When Anna Lo was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2007, she became Europe's first senior elected politician to have been born in China.

Anna Lo, after working within Northern Ireland's Chinese community for more than 30 years, became in 2007 Europe's first senior elected politician to have been born in China. Provided to China Daily

It was a remarkable feat for a Hong Kong immigrant who arrived in the UK in 1974 with few plans other than to search for adventure. But after more than 30 years of working within Northern Ireland's Chinese community, she now holds a seat in the local legislature and hopes that other immigrants might follow her example.

"I think having a role model is very important," says Lo, who was awarded an MBE in 1999 for her work with ethnic minority communities. "The first person elected breaks the mold. Now a lot of Chinese people tell me their sons and daughters are very interested in politics and are interested in standing in the future.

"For a long time politics was seen as a domain for the two major communities (Protestants and Catholics). It is about breaking that attitude and saying that if you live here, you should have a say."

Although Lo was undeterred, Northern Ireland's unique situation makes the prospect of political life a particularly daunting proposition for many immigrants.

"A lot of people coming from Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland aren't that interested in politics for a start. Especially in Northern Ireland, politics can seem very, very complicated to anyone coming from the outside world.

"It is also very tribal. If you are from outside and are not a Christian, you don't want to be seen taking sides. Once you join a political party you have to say you are a Unionist or a Nationalist. A lot of the Chinese first generation immigrants are in business or catering and they quite rightly want to be working for all sides. It is better for business. A lot are reluctant to be associated with politics here. I don't blame them."

Lo represents the Alliance Party, a party that takes a neutral position on the long-running issue of whether or not Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom or unite with the Republic of Ireland. Instead it focuses on representing those not involved in the dispute.

"In 2007 I was approached by the Alliance Party to stand at the next election. I thought why not, I'll give it a go. I got elected, and then was re-elected last May, topping the poll. I'm very pleased to say that."

During the 2007 election, while campaigning for South Belfast, Lo did experience a darker side of Northern Irish politics, but insists that on the whole the process was a pleasant one.

"By and large I was very welcomed when I knocked on doors to talk to people. A lot said they were very supportive of the Chinese community. But there was a small element of racism. Some people were posting very derogatory and racist comments online. It was very unpleasant but we reported it to the police and they were shut down."

Having lived most of her adult life in Northern Ireland, Lo speaks with a broad Irish accent, but admits that she ended up in Belfast more by chance than design.

"I left Hong Kong as I just wanted to see a bit of the world really. My idea was to work in London for awhile then do a tour of Europe, and by the end of the year I'd return to Hong Kong. But instead I found romance and never returned."

Lo married and moved to Northern Ireland, the home of her husband, looking for work. Although her husband's family and friends welcomed her into their lives, she found that other Chinese immigrants were not so fortunate.

"I met Chinese people in Belfast mostly. Whenever I saw Chinese people in the street I wanted to talk to them. I soon realized that many had very little or even no English, so in 1978 I set-up the first ever English lessons designed especially for the Chinese community."

"I became friends with these people. It soon spread from just teaching English to showing them places of interest. We'd take them to the famous Giant's Causeway, which most of the Chinese immigrants didn't know about."

As Lo immersed herself in Northern Ireland's Chinese community, she began to take on more formal roles to improve conditions for recent immigrants. She took on a number of positions, including interpreting for the police and working for the Chinese Welfare Association, of which she became director in 1997.

"I found the Chinese community very receptive to the projects we ran," says Lo. "All the courses were specifically tailored to their needs. We focused on practical help, particularly with the language lessons. This would include medical terms so people could express themselves to a doctor, how to read menus and how to talk to customers."

Programs were also designed to better integrate the Chinese community into Northern Irish life.

"We ran projects for teaching English, after-school clubs, other youth projects, community relations projects, teaching the Chinese community to use computers to help communicate better. We had a project to help 12 women qualify as childminders and then a second project to help 12 women qualify as healthcare workers, which meant they could go out to residential and care homes to help."

Yet perhaps Lo's biggest contribution held ramifications not just within Northern Ireland's Chinese community, but also in other ethnic minority communities. Against a backdrop of improving relations between Protestants and Catholics, Lo was a key advocate in extending the UK's Race Relations Act to Northern Ireland to help protect more recent immigrants.

"In 1997 we got the Race Relations Act extended to Northern Ireland for the first time, 21 years after the rest of the UK. I was one of the campaigners to extend this legislation. We argued that reconciliation wasn't just between the two major communities but also between the ethnic minority communities as well."

This progress, as well as Lo's endeavours within the Northern Ireland Assembly, has created a far more inviting environment for other Chinese immigrants to take the plunge into politics.

"The political parties are doing a lot more now, especially in the last two campaigns. For many years the parties weren't cultivating relationships with ethnic minority communities. If the parties weren't showing interest in ethnic minority communities, why should the communities show interest in the parties?

"But last year particularly I saw a huge difference. In 2007 there were only one or two ethnic minority candidates, but this time there were a number of Polish and Chinese candidates. Our party alone put up two Chinese candidates for the Assembly elections.

"For first generation immigrants especially, there are so many issues for them to be dealing with. Setting up their business, buying a home, looking after the children. Politics is still low down on their agenda but this is starting to change."