Sam Cheung

In this Hong Kong name, the surname is Cheung. In accordance with Hong Kong custom, the Western-style name is Sam Cheung and the Chinese-style name is Cheung Ho-sum.
Sam Cheung
張可森
Cheung in 2020
Member of the Tuen Mun District Council
In office
1 January 2020 – 11 May 2021
Preceded byKwu Hon-keung
ConstituencySan Hui
Personal details
Born (1993-08-17) 17 August 1993 (age 31)
British Hong Kong
CitizenshipHong Kong
Political partyTuen Mun Community Network
ResidenceHong Kong
Alma materHong Kong Baptist University

Sam Cheung Ho-sum (Chinese: 張可森; born 17 August 1993) is a Hong Kong politician, social activist, and former member of the Tuen Mun District Council for San Hui.[1]

Education

Cheung was educated at the Hong Kong Baptist University, where he obtained a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) from the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing.[2][3] Cheung's social activism began in his first year of university, after he joined the 2012 protests against the Moral and National Education scheme.[4] In 2014, he was an exchange student and studied in Austria.[5] During his academic career, Cheung participated in writing contests and gained award recognition for his literary criticism.[6][7]

Since high school, Cheung had a passion for songwriting, taking lessons from renowned lyricists Albert Leung and Chow Yiu-fai.[8][9] In 2018, he joined the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong (CASH) and began to write lyrics for Cantonese songs.[9][10]

Cheung's employment history included working as a teaching assistant, research assistant, and university tutor.[1][11] He also earned commissions for his songwriting.[8] He originally planned to pursue a doctoral degree in the United States, but decided to stay in Hong Kong after the protests commenced in 2019.[5] According to Cheung, he made this decision when the protests sparked an emotional attachment to his home in Tuen Mun.[12]

Political career

District Council

Cheung was among the numerous pro-democracy activists who ran in the 2019 District Council election. He competed in the San Hui constituency under the banner "Unity of San Hui".[13] On 25 November 2019, he was elected to the Tuen Mun District Council with 60.49% of the votes, defeating pro-establishment incumbent Kwu Hon-keung.[14] Prior to the election, Kwu retained his position for nearly two decades until he was challenged by Cheung.[7] Following his victory, Cheung joined the localist camp Tuen Mun Community Network, which held five seats in Tuen Mun's District Council.[15] On 11 May 2021, Home Affairs Department confirmed that Cheung has resigned from the job title.[16]

Legislative Council bid

In July 2020, Cheung ran in the unofficial pro-democracy primaries for the 2020 Hong Kong legislative election within the New Territories West constituency. He came in second by receiving 35,513 votes after Eddie Chu, while surpassing veteran democrats Andrew Wan and Kwok Ka-ki in fifth and sixth place respectively.[17] Cheung earned one of the six nomination spots in the general election, along with third placer Wong Ji-yuet and fourth placer Ng Kin-wai.[18]

On 6 January 2021, Cheung was among 53 members of the pro-democratic camp who were arrested under the national security law, specifically its provision regarding alleged subversion. The group stood accused of the organisation of and participation in the primary elections in July 2020.[19] Cheung was released on bail on 7 January.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b Qin, Amy; Ramzy, Austin; May, Tiffany (2019-11-02). "Hong Kong Protests: Police Face Off With Demonstrators After Election Rally". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  2. ^ "【區選光復香港】90後學者Be Water 光復屯門冀趕走建制大叔". Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  3. ^ "Research Supervision – John Nguyet Erni 陳錦榮". Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  4. ^ TNL特稿 (2020-07-26). "「見字飲水」的意志——張可森". The News Lens 關鍵評論網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  5. ^ a b "素人之戰：福建三代、屯門十兄弟、大狀和職業治療師，為何出戰區選？". 端傳媒Initium Media. 2019-11-22. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  6. ^ "獲獎名單 | 香港浸會大學 文學院". artsbu.hkbu.edu.hk. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  7. ^ a b "兩90後學者挑戰建制大叔". Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  8. ^ a b Pao, Ming. "【Emily】填詞人區議員 一首歌去年版稅31蚊". www.mingpaocanada.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  9. ^ a b "【文化人落區】受屯公遊行啟發 填詞人張可森深耕社區". 明報周刊. 2019-10-02.
  10. ^ "2018 CASH 最佳創作歌手獎" (PDF). CASHFLOW Magazine. 88: 18.
  11. ^ 李翰文, 林祖偉 (2019-11-22). "香港區議會選戰：反修例示威後首次選舉的變局". BBC News 中文 (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  12. ^ "【立會選戰】本土派區議員張可森、王百羽戰新西、超區：予選民泛民以外的選擇 | 獨媒報導". 香港獨立媒體網. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  13. ^ "Nominations Received". www.elections.gov.hk. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  14. ^ "2019 District Councils Election - Election Results". www.elections.gov.hk. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  15. ^ "Tuen Mun District Council - Tuen Mun DC Members". www.districtcouncils.gov.hk. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  16. ^ "涉 47 人案被起訴 鄭達鴻、張可森、伍健偉辭任區議員" (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Stand News. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Hong Kong's traditional opposition parties lose out to localist challengers in fierce weekend primary for coming Legislative Council election". South China Morning Post. 2020-07-13.
  18. ^ "Hong Kong democrat primaries in full: Young 'localist resistance camp' come out on top". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  19. ^ "National security law: Hong Kong rounds up 53 pro-democracy activists". BBC News. 2021-01-06. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  20. ^ Chau, Candice (2021-01-08). "'Hong Kong has entered a bitter winter,' says primaries organiser as 52 democrats in mass arrest bailed out". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
Political offices
Preceded by Member of Tuen Mun District Council
Representative for San Hui
2020–2021 		Vacant