Professional Forum (Chinese: 專業會議), formerly and still widely known as The Alliance (Chinese: 泛聯盟), is a political group in Hong Kong, composed of five members of the Legislative Council who ran as independents in functional constituencies in the 2004 election. Four were members of the so-called "Breakfast Group", led by Eric Li. Bernard Chan was appointed member of the Executive Council on 12 October 2004.
The Group renamed itself Professional Forum following the 2008 elections. The Forum consists of four members, Abraham Shek Lai-him, Patrick Lau Sau-shing, Raymond Ho Chung-tai and Priscilla Leung Mei-Fun.
In October 2012, the group formed the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong with other LegCo members from the pro-business sectors.
Famous quotes containing the words professional and/or forum:
“I hate the whole race.... There is no believing a word they say—your professional poets, I mean—there never existed a more worthless set than Byron and his friends for example.”
—Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke Wellington (1769–1852)
“What is called eloquence in the forum is commonly found to be rhetoric in the study. The orator yields to the inspiration of a transient occasion, and speaks to the mob before him, to those who can hear him; but the writer, whose more equable life is his occasion, and who would be distracted by the event and the crowd which inspire the orator, speaks to the intellect and heart of mankind, to all in any age who can understand him.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)