Tam Yiu-chung

The Honourable Tam Yiu-chung GBS, JP
譚耀宗
Tam at an election forum in the 2008 Legislative Council Election
Chairman of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 August 2007
Preceded by	Ma Lik
Member of the Legislative Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 July 1998
Preceded by	New parliament
Constituency	New Territories West
In office 30 October 1985 – 31 July 1995
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	Cheng Yiu-tong
Constituency	Labour
In office 21 December 1996 – 30 June 1998 (Provisional Legislative Council)
Preceded by	New parliament
Succeeded by	Parliament abolished
Non-official Member of the Executive Council
In office 1997–2002
Appointed by	Tung Chee-hwa
Preceded by	New council
Succeeded by	Tsang Yok-sing
Personal details
Born	(1949-12-15) 15 December 1949 Hong Kong
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU)
Spouse	Lai Xiang-ming
Residence	Hong Kong
Alma mater	Australian National University University of London
Occupation	Legislative Councillor Trade unionists Politician

Tam Yiu-chung
Traditional Chinese	譚耀宗
Simplified Chinese	谭耀宗
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Tán Yaòzōng

Tam Yiu-chung, GBS, JP (born 15 December 1949, Hong Kong) is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing the New Territories West constituency. He was a member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong from 1997 to 2002. He is the chairman of the pro-Beijing conservative Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB).

Biography

Tam joined a retail union when he was a 19-year-old window display designer in 1968. He later rose to the vice-chairman in 1975 and become one of the vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, the largest pro-Communist trade union in Hong Kong, with Cheng Yiu-tong in 1982. In 1985, he was first elected to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong in the first ever Legislative Council election as a Labour representative.

In 1992, he co-founded the pro-Beijing party the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) with other local pro-Communist leaders. He became the founding vice-chairman of the party. In the 1995 Legislative Council elections, he gave up his Legislative Council seat in the labour constituency to fight for the Kowloon Southeast, one of 18 geographical constituencies elected by the public at large, but narrowly defeated by the Demcoratic Party candidate Fred Li Wah-ming, finishing a little over 2,000 votes behind.

In 1996, he was elected to the Provisional Legislative Council tightly controlled by Beijing in the eve of the unification by the by a 400-strong Selection Committee. In the first SAR Legislative Council election, he was elected through the New Territories West.

In 1997, he was appointed by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to the Executive Council which he served until 2002. He was also appointed chairman of the Elderly Commission from 1997 to 2005.

After the 2003 District Council election the DAB's disatrous peformance, the party chairman Tsang Yok-sing resigned from his office and succeeded by Ma Lik. He was re-elected to become the vice-chairman for the second time. In 2007, after being acting chairman for the preceding three weeks, he succeeded Ma Lik who died of cancer to become the party chairman. In February 2015, he announced that he will step down as DAB chairman to open the door for a new generation of leaders.

Tam Yiu-Chung is also a Hong Kong deputy to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since 2003, member of the Board of Directors of International Social Service-HK for providing refugee support on behalf of HK Government.

Tam studied Adult Education at Australian National University and Trade Union Studies at the London School of Economics. He is married with two sons.

External links

• Legco biography