Ma Lik
Ma Lik Tsang Yok-sing | |
---|---|
Succeeded by | Tam Yiu-chung |
Member of the Legislative Council | |
In office 1 October 2004 – 8 August 2007 | |
Preceded by | Cyd Ho |
Succeeded by | Anson Chan |
Constituency | Hong Kong Island |
Personal details | |
Born | Hong Kong Chinese | 23 February 1952
Political party | DAB |
Spouse | Leung Wai-ching |
Residence | Hong Kong |
Alma mater | Chinese University of Hong Kong |
Profession | Politician Secondary school teacher Journalist |
Website | malik.hk (in Chinese) |
Ma Lik | ||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 馬力 | |||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 马力 | |||||||||||||
Jyutping | maa5 lik6 | |||||||||||||
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Ma Lik,
Education
Ma Lik attended the Pui Kiu Middle School. He graduated with a bachelor's degree (with Honours) from the Department of Chinese from United College, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Early years
He was born in Guangzhou[1] and is of Xiamen, Fujian ancestry.[2] was a teacher in the Pui Kiu Middle School, a pro-Chinese secondary school in Hong Kong. He was a deputy publisher of the Hong Kong Commercial Daily and a local Deputy to the National People's Congress.[3]
Career
Ma was formerly the Secretary General of the DAB, and became the Chairman of the DAB in December 2003 when
Ma served in the Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee, Hong Kong Cheshire Home Foundation, and Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education. He was formerly the Chief Editor of the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, Deputy Secretary General of the Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee, Director of Treasure Land International Property Consultants, General Manager of The Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture, and member of the Selection Committee for the First Government of HKSAR.[3]
Ma was active in the political circles in Hong Kong and
Ma announced in 2004, prior to standing for election to the Legislative Council, that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer.[7]
Death
He left for treatment in Guangzhou soon after the Tiananmen controversy he sparked (see below). He died on 8 August 2007 at 2 pm in Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen University.[8] His body was transported back to Hong Kong on 11 August 2007. The funeral was held on 23 August. He was cremated according to his wishes.
Ma's death precipitated the 2007 Hong Kong Island by-election, which was won by Anson Chan on 2 December 2007.[9]
Tiananmen Square Massacre denial furore
On 15 May 2007, during an informal meeting Ma had with journalists to discuss political reform,
He said of 4000 students at the scene, not everyone was killed; certain student leaders, namely
How could people say bodies were minced under the tanks? Has anybody tried mincing meat under tanks? Try doing this with pigs and we will know! ....It takes 1000 °C to cremate bodies. If [the army] could burn bodies this way, there would be no backlogs at the cremation chambers, would there?[12]
Ma questioned whether "
Ma also asked the
Responses
Democrats and relatives of victims all attacked Ma for his comments.
Outraged by Ma's comments, 127 "Tiananmen Mothers", led by Ding Zilin, demanded a retraction and a public apology for the humiliation he has heaped on those who died.[14]
The day after the remarks appeared in the headlines, Ma attended an RTHK radio phone-in, where he apologised for making "frivolous and giddy" remarks. Ma claimed he was merely trying to bring the rash claims about the number and manner of deaths reported in the foreign press into proper perspective.[7] He admitted he had perhaps been careless with his words, and would assume full responsibility for what he said.[15] He stopped short of apologising for his comments in general.
One DAB Vice Chairman
The Central committee of the DAB declined any further action after their meeting on 22 May, stating that Vice-chairman Lau's response was adequate. There was no formal apology.
The annual vigil in memory of Tiananmen attracted an increased turnout in 2007. An estimated 55,000 people, more than a few of whom appear to have been spurred to attend by Ma's comments, packed
Possible motives
Analysts began to comment that Ma's remarks might have been part of a concerted
The timing of the above statement by NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo to a NPC deputies' meeting in March 2007, is considered important, as Donald Tsang promised a green paper (consultative document) on electoral reform would be published in the summer. [citation needed
More recently, some local loyalists have issued statements pushing back the date for universal suffrage. Most notably, Cheng Yiu-tong ruled out direct elections for the Chief Executive in 2012.[20] He further warned pro-democracy advocates that universal suffrage in 2017 was unlikely. He blamed the lack of progress on the "intransigence" of democrats, who blocked reform proposals put forward in December 2005. Cheng said that the electoral system would "march on the spot again in 2012".[22]
Other controversies
Anti-RTHK
On 20 October 1999 the pro-Beijing group fiercely attacked
Criticising Hong Kong
Ma Lik criticised the rate at which Hong Kong is moving. And that it would take until 2022 for the public to have acquired enough patriotism to accept
See also
- United front in Hong Kong
- Regina Ip
- Tsang Yok-sing
- Tsang Tak-sing
References
- ISBN 9789811384837.
- ^ Ma Lik DABHK[dead link]
- ^ a b Ma Lik, Legco Archived 18 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved 18 May 2007
- ^ Cannix Yau, "Ma pledges to win back trust in DAB" Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 10 December 2003
- ^ Eddie Luk, "Public speak out with votes" Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 27 November 2003
- Radio Television Hong Kong, Retrieved 18 May 2007
- ^ a b c d Carrie Chan and Diana Lee, "Ma critics use 4 June row to attack DAB", The Standard, 17 May 2007
- ^ News on Ma Lik's death Archived 10 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Yahoo! Retrieved 8 August 2007.
- ^ "Election Result of the 2007 LegCo Hong Kong Island by-election". Archived from the original on 15 December 2007.
- ^ "Ma Lik's Comments on June Fourth", Page A2, East South West North, ZoneEuropa, Accessed 22 May 2007
- ^ a b c Pro-Beijing lawmaker in Hong Kong denies Tiananmen Square 'massacre' in 1989, Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, 15 May 2007
- ^ a b c d e f g Ambrose Leung, "Fury at DAB chief's Tiananmen tirade", Page 1, South China Morning Post, 16 May 2007
- ^ Page 1, Ming Pao, 16 May 2007
- ^ a b Page A5, Ming Pao, 18 May 2007
- ^ 馬力認輕佻拒撤觀點,否認促為六四定調 願受黨處分, Ming Pao, 17 May 2007 (in Chinese)
- ^ Ma's massacre denials draw fire from activists, The Standard, 18 May 2007
- ^ Damon Pang, `Massacre' remarks trigger sharp exchange at City Forum, The Standard, 21 May 2007
- ^ Scarlett Chiang, 4 June turnout rises amid outrage at Ma Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 5 June 2007
- ^ Justin Mitchell and Michael Ng, Tens of thousands at vigil Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 5 June 2006
- ^ a b Chris Yeung, "Pouring cold water on democracy hopes", Page A14, South China Morning Post, 21 May 2007
- ^ Chris Yeung, "Pouring cold water on democracy hopes", Page A14, South China Morning Post, 21 May 2007,
- ^ Gary Cheng, "Warning over reform in 2017", Page A2, South China Morning Post, 21 May 2007
- ISBN 0-7391-0492-6.
- ISBN 0-7425-0877-3.
External links
- Media related to Ma Lik at Wikimedia Commons