Jimmy Sham Facts for Kids

In this article, the family name is Sham. In accordance with Hong Kong custom, their Western-style name is Jimmy Sham and their Chinese-style name is Sham Tsz-kit.

Quick facts for kids

Jimmy Sham

岑子杰

Sham in 2019

Member of the Sha Tin District Council

In office
1 January 2020 – 8 July 2021

Preceded by

Wong Yue-hon

Constituency

Lek Yuen

Convener of Civil Human Rights Front

In office
October 2018 – October 2020

Preceded by

Sammy Ip

Succeeded by

Figo Chan Ho-wun

In office
October 2015 – October 2016

Preceded by

Daisy Chan [zh]

Succeeded by

Au Nok-hin

Vice-chairman of the League of Social Democrats

In office
2020–2021

Preceded by

Jaco Chow

Succeeded by

Yu Wai-pun

Personal details

Born

29 June 1987 (age 38)
British Hong Kong

Political party

League of Social Democrats

Education

Hong Kong Community College

Chinese name

Chinese

岑子杰

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Cén Zǐjié
Bopomofo	ㄘㄣˊ ㄗˇ ㄐㄧㄝˊ
Wade–Giles	Tsʻen² Tzu³-chʻieh²
Tongyong Pinyin	Cén Zǐh-jié
IPA	[tsʰə̌n tsɹ̩̀.tɕi̯ě]
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	sam4 zi2 git6

Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit (Chinese: 岑子杰; Jyutping: sam4 zi2 git6; born 29 June 1987) is an activist from Hong Kong. He supports democracy and works for the rights of LGBT people. He used to lead a group called the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) until October 2020. He also works as a secretary for Rainbow of Hong Kong, an organization that helps LGBT people. Jimmy Sham is a long-time member of the League of Social Democrats, a political party. In 2019, people in the Lek Yuen area elected him to the Sha Tin District Council. He left this job in July 2021.

About Jimmy Sham
Images for kids
See also

About Jimmy Sham

Jimmy Sham grew up in a family with only one parent. He finished high school in 2006. After high school, he worked for a time helping lawmakers. He then joined Rainbow Action, a group that works for LGBT rights and is part of the Civil Human Rights Front.

He started helping the Civil Human Rights Front in 2008. He would host events and help manage issues related to human rights and police. In 2011, he joined other protesters on Connaught Road Central after a big march on July 1st. He was arrested after this event. He also took part in the large protests in Hong Kong in 2014. In 2015, he became the leader (convener) of the Civil Human Rights Front for one year.

After his time as convener, he studied at the Hong Kong Community College. He earned a diploma in social work in October 2018. Right after that, he became the convener of the Civil Human Rights Front again. This was a challenging time for the group, as they did not have much money. He has been a member of the League of Social Democrats for a long time. He joined their main committee in 2018. He first joined this party because it was the first in Hong Kong to include LGBT issues in its plans.

In 2020, Time magazine named Jimmy Sham as one of "20 people to watch." He was the only person from Hong Kong on this list. He said that people in Hong Kong deserve more attention from the rest of the world.

Working for LGBT Rights

Jimmy Sham is a strong supporter of LGBT rights in Hong Kong. He helps manage the daily work for Rainbow of Hong Kong. He also helps organize yearly events for LGBT people. He even hosted a radio show about LGBT topics on Citizens' Radio. In 2018, he was the main spokesperson for the Hong Kong Pride Parade. This parade had 12,000 people, which was the largest number ever.

Role in 2019 Hong Kong Protests

As the leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, Jimmy Sham helped organize big protest marches. These marches were against a proposed law in Hong Kong in 2019. He helped plan the first marches on March 31 and April 28. He also helped organize the protest on June 9. The number of people who joined this march was much bigger than he expected. The group hoped for 300,000 people, but he thought over a million people came.

On June 13, after the government said it would continue discussing the law, there were clashes. Jimmy Sham decided to organize another protest march for June 16. They only had four days to tell people about it. He estimated that almost two million people took part in the June 16 protest. He explained that his group does not force people to protest. He believed the large number of protesters in 2019 was because people knew what was happening and were unhappy with the government. He said his group's job was to give people a way to share their opinions. He also organized the July 1st march in 2019. This march asked the government to completely stop the new law and for the leader, Carrie Lam, to step down.

Becoming a District Councillor

Jimmy Sham speaking to the press after winning his seat on the Sha Tin District Council.

Jimmy Sham was elected to the Sha Tin District Council in the 2019 local elections. He represented the League of Social Democrats, a pro-democracy party, in the Lek Yuen area. His election activities were briefly stopped when he was attacked in October 2019. However, he returned to campaign using crutches. He won the election on November 24, 2019. He took the place of Michael Wong Yue-hon, who was from a different political group.

Resignation from District Council

On July 8, 2021, many district councillors, including Jimmy Sham, left their jobs. They resigned because they expected to be removed from office by the government. This was part of a large action by the government against pro-democracy councillors. The League of Social Democrats announced his resignation in a public statement.