Erica Yuen

Erica Yuen
袁彌明
Erica Yuen; 袁彌明
	Yuen in 2016
Born	Yuen Mi-ming; 28 September 1980 (age 43); Hong Kong
Alma mater	Tufts University
Occupation(s)	Actress, writer, presenter, politician
Years active	2005–present
Political party	People Power
Spouse	Anthony Lam
Website	ericayuen.com

Erica Yuen Mi-ming (Chinese: 袁彌明, born (1980-09-28)28 September 1980) is a Hong Kong politician, actress, and presenter. A former Miss Hong Kong pageant participant, she was the chairperson of the People Power political party between 2013 and 2016.^[1]

Early life

Erica Yuen graduated from St. Stephen's College in 1997, and continued her education at Tufts University in Massachusetts, and graduated summa cum laude.

Pageantry

In 2005, Yuen participated in the Miss Hong Kong pageant where she was awarded the title of Tourism Ambassador and was named one of the top five finalists on the final night.

In politics

Yuen entered Hong Kong politics in 2011, when she co-founded Power Voters, which would later become a coalition member of People Power, with the aim of punishing the Democratic Party for its stance in the 2010 Hong Kong electoral reform. In 2012, Yuen announced that she would enter the Hong Kong Legislative Council election in September that year as a People Power candidate for New Territories East constituency with Raymond Chan Chi-chuen. In preparation for this, she renounced her US citizenship as required by Hong Kong election law.^[2]^[3] She was placed second in her party list under the Party-list proportional representation; Ray Chan, who was first on that list, was elected, but Yuen herself, like all other candidates ranked second or below in their party lists, was not.

Yuen was elected the chairwoman of People Power, succeeding Christopher Lau in July 2013.^[4] In March 2014, Yuen stood in a by-election for the South Horizons West seat on the Southern District Council, following the resignation of Fung Wai-kwong.^[5] She secured second place with 1,083 votes, behind Judy Chan Ka-pui of the New People's Party (2,023 votes) and ahead of Sin Chung-kai of the Democratic Party (920 votes).^[6] She failed again to challenge Chan in the general election in 2015. She stood as the second candidate in Christopher Lau's list in Hong Kong Island in the 2016 legislative election but the list was not elected. She resigned from the chairwomanship of People Power after the Legco election.

Personal life

Yuen started a multi-brand skincare and health product store Mi Ming Mart in 2009. In December 2014, Yuen married political fellow-traveller and Power Voters chairman Anthony Lam Yue-yeung. Lam runs the media platform memehk.com until 2016, and – like Yuen – has stood unsuccessfully for Southern District Council.^[7]

References

^ "Erica Yuen Mi-ming". HK Magazine. 21 September 2007.
^ "DJ藝人從政做新秀港姐洗盡鉛華選議員". Hong Kong Daily News. 6 June 2012. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
^ The requirement that LegCo nominees (excluding a few Functional constituencies) do not have the right of abode in any foreign country is in Legislative Council Ordinance (Cap. 542) § 37(1)(e).
^ Mok, Danny (18 July 2013). "Erica Yuen takes People Power helm". South China Morning Post.
^ "袁彌明戰補選等緊單仲偕". Ming Pao. 12 February 2014. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
^ "Democratic Party ponders future after 'crushing' by-election defeat". South China Morning Post. 24 March 2014.
^ "We found love in a voteless place". South China Morning Post. 2 May 2014.