Clarisse Yeung Suet-ying (; born 14 November 1986) is a Hong Kong politician. She is a former chairwoman of the

Wan Chai District Council The Wan Chai District Council is the district council for the Wan Chai District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Wan Chai District Council currently consists of 13 members, of which the district is divided into 13 constituencies ...

, representing Tai Hang.

Biography

Yeung is a graduate of fine arts at the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university and ...

and a holder of a master's degree in visual arts from the

Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a publicly funded tertiary liberal arts institution with a Christian education heritage. It was established as Hong Kong Baptist College with the support of American Baptists, who provided both operati ...

. She was a part-time post-secondary institute lecturer specialising in arts, culture and policy research. Yeung first stepped in politics when she joined the failed campaign of local artist Chow Chun-fai in the 2012 Legislative Council election in Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication functional constituency. Subsequently, they established the Hong Kong Culture Monitor, publishing studies and articles regarding local cultural policy and development. During the

2014 Hong Kong protests A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after t ...

, Yeung called for the setting up of the Umbrella Movement Visual Archive to gather art installations, photographs and other artworks related to the movement, of which she became co-founder. She ran in the 2015 District Council election in Tai Hang against the pro-Beijing New People's Party. She grabbed 1,398 votes, beating her nearest rival by 250 votes, becoming one of the few "umbrella soldiers" who were elected. In 2016, she formed a pro-democracy group named "ARTicipants" together with 14 other candidates, running for seats in the Culture sub-sector in the

2016 Hong Kong Election Committee Subsector elections The 2016 Election Committee subsector elections were held on 11 December 2016 for 1,034 of the 1,200 members of the Election Committee (EC) which is responsible for electing the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE) in the 2017 election. Although inc ...

. The ARTicipants list, including Yeung, lost to a pro-Beijing 15-member list which included actress

Liza Wang Elizabeth "Liza" Wang Ming-chun SBS (born 28 August 1947), is a Hong Kong diva, actress and MC. She is a personality in Chinese-speaking communities. She has been nicknamed "The Big Sister" in the Hong Kong entertainment circle.Xinhuanet.Xinh ...

. In the 2019 District Council election, she initiated a group of fresh faces called Kickstart Wan Chai running in the

. The group won six seats in total with Yeung get re-elected with 2,340 votes. With the pro-democrats seizing control of the council, Yeung was elected the chairwoman of the Wan Chai District Council. Yeung participated in the 2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries, running for a seat in the

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

constituency. She was unsuccessful in her bid, receiving 5,707 votes out of 90,247 voters in Hong Kong Island. On 6 January 2021, Yeung was arrested with 52 other

pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

politicians for criminal charges under Hong Kong national security law. Later that day, her party Kickstart Wan Chai, which she co-founded in 2019, announced on

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the party would disband, effective immediately. Yeung was released on bail on 7 January. A bail hearing of Yeung and 46other defendants from the 6January swoop, which had begun on 1March, was adjourned after midnight, with Yeung and three other defendants being sent to hospital for exhaustion; Yeung appeared to have fainted in the courtroom, with a post on her Facebook page saying that she had not received food in the preceding 12hours and was treated in hospital for low blood pressure. On 5March, Yeung together with three other defendants secured an extension of bail, with conditions including a prohibition of directly or indirectly contacting any foreign officials, members of parliament and their staff, and a curfew from midnight to 7:00a.m. On 12 March 2021, her bail was upheld by High Court judge Esther Toh. On 15 September 2021, Yeung was disqualified along with 6 other district councillors after a deadline to submit information for authorities to determine the validity of their oath-taking expired, and after she was charged for participating in the last year pro-democracy primaries. At the same time, she resigned from her position as Wan Chai District Council chairwoman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeung, Clarisse 1986 births Living people Hong Kong democracy activists Hong Kong localists Alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Alumni of Hong Kong Baptist University District councillors of Wan Chai District Political prisoners held by Hong Kong