Hong Kong steps up voter turnout efforts with video targeting minority residents

Hong Kong authorities have ramped up efforts to drive voter turnout for the coming Legislative Council election, releasing a video featuring a bomb disposal chief urging ethnic minority residents to cast their ballots.

Raymond Suryanto Chin-chiu, head of the explosive ordnance disposal bureau, made the appeal in Indonesian in the video released on Sunday via Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan’s social media account.

“Dear Indonesian friends in Hong Kong, if you are a registered voter, please be sure to cast your vote,” the Indonesian-Chinese officer said.

“To all Indonesian domestic helpers working and living in Hong Kong, kindly remind your employers to vote on December 7 as well. Thank you.”

He then switched to Cantonese, urging Hong Kong residents to “choose the worthy with care, exercise your vote wisely.” He added that the call had been adapted from his bureau’s long-standing motto – accuracy and precision, zero tolerance for error.

The 48-year-old was featured in viral social media posts last month among Indonesians in the city, after his team successfully disposed of a 1,000lb (454kg) wartime bomb discovered in Quarry Bay, which contained 227kg of explosives.