartoon.[21]

In July 2023, Mak said that people should not be concerned with low voter turnout for the next district council elections, saying "The voter turnout rate is affected by many factors, for example there is a rain, or the current weather which can reach up to 40°C, or the previous typhoon… Voter turnout rate is not the only factor we consider."[22] A government office announced that 2023 was the second consecutive year in which voter registration dropped, including a 10% drop in voters under age 30.[23]

Glorious Fast Food artwork

In August 2023, the Home Affairs Bureau warned that artwork outside of a restaurant could violate the national security law and said "When we saw the artwork, my colleagues issued reminders that it might be easily associated with [black violence or Hong Kong independence]."[24] Mak dismissed concerns over its removal, though Legislative Council member Gary Zhang Xinyu disagreed and said private property rights should be respected.[24]

Personal life

On 23 February 2022, Mak was the second lawmaker after Edmund Wong to have tested positive for COVID-19.[25]

References

  1. ^ "麥美娟 職業：立法會議員 年齡：50". 2021年立法會選舉. 19 December 2021.
  2. ^ "2008–2011 Kwai Tsing District Council Members". Kwai Tsing District Council. 2011. Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Mak, Alice Mei Kuen". Webb-site.com. 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  4. ^ Ip, Kelly (7 September 2012). "FTU old guard lead young to battle". The Standard. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  5. ^ "LegCo Election overall results". www.info.gov.hk. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  6. ^ "2.2 million people cast their votes for 2016 Legislative Council election". Lifewire. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  7. ^ "2019 District Councils Election – Election Results (Kwai Tsing)". Government of Hong Kong.
  8. ^ "2019 District Councils Election - Election Results (Kwai Tsing)". www.elections.gov.hk. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  9. ^ Pao, Jeff (25 November 2019). "Lam blamed, by losers as well as winners". Asia Times. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  10. ^ "88年任青年大使 麥美娟盼社會棄立場先行". skypost.ulifestyle.com.hk (in Chinese). Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  11. ^ "麥美娟向林鄭爆粗「X街」 建制派怨氣大爆發". 星島日報. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Did lawmaker shout profanity at Carrie Lam? Unions demand answer". South China Morning Post. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  13. ^ "傳麥美娟閉門會議上「怒x林鄭」 麥美娟拒透露會面內容：建制派無盲撐政府". 香港經濟日報. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  14. ^ Wong, Rachel (29 October 2020). "Hong Kong legislature head mulls limiting debates to curb filibustering as democrats cry foul". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Lawmakers insist Hong Kong universities also be held to new rules on flag-raising". South China Morning Post. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  16. ^ "First meeting of Hong Kong election overhaul committee told it cannot change Beijing's blueprint". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  17. ^ "Lawmaker urges more propaganda to boost poll turnout - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Legislature hopefuls should reveal foreign passports: pro-Beijing lawmaker ｜ Apple Daily". Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Overstatement to say HK is a police state: official - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  20. ^ Lee, Peter (21 December 2022). "Plan to address youth issues and nurture patriotism in young Hongkongers lacking, critics say". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  21. ^ Leung, Hillary (10 May 2023). "Hong Kong gov't lashes out at Ming Pao cartoon satirising small-circle committees". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  22. ^ Ho, Kelly. "Deciding whether to join Hong Kong's next District Council election 'tough and painful,' says Democratic Party vice-chief - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP". hongkongfp.com. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  23. ^ Chau, Candice (1 August 2023). "Number of registered Hong Kong voters falls for second year in a row as District Council election confirmed for Dec. 10". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  24. ^ a b "'Hong Kong eatery owner decided to remove artwork showing workers in yellow helmets'". South China Morning Post. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  25. ^ "Lawmaker Alice Mak tests positive for Covid-19 - RTHK". news.rthk.hk. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
Political offices New constituency Member of Kwai Tsing District Council Representative for Wai Ying2000–2019 Succeeded bySin Ho-fai New title Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs 2022–present Incumbent Legislative Council of Hong Kong Preceded byWong Kwok-hing Member of Legislative Council Representative for New Territories West2012–2021 Constituency abolished New constituency Member of Legislative Council Representative for Election Committee2022–2022 Succeeded byAdrian Ho Order of precedence Preceded byKenneth LeungMember of the Legislative Council Hong Kong order of precedenceMember of the Legislative Council Succeeded byKwok Ka-kiMember of the Legislative Council
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