{"id":510,"date":"2025-05-23T10:57:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T09:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theoptimistmagazine.co.uk\/?p=510"},"modified":"2025-06-06T16:09:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T15:09:07","slug":"from-political-refugee-to-community-leader-in-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/theoptimist\/2025\/05\/23\/from-political-refugee-to-community-leader-in-scotland\/","title":{"rendered":"Political refugee to Scottish community leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Once a district councillor in Hong Kong, Alice Lee arrived in Scotland as a political refugee. Now elected in Alloa, she proves that immigrants can belong, contribute, and lead.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">A crumpled crisp packet, a discarded plastic bottle, and a piece of broken glass&#8230; Alice Fung King Ishigami Lee bent down to pick them up from the high street of Alloa, a quiet Scottish town nestled in Clackmannanshire. This was more than just litter-picking. It was about finding her place in her new home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From councillor to political refugee<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Born in Hong Kong, Alice was a district councillor in Yan Lam, where she proudly represented her community.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">But in 2021, Alice became a political refugee due to her involvement in Hong Kong\u2019s pro-democracy primaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Pro-democracy primaries were informal elections to select opposition candidates ahead of legislative elections. Authorities viewed the primaries as subversive under the sweeping National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020. The law criminalised dissent and curtailed political freedoms. Over 50 pro-democracy figures were arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI didn&#8217;t feel safe,\u201d says Alice. \u201cI didn\u2019t know if someone was following me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Fearing for her safety, she decided to leave everything behind.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">But she didn\u2019t choose her new home at random. Alice had studied near Alloa at the University of Stirling more than three decades ago. That past connection helped ease her transition. She arrived in Scotland under a Leave Outside the Immigration Rules (LOTR) visa, a provision granted on political and humanitarian grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI felt lighter. Even though I was still a bit jumpy,\u201d says Alice. \u201cFinally, I could breathe easier. I chose to be here, and that felt like freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are enjoying this story \u2013 try this story on Jeanie, who\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theoptimistmagazine.co.uk\/2025\/05\/23\/the-optimist-unplugged-jeanie-vowels\/\">changed her life to pursue stand-up comedy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Finding home from litter-picking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">In a political climate where immigrants are sometimes accused of failing to integrate or dividing communities, Alice\u2019s story offers a powerful rebuttal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Determined to contribute, Alice turned to what she knew best: grassroots service.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe high street was so dirty after COVID,\u201d she says. Having done litter picking back in Hong Kong, she and her husband began doing the same in Alloa. \u201cThis country is so pretty, and I want to keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">But picking up litter wasn\u2019t the only way she began to connect with the community. She joined local activities like Scottish dancing, hiking, and knitting. These were not just hobbies; they were acts of belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From a political refugee to a leader<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">One day, after attending public meetings with her husband out of curiosity, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alloacc.uk\">community council <\/a>members encouraged Alice to take things further. After regularly attending their activities and public meetings, community council members asked her to join them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI thought, \u2018Why not?\u2019\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">In March 2024, Alice was appointed secretary of the Alloa community council. \u201cBeing part of the council wasn\u2019t just about having something to do,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted to put my experience as a district councillor to good use and help people help themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">As secretary of the community council, Alice raised issues such as better trash cans, addressing drug problems, and the overuse of e-cigarettes. But her ambitions didn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">She is especially passionate about getting young people involved in local decision-making. \u201cIt\u2019s not a paid position and comes with many responsibilities,\u201d she says. \u201cBut their voices matter. If they want change, they need to be part of the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A sudden loss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Just as Alice began planting deeper roots in Alloa, she faced a sudden loss less than two years after settling there. Her world fell apart.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Her husband, her partner in everything, started coughing up blood. He was confirmed to have metastatic stage four cancer. Within two months, he was gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI never thought he would leave me so suddenly,\u201d she says, her voice breaking. \u201cOne moment, he was here. And then\u2026 he wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"443\" src=\"https:\/\/theoptimistmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2025\/05\/alice-lee-and-husband.jpg\" alt=\"A man and a woman are stood in a street. They are smiling, and the man is holding a rubbish bag.\" class=\"wp-image-514\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Alice Fung King and her late husband<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">When her family gathered in Scotland, another blow came\u2014her 101-year-old mother in Hong Kong passed away. \u201cLosing them both was like losing a part of myself,\u201d she says. \u201cBut what could I do? I had to keep going. I had to survive.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Through the grief, the community stood by her, the same one she had served, danced with, and picked up litter beside. In her time of need, they returned the support she had once given so freely.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">At her husband\u2019s funeral, guests arrived in a rainbow of colours, not black.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI wanted to celebrate our love, not just mourn it,\u201d she says. \u201cI want to say goodbye without regrets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Alice moves forward, not by forgetting, but by honouring. \u201cI believe in resilience. No matter what happens in life, we have to keep moving forward,\u201d she says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">She still attends council meetings. She still picks up litter. She still believes in improving her community, no matter how small the action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;re looking for an inspiring story of an immigrant woman in politics, read the journey of Sheffield Lord Mayor <a href=\"https:\/\/theoptimistmagazine.co.uk\/2025\/05\/23\/sheffields-first-black-woman-lord-mayor\/\">Safiya Saeed<\/a> becoming a leader.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Once a district councillor in Hong Kong, Alice Lee fled political persecution and found a new home in Scotland, proving the power of immigrants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[28,243,54,229,248,244,55],"class_list":["post-510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers","tag-community","tag-community-leader","tag-councillor","tag-hong-kong","tag-litter-picking","tag-political-refugee","tag-refugee"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - 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