Martin Lee (born 8 June 1938), QC, SC, JP, is a Hong Kong political activist, lawyer and former legislator. He was the founding chairman (1994–2002) of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong. He was a directly-elected Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) for the Hong Kong Island geographical constituency. Professionally he is a barrister-at-law, the first on the order of precedence of Senior Counsels in Hong Kong.
Lee has been prominent figure of the Hong Kong democracy movement on the international stage, especially in the United States. He is a controversial figure in Hong Kong. To human rights activists he has been labelled the "Father of Democracy" in Hong Kong. To Beijing officials, he has been labelled a "running dog of the colonialists".
After being a member of the Legislative Council for 23 years, Lee announced on 27 March 2008 that he would not seek re-election when his term ended in September of that year.
Famous quotes containing the words martin and/or lee:
“Today everything is different. I can’t even get decent food. Right after I got here I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce and I got egg noodles and catsup. I’m an average nobody, I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.”
—Nicholas Pileggi, U.S. screenwriter, and Martin Scorsese. Henry Hill (Ray Liotta)
“Any time you’ve got nothing to do—and lots of time to do it—come on up.”
—Mae West, U.S. screenwriter, W.C. Fields, and Edward Cline. Flower Belle Lee (Mae West)