Lester Shum

Shum completed his secondary education at Sheng Kung Hui Tsang Shiu Tim Secondary School before entering The Chinese University of Hong Kong, majoring initially in Information Engineering but later switching to Government and Public Administration.

His political awakening came from the popular internet forum Hong Kong Golden Forum.[3] He was Vice-President (External) of the Student Union of the CUHK 2013–2014, and then became deputy secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS). In that role, he helped lead the 2014 class boycott campaign against the decision of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) which set the framework of the restrictive electoral method on the 2017 Chief Executive election. The student movement led to the massive Occupy protests in September 2014. He was one of the five-member HKFS delegation to hold talk with the government officials led by Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam in October 2014. He was detained by the police in October 2014 after being arrested during a sit-in in July. On 26 November, he was arrested after he failed to comply with an injunction to clear the protest site in Mong Kok.[4] In 2018, he was plead guilty and was handed suspended sentence.[5][4]

In April 2019, Shum filed a judicial review against, and sought an injunction to block, the Hong Kong government's planned transferral of a prime Central Harbourfront site to the unfettered control of the Chinese army.[2] The action followed long-running public concern at the proposed transfer, which contradicted undertakings by the governmment to maintain public access to and usage of the harbourfront.[6]

In June 2020, Shum declared to renounce United States citizenship for running in LegCo Pan Democrat preliminary.

• Stuart Lau, 10,000 Occupy Central protesters would bring government to crisis point: student leader”, South China Morning Post, 3 July 2014
• Grace Tsoi Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, The Star, 2 October 2014