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Albert Chan Wai-yip, who has a house in San Shek Wan, has been caught up in a bitter war  of words following the election of expatriate Andrew Brown as non-indigenous village chief

Independent legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip has been dragged into the political storm that has erupted in a Lantau village after residents  elected Hong Kong's first expatriate village head to represent non-indigenous locals under the new two-heads electoral system.

The election of civil engineer Andrew Brown on July 20 by  a one-vote has led to an acrimonious split in San Shek Wan.

The other elected head, Mo Ngan-fuk,  who represents indigenous villagers, has accused Mr Chan of promoting democracy in the village 'for his own interests' and claims he tried to drive a wedge between Mr Mo and his younger brother, Mo Wai-sum, by influencing the younger sibling to stand against him in the election.

Mo Ngan-fuk, 72, beat Mo Wai-sum, 51, by 23 votes to 13.  He was also elected as vice-chairman of the Lantau South Rural Committee.

Mr Mo's son, Mo Kam-tong, was defeated by Mr Brown.

Mr Mo and his son have vowed not to co-operate with Mr Brown and even went as far as lodging - unsuccessfully - a query over the Briton's residency credentials with the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Mr Brown earned the right to stand for election after living in San Shek Wan village for six years.

The ICAC advised the Mo family to take their complaint to the election commission because there was no evidence of bribery.

The Mo family then accused Mr Chan of being in league with both Mr Brown and Mo Wai-sum against them.

However, both Mr Brown and Mo Wai-sum denied the accusations. Mr Chan was out of town and unavailable for comment yesterday.

Mr Brown would only say that Mo Ngan-fuk was  slinging mud at Mr Chan because his son had lost the election.

Mr Chan, who is not a registered voter in the village, has a house there  in his wife's name.

Denying that Mr Chan had persuaded him to stand for election, Mo Wai-sum said he had acted independently: 'It's absurd and the allegations are groundless.

'I have my own ideas and would not be easily influenced by anyone, least of all Mr Chan.

'Mr Chan is a resident of the village, and though we have talked on several occasions, he didn't influence me or put me up for the election.'

He said he decided to stand for election because his brother had been 'very selfish' and had no respect for other villagers or even his brothers.

'He has not and will not consult us on anything. And when we object to his ideas he gets sore at us. How can we rely on such a man to represent us?'

Mo Wai-sum said it was fortunate that Mr Brown had won.

'We now hope Mr Brown can represent us. I'm confident he will be a lot better than my brother in fighting for the good of the village.'

However, Mo Ngan-fuk labelled both Mo Wai-sum and Mr Chan 'running dogs'.

'Hong Kong has reverted to China after the British ruled it for 150 years,' he said. 'The Basic Law states that we, Hong Kong people, should administer Hong Kong. Why have we got a Briton running our village? To make matters worse, both Mo Wai-sum and Chan Wai-yip supported that gweilo.'

Supporting his father, Mo Kam-tong blamed the government for allowing the two-heads election system.

'Since the government thinks it's such a great idea, why don't we have two chief executives to run Hong Kong, instead of one?' he said.

Mo Ngan-fuk said he decided to stand for election even though he is 72  because he could not bear the thought of an outsider running 'his village' which he had built.

Although there are only 11 indigenous villagers, including children, out of 51 residents in San Shek Wan, he said he would continue to fight for their rights because he had been re-elected to represent them.

However, he insisted that he would not co-operate with Mr Brown under any circumstances.

'He does whatever he wants to do. That is his business,' he said.

Mo Ngan-fuk said he could not work with Mr Brown who, he claimed, objected to whatever he wanted to do for the village.

As an example, he cited his plan to build a $1 million footpath on the hill leading to Mui Wo, a plan that had been shelved by the government because of Mr Brown's objection.

Objections had been raised by a lot of residents, including Mo Wai-sum, who said it was a waste of money and it might invite intruders.

The month-long village elections, which run until August 17, allow non-indigenous residents to elect village representatives for the first time after a landmark court ruling  overturned the colonial system that had been operating for more than 100 years.

Mr Brown, a civil engineer who came to Hong Kong from the Wirral near the English city of Liverpool eight years ago,  said he decided to stand for election because he felt residents had the right to be heard and consulted.



Lawmaker focus of village row