With emotions running high after Tsoi Yuen Tsuen was dealt the death blow by Saturday's Legislative Council approval of funding for the high-speed rail link, villagers are now having to turn their minds to the inevitable - signing up for compensation and deciding where to move. A small hard core still plan to refuse the compensation offer and continue protesting against the railway and their village's demise. Maggie Au Yeung Cho Shung-tai said she had not given any thought to signing up for compensation, but now the Legco vote had been cast, she would have to consider whether to change her mind and register. And Au Yeung, who has lived in the village since she was born about 50 years ago, said she and other villagers would have to start discussing where they would live. 'From the very beginning, I have never thought about accepting the compensation because it's impossible to find a living environment as good as this one ... and money can't buy the friendship we have with our neighbours,' she said. 'The best option is that all villagers can still live together. I don't care how big our flat is.' A 75-year-old woman with the family name Tang, who had agreed to move and registered for compensation, said she now just 'wants things to get done as soon as possible' so she 'can move out quickly'. She said she was scarred by splits in the community over the railway. 'A villager cursed me and said I would jump to my death within a year,' Tang said bitterly of events before Saturday's vote, adding she was surprised by cold looks she had received from other villagers because of her decision to sign up for compensation. 'What's wrong with me fighting for my own interests?' More than 80 per cent of the village's 150 households have signed for compensation, the government says. The villagers are not the only ones assessing their positions after Legco's approval of HK$66.9 billion for construction of the Hong Kong-Guangzhou Express Rail Link; the government and opponents of the line are also rethinking their strategies. Secretary for Transport and Housing Eva Cheng was considering addressing protesters' concerns in an online forum, a day after hundreds of protesters tried to storm the Legco building to talk to her, a government spokesman said. At the same time, activists opposed to the railway vowed to continue their support for the Tsoi Yuen villagers and said they planned to draw on communities affected by the link's construction to step up action. But in Tsoi Yuen village yesterday, many villagers were feeling crushed. Yip Shui-lai, 71, said he was feeling miserable and upset that his home would be demolished - but he would not give in easily. 'Our villagers are not crabs with wobbly legs. The game is unfair to us and we'll continue to protest,' Yip said. He would only consider moving if the government relocated the village to another green area, ideally next to farmland. His father, Ip Kwan-choi, 95, said: 'It gives me a big headache. I worked very hard to save money for this piece of land and house.' Cheng said the deadline for villagers to accept the compensation package would be extended by a month to the end of next month.
