Hong Kong district council election: cross-border voters praise authorities help in getting them involved in Sunday’s poll
- Voters based in mainland China welcome polling stations set up near border and bus trips to ensure they can join first district election since municipal bodies’ overhaul
- ‘We elderly know what is good for our family, that’s why we are supporting our government,’ one travelling voter says amid low turnout by young generation
Hong Kong district council voters – mostly elderly residents – living in mainland China have said they are thankful for government efforts to set up two polling stations near the border, with some making the trip back straight after casting their ballots.
Retiree Fen Siu-yi, 65, was among the mostly older electors arriving in Sheung Shui on Sunday after government-organised shuttle buses picked them up from a local railway station, saying she had made the “special trip” from Dongguan alongside her friends.
“It is good for Hong Kong people to vote now that society has become peaceful again,” she said, referring to the 2019 anti-government protests.
“We citizens are very enthusiastic about voting.”
Retiree Lee Bing-ho, who lives in Shenzhen, said he felt that making the trip was important. He also slammed many youngsters as “naive” for their political opinions.
