Ethnic minorities will be heard: appointed DC member
A newly-appointed Kowloon City district councillor representing ethnic minority groups hopes to use his background as a Pakistani to take care of his community when he assumes office.  Rizwan Ullah, a secondary school vice-principal and a member of the Equal Opportunities Commission, is one of two ethnic minority representatives appointed to Hong Kong's district councils. The other is Aruna Gurung, who represents the Nepalese community.  "I'll be looking at the education issue of the ethnic minorities, and also the local community on how to work in the aspect of education," he told RTHK's Hong Kong Today programme. "[With] my background as a Pakistani, I would like to address other livelihood issues of ethnic minorities in the Kowloon City district...There's a sizeable population, so I hope I can serve them and engage their views and get their views heard in the district council." Ullah is among 179 people the government has appointed to the district councils, with the line-up also including serving and former district councillors, as well as local professionals.  He said the reintroduction of appointed seats has helped professionals and ethnic minorities such as himself to be part of district councils. "This revamped system allows people like me, or even other local professionals, who would otherwise be not able to be elected, because some are professionals, they may not have that amount of time and resources to get the public vote. But their service, their expertise, their experience can create a better community-building," he said.  On Sunday, the public chose 88 councillors, while another 176 were picked by government-appointed members of three local bodies. There are also 27 ex-officio members, for a total of 470.