issues, demanding greater power of the Urban Council in education and health matters, and also elected representatives in the Legislative Council and Executive Council. However the association refrained from calling for self-government and independence, a political stance it regarded as the major demarcation between the association and the radical groups, such as the United Nations Association of Hong Kong. it argued that any "radical change" would threaten Hong Kong's stability. History The Civic Association was founded on 26 October 1954 in Hong Kong by Brother Brigant Cassian, who was a French-born religious educator and also the founder of the Hong Kong Teachers' Association. It was one of the civil organisations to strive for constitutional reform as proposed by the then Governor Mark Aitchison Young in 1946. It sent the petition endorsed by 406 organisations with half a million affiliated members. It began to contest in the Urban Council since the 1956 Urban Council election. They included political reform in their campaign platform and won 2 of the 6 seats. In the 1950s, its representation increased from two to eight seats in the Urban Council. After Cassian died in 1957 and three conservative expatriate leaders resigned in 1959, Hilton Cheong-Leen became the head of the association. Cheong-Leen was determined to change Hong Kong's "colonial museum piece" status. In 1960, the association formed a coalition with the Reform Club, led by Peter Lee Chung-yin, co-founder of the Civic Association and also Secretary-General of the association between 1958 and 1964. The Civic Reform Coalition sent a delegate to London to press the British government for constitutional reform. They demanded a 50–50 split between elected and appointed Legislative Councillors plus a majority of elected seats on a "lower house" Urban Council with expanded powers. Their demands were rejected by London without explanation, their demands were not achieved until 40 years later in the 1990s. Starting from the late 1960s, the membership of the Civic Association decreased and its ability to monopolise Urban Council elections with the Reform Club eroded. In 1975 the association claimed a membership of 10,000. Hilton Cheong-Leen was also the Chairman of the Urban Council in the 1980s and the first elected Urban Council member appointed to the Legislative Council. In 1987, the Association held 4 seats in the Legislative Council; 4 seats in Urban Council; 1 seat in Regional Council; 18 seats in the district boards, in total 27 seats.