Mayor and History Making in Colchester

On 18 May 2011, Malaysian-born Cllr Helen Chuah was inaugurated as the first ever Mayor of Colchester to have been born outside of the UK as well as the first Chinese Liberal Democrat Mayor in the UK.

At a packed ceremony attended by local press as well as Malaysian and Chinese tv stations, tributes were paid by her fellow Councillors of Colchester Borough Council for Helen's dedication and hard work over the last 13 years.

Bob Russell the local MP was also present at the ceremony and expressed his delight at this historic event, where Colchester has truly embraced multi-cultural Britain.

Dressed in traditional sarong kebaya under her Mayoral robes, Mayor Chuah made part of her acceptance and thank you speech in Bahasa Malayu (after first warning the audience that she would be doing so for the purpose of the Malaysian tv viewers and that she would not be swearing at them). Raised in Penang before coming to UK to train as a mental health nurse, Helen commented "Penang is known as the Pearl of the Orient, but Colchester is the Oyster".

Indeed, married to Cllr Mike Hogg who was himself Mayor 10 years ago, Helen has long become a well-established and well-loved figure in Colchester. The question remains however as to whether Cllr Hogg will be prepared to walk 5 paces behind her over the course of her Mayoral term!