False: Councillor-elect is not “mentally challenged”
By Chuqiao Chen & Skylar Li
Since the stunning landslide victory by the pro-democracy camp in the district council elections Sunday, an unsubstantiated claim that one of the newly elected politicians is “mentally challenged” has been shared on multiple platforms.
Chan Tsz-wai, a 27-year-old councillor-elect who defeated incumbent Chris Ip Ngo-tung from city’s largest pro-Beijing party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, or DAB, in the Jordan South constituency in Yau Tsim Mong District, has been the target of the smearing content.
The claim is false. Under the Electoral Affairs Commission’s current guidelines, all candidates must be mentally capable of assuming the duties of district councillors. Otherwise, they will be disqualified from being nominated.
Chan is a member of the Power of Democracy party and, according to Apple Daily, an elevator maintenance apprentice.
This post on Weibo claims that Chan is “mentally challenged,” using unflattering images of him taken from a YouTube video.
Similar claims were shared on other platforms including LIHKG, Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter.
All images used in these claims have been manipulated.
The following screen capture, which was taken from the HK01 news website, for example, has been doctored with the words “庇護工場智障人士” (intellectually challenged person from the sheltered workshop), referring to an organization or environment that employs people with disabilities.
His hand-written electoral message has also been added to his photo although it is an authentic image found on the official election website run by the government.
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