Voters enter a polling center for the Election Committee, Hong Kong, Sept 19, 2021. (VINCENT YU/AP)

Various sectors have shown their support for Hong Kong's 2021 Election Committee Subsector Ordinary Elections, the first major election held under the city’s improved electoral system. Here are some of the notable remarks made by representatives of different sectors.

Eugene Chan Kin-keung

Executive Vice-Chairman, Outstanding Young Persons’ Association,

President, The Association of Hong Kong Professionals

The improved Election Committee represents Hong Kong’s overall interests. I think it’s important that if you want a place to prosper and succeed, you need to engage the whole population. Although the number of eligible voters is reduced under the new system, it’s the quality that matters, not quantity. It’s especially so when the new committee will have those from the grassroots represented. 

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Srdjan Dobic

Hong Kong based filmmaker, health and wellness consultant

More voices are being heard (in the improved Election Committee) and I think it can benefit more people. With more representatives, the better it is. It’s a good step in the right direction that will open up channels of communication and give Hong Kong (people) opportunities to speak out.

READ MORE: Election Committee 'must have HK people's interests in mind'

Maxine Yao

Surveyor, Community Organizer of Path of Democracy

The new electoral system will enable Hong Kong to recover from the political polarization.  The enhancement in representativeness and all-rounded participation will stabilize the social atmosphere through an inclusive election. 

For the sake of building an international and pluralistic society, the new electoral system is a key and fundamental step for democratic movement in Hong Kong.

The principle of “balanced participation” is honored in every step of the new elections. Among the 1,247 candidates standing in the Election Committee polls, only 377 of them are incumbents.  About 70 percent of the candidates are new faces in the local political landscape, and 7,900 voters (for the total 40 subsectors) are from diverse backgrounds penetrating the grassroots, as well as social elites and celebrities.  It’s a fair game for all in which everyone can participate free from the influence of capital.

Richard Cullen

Visiting professor at the Faculty of Law, the University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s electoral reform has to be positive to restore stability in the city.

It’s a huge political shame that the political electoral structure had been used in the past as a political punch or stick to attack the SAR government and indirectly attack Beijing. It   put fundamental political polarization above all.

The divisive approach meant that every government proposal had to be examined first by the opposition. This ultimately led to the huge protests in 2019 which were very bad for Hong Kong.