Roy Tam Hoi-pong 譚凱邦

Roy Tam Hoi Pong is a Hong Kong politician, activist, and environmental advocate. Known for his environmental activism, he founded the environmental education group, Footprint (自然足印), in 2002, and the environmental protection organization, Green Sense (環保觸覺), in 2004. [1] He later joined Neo Democrats (新民主同盟) and ran in the 2008 Legislative Council election but was unsuccessful. [2] In 2015, he was elected as a Tsuen Wan District Councillor and was re-elected in 2019. [3]

Tam campaigned against excessive development and advocated for various environmental issues, often putting him at odds with the government on controversial topics such as the construction of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link [4] and the expansion of the LegCo building. [5] Beyond environmental advocacy, Tam supported localism. He openly advocated controlling the number of Chinese immigrants and collaborated with legislators and activists to organise crowdfunding campaigns for advertisements in local and Taiwanese newspapers opposing further integration with China. [6]

Representing the Neo Democrats, Tam participated in the 2020 pro-democracy primary election for the New Territories West constituency. He received only 4,865 votes, finishing last and failing to secure a nomination for the official election. [7] However, on Jan. 6, 2021, Tam was among over 50 pro-democracy figures arrested under Hong Kong’s National Security Law for participating in or organizing the election. 47 of them were officially charged with conspiracy to commit subversion on Feb. 28, 2021. [8] Since then, he has been denied bail on June 2, 2021, Aug. 23, 2021, and Sept. 20, 2021. [9][10][11]

On April 21, 2021, while still in detention, he resigned from his position as a District Councillor, believing that he could not effectively fulfil his duties, and announced his departure from the Neo Democrats. [12]

Tam pleaded guilty to the charge. Given mitigating factors, including his dedication to environmental causes, his service as a District Councillor, and his guilty plea, the court ultimately sentenced him to 4 years and 3 months in prison on Nov. 19, 2024. [13]