Ann Chiang Explained

Honorific-Prefix:Dr the Honourable
Chiang Lai-wan
Native Name Lang:zh-hk
Honorific-Suffix:SBS JP
Office:Member of the Legislative Council
Term Start:1 October 2012
Term End:31 December 2021
Predecessor:Starry Lee
Successor:Constituency abolished
Constituency:Kowloon West
Party:Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (since 2000)
Occupation:Legislative Councillor
entrepreneur
politician
Birth Date:1955 5, df=yes
Birth Place:Hong Kong
Signature:Ann Chiang signature.svg
T:蔣麗芸
J:Zoeng2 Lai6 wan4
Y:Jéung Laih wàhn

Ann Chiang Lai-wan, SBS, JP, (was born on 16 May 1955)[1] is the chair of C&L Holdings and a former pro-Beijing member of Hong Kong Legislative Council. She is the second daughter of Chiang Chen who was a Hong Kong entrepreneur.

Background

Chiang was a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 1993 to 2013.

In 2000, Chiang joined Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) and was appointed the vice-chairman of the organisation in 2007.[2] In 1981, she received a Bachelor of Arts from Concordia University. Since 2005, she has served as non-executive director in Elec & Eltek International Holdings and chairman of C&L Holdings.[3] [4]

Chiang was formerly a member of the Council of the City University of Hong Kong.[5] [6]

In 2012, Chiang was elected Member of Legislative Council (Representative for Kowloon West) and retained her seat in 2016.

Controversies

Though the Cantonese language is predominant in Hong Kong, Chiang took her 2016 oath of office in Mandarin Chinese. After the government sought to prevent localist candidates from taking office for not reading their oaths accurately, it was pointed out that Chiang had mispronounced several words in Mandarin, thus calling the validity of her oath into question.[7]

In 2019, amidst the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, Chiang shared a video on her Facebook page alleging that Civil Human Rights Front convener Jimmy Sham had "never mentioned his sexual orientation," urging her supporters to share the video. Following complaints from LGBT activists, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed that the post had been removed for violating the social media platform's Community Standards. Chiang responded, "If you’ve already came out, then face it. Don’t easily complain someone’s attacking you, understood?" Sham stated that Chiang was incorrect as he had publicly identified himself as a member of LGBT activist group Rainbow Action and welcomed Facebook's deletion of the post.[8]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong Kong experienced a shortage of surgical masks. Chiang publicly advocated steaming masks to sterilise them for re-use by reposting a video from the Chinese broadcaster Guangzhou Broadcasting Network on Facebook demonstrating the practice.[9] Centre for Health Protection controller Wong Ka-hing, a physician, rebuked Chiang's claim, while the centre warned Hong Kongers that surgical masks cannot be reused by steaming, and not to believe messages from "unreliable sources". Fellow legislator Helena Wong called on Chiang to step down as chairman of the Legislative Council's Panel on Health Services. In the face of widespread criticism and ridicule, Chiang stood by her claims, and claimed that medical workers who were infected with SARS in 2003 after re-using face masks would have been fine if they steamed them.[10]

In January 2021, Chiang blamed university representatives for the 2019-2020 Hong Kong protests, stating that "Our taxpayers pay so much money every year to send their children to universities. But in the end, it has become a breeding ground for Hong Kong independence," as well as saying "Every president, vice-president, the ones responsible for management - shame on you!"[11]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.facebook.com/annchianghk/about Facebook
  2. Web site: Chiang, Ann Lai Wan. 1 January 2011. Webb-site.com. 28 August 2012.
  3. Web site: Ann Wan: Executive Profile & Biography. https://web.archive.org/web/20131203091004/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=29160379. dead. 3 December 2013. 28 August 2012. 28 August 2012. Bloomberg Businessweek.
  4. Web site: Ms Ann CHIANG Lai Wan – Elec & Eltek. 2012. 28 August 2012. Elec & Eltek. 19 October 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061019084012/http://www.eleceltek.com/jsp/eeih/eeih_directors_annchiang.jsp. dead.
  5. Web site: Wong Lai Yeuk-lin, Linda. Honorary Fellow Dr The Hon Chiang Lai-wan. City University of Hong Kong. 10 May 2017. Citation for honorary fellowship. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923204557/http://www.cityu.edu.hk/cityu/about/honorary/doc/citation_ChiangLaiWan_eng.pdf. 23 September 2015. dead.
  6. Web site: 2018 Honours List spotlights CityU community. CityU NewsCentre. en. 2019-07-24.
  7. News: Yuen. Chantal. Pro-Beijing lawmaker Ann Chiang under fire for Mandarin pronunciation of oath. Hong Kong Free Press. 10 November 2016.
  8. Web site: Lawmaker and anti-bill march activist in row over latter's gay identity. 20 July 2019. South China Morning Post. en. 24 July 2019.
  9. News: Ann Chiang's steamed re-use mask gets lawmakers boiling . February 3, 2020 . The Hong Kong Standard . 30 January 2020.
  10. News: Ann Chiang, health experts spar over 'mask steaming' . RTHK . 30 January 2020.
  11. Web site: 2021-01-20. Hong Kong pro-Beijing lawmakers blast Chinese University over 'black violence' on campus. 2021-01-20. Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. en-GB.