Debate pushes rift among rural power brokers into the spotlight again
ERNEST.KAO@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Sunday, 24 April, 2016, 8:29pm
Bowie Hau (left) criticised Daniel Lam Wai-keung (right). Photo: Edward Wong
The rift in Hong Kong’s powerful rural force was again brought to the fore yesterday as two rural leaders, one of them starting a new political party, sparred over how to help indigenous villagers jailed for a housing scam last year.
Sheung Shui rural chief Bowie Hau Chi-keung expressed dissatisfaction over the Heung Yee Kuk’s handling of case, which involved 11 Sha Tin villagers selling their own land rights under the small-house policy for profit.
The kuk claims such sales have been going on for years, and is helping the villagers prepare an appeal.
The policy, enshrined in law and defended zealously by the kuk, grants sons of indigenous villagers the right to build three-storey houses on village land. But it has drawn criticism for its openness to abuse and corruption.
On RTHK’s City Forum Hau criticised kuk vice-chair Daniel Lam Wai-keung’s explanation that legal matters took time to process.
He said: “When New Territories people are in need, we should immediately come forward and help them. We are duty-bound, do you understand [vice] chairman?”
Lam said the relevant lawyers and committees had never stopped working on the case and that “money alone would not solve the issue.” He snubbed Hau for “not being a core member” of discussions.
An inauguration for the New Progressive Alliance, which Hau is forming with Yuen Long rural elder Leung Fuk-yuen, had been scheduled for Monday but was cancelled on Saturday, leading some to speculate of mounting political pressure.
Hau dismissed concerns of “political suppression” and said the group was still waiting on licences to certify it as a registered society and limited company.
The formation of the party has been seen as the worst split in Hong Kong’s rural force, as several heads of rural committees accused its proponents of trying to hijack the kuk – the statutory body representing the interests of 240,000 indigenous villagers – for their own political gain.
The kuk, traditionally a pro-establishment power broker, plays a key role in canvassing rural votes for pro-government candidates and its rural elites have provided a stabilising force since the colonial era. Rural chieftains and their clans also own vast tracts of land in rural areas, which are targets for development. It has a seat in the legislature.
But their relations with the government have frayed in recent years over planning issues that restrict village development and the small-house policy. Internal power struggles have also surfaced.
Earlier this month, the heads of half of the New Territories’ rural committees joined forces to try to persuade the kuk leadership to block the formation of the new party.
Lam said a new party should be beneficial to all rural New Territories residents and bridge the chasm between the urban and rural.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1938255/heung-yee-kuk-elders-clash-over-jailed-hong-kong-villagers
