Taking part in beauty competitions while serving as a public representative is politically and practically infeasible, a commentator and former contestants have said after the city鈥檚 youngest district councillor dropped out of this year鈥檚 Miss Hong Kong Pageant.
Veteran political commentator Sonny Lo Shiu-hing said that he believed Sai Kung district councillor Angel Chong Nga-ting, 24, had faced pressure from her party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, to withdraw from the contest.
Lo said the party was likely to be preparing to mobilise its members for the Legislative Council election in December.
鈥淗aving a district council member suddenly run for the Miss Hong Kong Pageant does not look good for the party鈥檚 image and its preparation for the election,鈥 he said.
鈥淔rom the perspective of the largest political party [in Hong Kong], it expects party members to stick to party discipline.
鈥淏y party discipline, it means that once they become a district councillor, it鈥檚 a full-time job and they should be devoted to dealing with constituency services and residents鈥 concerns.鈥
Lo also noted that the party tended to be more politically conservative and attached greater importance to constituency interests over individual ones.
Chong quit the pageant organised by TVB, the city鈥檚 biggest free-to-air broadcaster, on Wednesday, the day after she was spotted in the contest鈥檚 first round of interviews and faced criticism for compromising her district duties.
She attributed her exit to protecting the image of district councils and said she had initially hoped to increase public understanding of such organisations through the contest.
Lo said Chong could have also faced pressure from her fellow district councillors, as the government required them to follow a code of conduct or risk being penalised.
Asked whether she had advised Chong to withdraw from the pageant, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen sidestepped the question on Wednesday.
The minister said Chong informed Sai Kung鈥檚 district officer that morning that she planned to withdraw from the pageant.
鈥淲e are happy to see a district councillor prioritise serving the public,鈥 Mak said, stressing the concept applied regardless of what activities office holders joined.
According to the district councils鈥 performance monitoring guidelines, members should attend at least 80 per cent of council or committee meetings.
Absences are only allowed if a member is sick, attending another activity on behalf of the council or has other recognised 鈥渓egitimate reasons鈥.
Municipal representatives must also be on duty at council offices to meet the public and take part in at least six activities held by District Offices each year, alongside other work and conduct requirements.
District councillors who fail to conduct themselves appropriately can potentially receive a warning, be forced to pay a fine capped at the equivalent of two weeks of their salary or be suspended.
Erica Yuen Mi-ming, a 2005 Miss Hong Kong finalist who later served as chairwoman for the now-disbanded People Power party, said she doubted Chong could have handled her official duties while still competing in the contest.
鈥淏eing a Miss Hong Kong contestant for those few months is a full-time job. There are tasks almost every day, from morning till night, with no absences allowed,鈥 she said.
鈥淚 do not understand how she can simultaneously handle her duties as a district councillor. If she wins, there will be even more responsibilities to fulfil.鈥
Yuen said Chong鈥檚 decision made no sense unless the district councillor was planning a career change.
Another former Miss Hong Kong contestant, who asked to remain anonymous, said candidates had to prepare for rounds of interviews and personal talent segments, devote time to recording programmes and attending training sessions as frequently as four times a week.
There was 鈥渘o way鈥 a pageant hopeful could do a full-time job at the same time, she added.
Sai Kung district councillor Christine Fong Kwok-shan, who was an actor in the 1980s and has served as a municipal official since 2008, said the position carried a huge workload as office holders needed to host street booths, visit residents, take government meetings and participate in activities, among other duties.
She added that the government also arranged seminars and courses on topics such as national security and new legislation to ensure district councillors could serve the public.
Fong said she was also an engineer by profession but only offered free advice to residents in that capacity, explaining that she barely had time for other business activities.
She stopped short of commenting on Chong鈥檚 case but said it was important for district councillors to perform their duties conscientiously, echoing remarks by the Home and Youth Affairs Secretary on Tuesday.