Feature: Hong Kong's Leong faces uphill battle in elections

With his eye on Hong Kong's top job, Alan Leong (梁家傑) tries firing up a crowd of voters by crooning a song from a TV series.

But as he begins to talk during the street campaign stop about what he would do if he became Hong Kong's next leader, half the audience drifts away.

It is one of many examples of the struggle by Leong, a stiff barrister and lawmaker, to whip up enthusiasm for his candidacy as Hong Kong's chief executive and his effort to promote greater democracy in the former British colony that returned to Chinese rule almost 10 years ago.

Leong's performance on the campaign trail so far has led some to wonder if the pro-democracy movement chose the wrong person to lead the charge to bring greater political freedom to China's richest city.

But some analysts say Leong's lack of charisma and bland image may not be a big problem. Boring might be best in Hong Kong.

"Professionals are always respected by people in the society. Their image is always positive unless they do something wrong," said Li Pang-kwong (李彭廣), a political science professor at Lingnan University.

Another political analyst, Ma Ngok (馬嶽) at Chinese University in Hong Kong, added: "He is an honest and upright person who can easily be accepted."

Leong tries to brighten his appearance by sporting colorful handkerchiefs in the breast pockets of his jackets, and the official color of his campaign is pink because it makes a good backdrop for his dark suits.

But Leong has a tough -- and perhaps impossible -- job before the March election for Hong Kong's chief executive.

He cannot be elected by the public because Beijing does not allow direct elections for the position. The chief executive is chosen by an 800-member election committee, which traditionally has been loyal to Beijing. The panel includes businesspeople, lawmakers and representatives selected by various professional groups.

Since returning to Chinese rule in 1997, Hong Kong has held two elections for chief executive. A pro-China candidate ran unopposed in each because either the pro-democracy camp did not participate or its candidate did not win the required 100 votes from the election committee that is required to be placed on the ballot.

But Leong appears ready to make history as the first person to challenge the Beijing-backed candidate, who is widely expected to be current Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權).

The 800-member panel has a new group of members, and pro-democracy figures have taken more than 100 seats. That is enough to give Leong the support to be put on the ballot sheet.

A barrister for 23 years, Leong entered politics in 2004 when he was elected to the legislature. He is a founding member of the Civic Party, a new group led by professionals and academics.

Leong is calm and quiet, but he insists he is not boring.

"I think for those who consider me boring, they should find opportunities to know me better," Leong said recently.

"I think people really want to find somebody who participates in politics with a heart. Whether you joke to them every other minute is not important," he added.

Leong admits that when he first entered politics, he felt uncomfortable talking to people who did not have his level of education.

"I was professionally trained as a barrister. A barrister does not have to interact with kai fong [ordinary people] very often. We actually go between home, chambers, court and library," he said.

But he said he has evolved into someone who "can now talk to almost anybody, anywhere, anytime."

Leong acknowledges that his chances of winning the leadership are very low. But he will use the election as a platform to advocate an alternative vision of Hong Kong.

In an effort to enliven his image, Leong has taken to singing at campaign events. At one stop recently, he crooned A Brave New World from the film Aladdin.

Still, his dull image persists. Jason Man, 27, an assistant architect, watched Leong as he sang soap opera tunes while campaigning in the streets recently.

Leong had integrity, he said, but was still "enormously boring."