Olympic gold medallist Vivian Kong on Monday won in one of the Legislative Council elections' most prominent functional constituency races – the tourism constituency.

The former fencer had no problem cutting down her opponent Ma Yat-chiu with a vote of 131 to 23.

She said it was an honour to represent the sector in the legislature.

"I'm so grateful for the trust and support. The tourism industry, which includes travel agencies, hotels and airlines, has always been one of the major pillars of our economy," she told reporters after the win.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of our sector for representing Hong Kong and for showing the world how great of a city we are."

In other high-profile races, incumbent Peter Shiu beat Hong Kong Retail Management Association chairwoman Annie Yau Tse to represent the wholesale and retail sector in Legco.

Shiu said he would find a way to encourage mainland tourists to spend more in Hong Kong.

"We are facing a difficult time. The tourists from mainland China... they are spending money not like before, and a lot of Hong Kong people, they would like to go to Shenzhen on the weekend," he told reporters.

"So how can we face this difficult time? I will keep helping and connect with [commerce] chambers."

Also retaining his seat is David Lam, who beat fellow doctor John Leung in the medical and health services sector.

Incumbent Ronick Chan retained his functional constituency seat representing the finance sector with a narrow 42-33 win over Ip Tsz-kin.

Chan – who's been speculated to be among a handful of possible candidates to become Legco president in the coming term – insisted it was too early to think about this.

“I always welcome different capacities, as long as I can give my very best to serve the council, but right now all Legislative Councillors’ concentration should be focused on how to cope with the SAR government to handle the aftermath of the Wang Fuk Court No. 5 alarm fire incident,” Chan said.

“So I think it’s not the right time for anyone to consider personal issues. We should put all our efforts on handling public interest matters first.”

Meanwhile, Nicholas Chan beat Virginia Lee in the legal sector, while the chief executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Grace Chan, won the seat for the social welfare constituency after edging out Fong Fu-fai and Chu Lai-ling.

In the accountancy sector, incumbent DAB's Edmund Wong failed to retain his seat, losing to Webster Ng who got 4,389 votes.

Wong is the only incumbent, among 14 others, in the functional constituency who failed to be re-elected.

And in the real estate and construction sector, Henderson Land executive Augustine Wong beat the son of tycoon Cecil Chao, Howard, by 316 votes to 150 votes.
_____________________________
Last updated: 2025-12-08 HKT 12:04