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SCMP Reporter

Villagers in the New Territories will choose their leaders next month in the most competitive rural elections since the  handover. 
In one of the contests, the powerful rural leader Lau Wong-fat  is facing an unexpected challenge in his home village, while in another village seven candidates are seeking two seats - a rare scene in rural politics.
However, even with a record number of candidates registered, more than half the seats have already gone to uncontested candidates, while another 125 will remain vacant because there are no candidates. 
In all, 1,753 candidates have been nominated for the 1,484 indigenous inhabitant representative and resident representative seats in 709 villages. 
This is 7.6 per cent more than the 1,629 of four years ago and is also higher than the 1,640 in 2003, when a dual village head system was introduced as a major reform to the traditional structure. 
The reforms and a higher level of education in the villages are cited as reasons for increased participation.
Tang Cheuk-chuen,  69, one of seven people competing for two indigenous inhabitant representative seats in the 500-year-old walled village of Kat Hing Wai  in Kam Tin, said he found the management of rural affairs more democratic nowadays.
He believed the increased competition was a result of heightened awareness of public participation because of better education.
'More people are aware of politics and their rights to participate in village affairs now,' he said. 'For example, when I was a teenager, people would not care about improving the environmental hygiene or the transparency of the village finances.' 
Legislator and solicitor Paul Tse Wai-chun,  who is an indigenous resident of Nga Yiu Tau in Shap Pat Heung,  Yuen Long, but lives outside, said competition among different rural factions might have attracted more people to stand.
'With the position as indigenous inhabitant representative, one can automatically sit on a rural committee. Then he has a better chance of being elected onto the Heung Yee Kuk council and thus has more say in rural community affairs,' he said.
Heung Yee Kuk chairman Lau and fellow indigenous inhabitant representative Lau Wai-ping  are facing a surprise challenge in Lung Kwu Tan,  Tuen Mun, from villagers Kent Lau Tung-hoi  and Lau Kwok-ming.  
Lau Wong-fat, who owns more than 600 plots of land in the New Territories and sits on the Executive and Legislative Councils, has headed his home village for more than 50 years.
The present electoral system is the result of a number of challenges to historical privileges held by male indigenous residents. 
Women were first allowed to vote in a village poll in Sheung Shui in 1995 after complaints about discrimination. Non-indigenous villagers were allowed to vote for resident representatives under the 'two heads' system introduced in 2003, after the Court of Final Appeal ruled in 2000 that it was unlawful to restrict voting rights to indigenous villagers. The latter can still elect their own indigenous inhabitant representatives under the 'two heads' rule. 
Traditionally, village heads are responsible for approving new construction in villages, and line up negotiations between the government and villagers on issues such as development projects. As leaders of their clans, they also have the authority to verify the identities of indigenous residents when the government vets applications to build small houses and to bury deceased residents in the village.
The elections of village representatives did not become properly regulated by law until a century after the 'New Territories' were defined when the Qing dynasty  government leased the land to Britain in 1898. 
The year is a watershed for defining land privileges, as people whose ancestors moved into the village before that year have the status of indigenous inhabitant. In 1999, the first village ballots subject to the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance were held, in contrast with the privately held polls of the past. 
Although the posts are for representing rural villagers, only 16 candidates declared as engaging in an agricultural occupation, including farmers and field assistants, are running. Most of the others are businessmen or retirees.
They also include some professionals, such as Law Society vice-president Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, who has been elected unopposed  to represent indigenous villagers of Leung Tin Tsuen, Tuen Mun, while Polytechnic University professor Man Hau-chung is seeking re-election as one of the two indigenous village heads of Chau Tau in Yuen Long. 
Tse said the village electoral system still had many flaws.
'I have handled some lawsuits in which some people claim voting rights as indigenous inhabitants,' he said. 'But in fact it is very difficult for the courts to verify their identity. Problems such as this often arise.'
Despite the evolving culture and rules in village elections, the tradition of male dominance appears to be intact. Only 31 women have filed as candidates for next month's poll, fewer than the 35 in the most recent elections in 2007.
The elections will be held over the first four Sundays of January. A total of 182,702 people have registered as voters.
Unwanted seats
The number of seats that will remain empty after the elections because no one is standing for them: 125
Dearth of women
Just 31 women are standing for seats, down from 35 in 2007 
The year women were first allowed to vote in the rural elections: 1995



Hottest rural polls since handover