It has sparked concerns over the harmony between indigenous villagers and 'outsiders', especially if there are conflicts of interests between the two groups.

Last year, 21 women were selected as village heads, including 18 elected under the new system - the largest number of women ever elected in village polls.

Expatriates were picked to represent all residents in two villages. Briton Andrew Brown was elected village head of San Shek Wan village on South Lantau by one vote. Another expatriate, Baron Van Voorsttot, was elected village head of Lo Tik Wan village on Lamma.

Just days after Mr Brown was elected, the indigenous village head, Mo Ngan-fuk, refused to co-operate with him. A year after the election, Mr Brown says he gets along with all the villagers except for Mr Mo. 'Mr Mo still refuses to communicate with me,' Mr Brown says. 'People who put the interest of their villages ahead of anything else support the election.

'We have regular village meetings and village newsletters. We organise village campaigns to improve the environment. As a matter of fact, the relationship between indigenous villagers and the expatriates in the village has improved over the year.'

But Mr Mo has a different view, even a year after the election. 'He [Mr Brown] is a westerner who knows nothing about the village and the tradition. I do not need to work with him,' he says.

A survey shows about 70 per cent of village heads oppose the new election system, which they believe violates their traditions, according to Bruce Kwong Kam-kwan, senior research assistant with the department of politics and public administration at the University of Hong Kong.

The academic fears conflicts between villagers and non-indigenous residents will arise after the election system becomes more mature and non-indigenous representatives become more powerful.

Dr Kwong says: 'Conflicts can easily arise from small things, such as disputes over land use. By tradition, a village head used to be the one who approved new constructions in the village. He can turn down new development very easily - simply by using fung shui as a reason. Villagers see fung shui as a big issue. But now conflicts could easily arise if the development is backed by the non-indigenous village chief but rejected by his indigenous counterpart.

'The two-heads system is going to give rise to polarisation between indigenous and non-indigenous inhabitants.

'We expect to see more conflicts of interests when the two village heads system becomes more mature.'

Although there is no definition of the lawful traditional rights and interests of indigenous inhabitants in the New Territories, the rights are generally related to land.

The main issues are the right of indigenous males over 18 to build small houses, burials outside gazetted cemeteries and exemption from government rent and rates.

Tang Shek-hung, an indigenous village head at Ping Shek, Yuen Long, was among those who opposed the two heads system. He accuses the government of trying to create conflicts in villages and diluting the New Territories traditions.

Mr Tang says his tribe has been living in the area for more than 800 years. 'The government should not allow outsiders to meddle in the village business. These are the family matters of indigenous inhabitants,' he says.

The system of village representation has developed over decades. But arrangements for electing village representatives have also evolved over time.

With regard to two cases connected to the election of village representatives, the Court of Final Appeal ruled in 2000 that the secretary for home affairs, in deciding whether to approve an elected village representative, had to consider whether the person was elected in accordance with the Bill of Rights and the Sex Discrimination Ordinance.

In accordance with the Court of Final Appeal's ruling and to ensure the elections are open and fair, the government has established new arrangements for village representative elections following a review of the present system and public consultation, in particular with the rural community and Heung Yee Kuk.