Anna Lo is the Alliance candidate for South Belfast. Born in Hong Kong, Anna moved to Northern Ireland in 1974. She contributed significantly to various organisations targeting the welfare of minority communities, and started the first ever evening English class for Chinese in Northern Ireland. Anna was awarded an MBE in 1999 for Services to Ethnic Minorities. Since 2007, she has been serving as the Alliance Party MLA for South Belfast.

What are the main issues that people in your electorate/UK are concerned about?
Economy is the focus. Ireland gets a block government grant from Westminster. Now this grant may be cut, so a lot of important public services are about to be cut. So I lobby against the cuts.

What are the policies that your party (Con, Lib Dem, Lab, Indie) are bringing to address them?
(Focus on: the Economy, Healthcare, Education, Social welfare)

Economy – We try to help the economy overcome recession and we promote economic development. We should create more jobs and support small and medium businesses. I will lobby for finance distribution in Westminster so our region gets a fair proportion.

Health care – In Northern Ireland there are more people disabled because of the conflict over the last 35 years. There are also mental health problems. However these problems are not on top of the political agenda at the moment and I will lobby to have them addressed.

Education – the Alliance party supports integrated education so we encourage students from different religious backgrounds to study together.

Social welfare – I am supportive of the current government’s welfare reform agenda but I also think we should encourage more people to get into the workforce. This is enabled by solving certain problems, such as providing affordable and good childcare so that more adults can choose to work.

What have you personally achieved for your constituency?
I joined the Alliance party in 2007 and since then have voted for many legislative development and changes. I have been an active member of two scrutiny committees – social development and employment. I also have my constituency office which deals with inquiries ranging from homelessness to planning permission to immigration. I do my best to accommodate people’s needs.

If elected, what will you do for the British Chinese community?
I will use my abundant experience in serving the community to lobby for changes that benefit the community. (I worked for the Chinese community for 25 years. I am the first person to start a class teaching Chinese English. I am the first Chinese social worker in Northern Ireland. I worked for 10 years at the Chinese Welfare Association.)
I will lobby the government for better services concerning issues of care for the elderly, integration and discrimination. I believe there is currently inadequate care for the elderly, because the first generation migrants are aging and their children whom they have depended on as helpers in communication are leaving home. It is the duty of the state to help these elderly to reduce the language barrier. There should be more facility for interpretation and translation allowing Chinese to integrate into the British society. I also will address the issue of discrimination particularly in areas of jobs and housing.

How will you address the issue of illegal immigration?
I am aware of a few thousand illegal immigrants that have nowhere to go. Because of tightening legislation, Chinese restaurants are afraid of employing immigrants, and immigrants are left with no recognition. Their lack of status is a big problem and can lead to criminal activities. We need to lobby so that they are either deported or that they get recognition. I agree that we shall prevent new illegal immigrants coming into the country but the existing ones must be addressed fairly, because they still have skills and can integrate into our society and provide benefit for the economy.
I am working on this, but the Chinese community too needs to work on this and let the government know that this is what we need.

How would you encourage the British Chinese to be more politically active in the UK?
I am a good role model to show Chinese people that they can get involved in politics too. I want to make them recognise the importance of having a say in politics by example.

Why should people vote for you / your party?
We are a cross community party. Our politics is neutral and provide a middle ground to address many key issues. We speak up for those from unprivileged backgrounds and welcome diversity.

If you promise so much for the Chinese community how can you win the vote of others?
I have to be very careful because despite being Chinese I am elected to represent South Belfast so I am working for all people. I want to address issues of importance to those unfairly treated, not just the Chinese. I will take a fair overall approach that benefits everyone in society, but will gladly help Chinese individuals or groups too.

What do you make of the recent terrorism activities in South Belfast?
This is an issue all parties need to work together and send a strong message that we are working against terrorism. We believe addressing this issue is of particular importance because the leader of the Alliance party is appointed Minister for Justice, so will be in charge of resourcing the police.

Why do you get personal threats?
I get threats through letters and email whenever I speak up against racism. This happened a few times and the police had to put measures into my house to protect me. I believe those threats come from extreme groups such as the BNP. I believe racism is an important issue needing to be addressed particularly as we are getting more migrant workers coming into North Ireland now.