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SCMP Reporter

GOOD NEWS KELLY CHOI, 25, learned yesterday she could legally join her family in Hong Kong after a wait of two decades.

 And the first thing she did was to phone her father to tell him the good news.

 'He had also heard about it on TV when I called him at home. We're both so happy,' beamed Ms Choi, who arrived in Hong Kong on a two-way permit from Fujian last August.

 'I've waited for this for more than 20 years - I'm so excited now.

 'It has been very difficult for me and my eldest brother since we don't have our parents with us on the mainland, especially when we are sick or during Lunar New Year when everyone else gathers with their families,' she said.

 'I'm so happy that my family is not split any more.'  Ms Choi, who was born before her parents had become permanent residents of Hong Kong, had applied to settle here since her father moved to Hong Kong when she was five but was repeatedly rejected.

 Although her two elder sisters and younger brother have been allowed to live in the SAR with their parents, she has been left alone with her 28-year-old eldest brother in their home town.

BAD NEWS LAM SIU-WING, 26, who was on the wrong end of yesterday's decision, said he would seek ways to stay through legal means.

 Mr Lam, who arrived on May 29, risks being arrested as his two-way permit expired yesterday.

 'I'm worried they will arrest me, but I won't hide myself,' said Mr Lam, who speaks only Fujianese.

 'I'll try to extend my permit on Monday and if they lock me up then the lawyers can pursue my case like the others who have been approved [with their right of abode]. I've tried to apply on the mainland to come but was rejected.'  His father moved to Hong Kong in 1978, but only his mother and younger brother were allowed to be reunited with his father a few years later.

 Like many others in his situation, he joined a sit-in protest at the Immigration Tower in Wan Chai on Friday and has pledged to stay until tomorrow.

 Father Franco Mella urged those who were not eligible to stay after yesterday's announcement to report to the Immigration Department when their documents expired.

 'Your cases will be taken care of by the court with a judicial review,' the human rights activist said.

 'But remember to refuse signing anything to agree to being repatriated,' he warned them.



The ecstasy . . . and the agony