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HONG KONG: With polling day coming up on Sunday, candidates for Hong Kong's legislative council are adopting various online gimmicks to reach out to younger voters.
Some candidates are trying to raise their "hip" quotient through rap music videos and interactive games.
A couple of teens rapping about Hong Kong's legislative council candidates had more than 12,000 hits on YouTube.
Ip's team said campaign volunteers came up with the rap plugging LegCo hopeful Regina Ip and her running mates. Ip's "hipper" portrayal in the music video is in stark contrast to her public persona.
The former security secretary is known for her formidable personality and has even earned the nickname "dragon lady". Although she is running as an independent, Ip is seen as part of the pro-Beijing camp.
Joseph Cheng, professor of Political Science, City University of Hong Kong, said: "People of course make fun of this rapping and the use of the term "Reginababy", that kind of thing.
"But I think that probably she believes conservative voters - pro-government voters, those who accord a high priority to law and order - they are already her supporters, so she wants to broaden her base of support."
In this day and age, candidates are starting to realise that if they want to reign in the voters, they have to keep up with the times. No matter how loudly they campaign on the streets, there is no underestimating the power of reaching out to a younger demographic over cyberspace.
Lawmaker Emily Lau of The Frontier has also taken her campaign for re-election onto the web. People browsing her campaign site can download cartoon videos about her platform and an interactive game, starring Lau herself.
In the game, players manoeuvre the pan-democratic legislator to dodge so-called government faults such as the gap between the rich and poor. Participants rake up points by absorbing principles Lau supports, such as universal suffrage.
The country will just have to wait and see which of the contenders come off "cool" enough to win one of the 60 seats up for grabs in Sunday's election, half of which are directly elected. - CNA/vm
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