Demosisto’s new chairman Ivan Lam talks about Joshua Wong, clashing with his ex-policeman father over Occupy and losing 13kg while in jail
While he may be less well known than his peer Joshua Wong, the poster boy for the Occupy movement, Ivan Lam is no stranger to controversial politics
Lam was in the same secondary school as Joshua Wong Chi-fung and the two joined hands and ran in a cabinet election for the student union in 2011 – but their first battle did not go smoothly.
The pair demanded a democracy wall for the school but were defeated by opponents who focused on welfare services for their classmates.
Having known him for so many years, from the days of student organisation Scholarism to political party Demosisto, Lam described Wong as a “blunt and straightforward” person who always wants to get things done.
“When he thinks of something, he will get to it even without prior discussion with us,” he said, adding that they did have disagreements from time to time, with a grin on his face.
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Acknowledging that he was of less international renown than Wong, the poster boy for the city’s Occupy movement, Lam said there were always different roles in a team.
“My role is to motivate the team to continue its work and attract the young generation,” he said.