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votes are the more educated who have a stronger yearning for democracy. The general public were less willing to vote which reflects their weaker
sense of commitment in public affairs and hence, a need to further step up civic education.
The democrats have greater strength. The turnout rate was very high in Tuen Mun West and Shatin est constituencies where solid work had been done at the grassroots level. Among the 46,000
registered voters in Tuen Mun West, about 14,400 cast
their votes, the turnout rate was as high as 31.2%. In Shatin West, about 14,000
out of 49,000 registered voters cast their votes and the turnout rate was 29%. These were roughly comparable to the voting rate in some geographical constituencies in the western countries.
Talking about election, it is important to do the work at grassroots level and to serve the grassroots with true sincerity so as to gain a group of supporters. Then a big electioneering team should be formed before the election. If the candidates have strong mobilizing power and appeal, the voting rate will certainly be high. For instance, LAU Kong-wah of Shatin West, a pragmatist deeply devoted to his work, was elected with the largest number of votes. He obtained more than
10,
votes from his constituency, which mainly came from housing estates mutual aid committees. It shows that mobilization of grassroots
organizations can be very effective. Another candidate of Shatin West, FUNG Chi-wood, is a very well-known figure. But despite the support of Martin LEE and the others, he could only attract some drifting votes because he lacked a solid grassroot foundation. He did not have as many supporters as LAU Kong-wah did and he was unsuccessful in the end. Nevertheless, the contest in Shatin West was also an internal competition between the democrats. They seemed to be in control of the whole situation.
It can be seen from the election in Tuen Mun West and Wong Tai Sin that there were quarrels between the democrats themselves due to their conflict of interest; they even attacked each other on television. FOK Pui-yee is one of the Outstanding Young Persons and an Urbco incumbent. She strived to run for re-election but the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood decided to support another candidate and resulted in internal conflicts. This shows the democrats are still zealous in their
pursuit of political power and that they are not in any way "discouraged".