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35. Village Representatives differ among themselves in respect of the 'constitutional' conditions in which they come into office. In some communities, perhaps the majority, elections never take place, the Village Representative commanding enough general influence to enter unopposed. In others a ballot is held and then the question of the franchise arises, especially in regard to the newly immigrant population who can lay no claim to be established villagers and whose interests have nevertheless to be represented. If they are in fact given the vote then it must be because each candidate has decided that he can win their support. In the Tai Po District, and I suppose generally in the New Territories, the vote is given to the heads of households, so that the electorate may be said generally to represent mature male opinion.
36. Who would be a Village Representative? He draws no pay and belongs to a body, the Rural Committee, which has no formal powers. But in fact candidates are forthcoming, and there is evidence that many men are willing to work hard in office. They gain prestige, and if they are ambitious enough, they may eventually reach the Heung Yee Kuk. Certainly, Village Representatives give the impression of being very busy men, running constantly to the District Office, mediating between the Administration and their constituents, and consulting with one another. From the Administration's point of view Village Representatives are what their name implies, but it is a matter of common observation that in their own communities they are called 'village heads' (ts'uen cheung). What power do they in effect have? They are not a sole channel through which relations between the villagers and the Administration flow, for any individual is free to approach the District Office or one of its staff in the field, and many exercise this right freely, especially in areas where communications are good. But a villager's claim on the attention of officials is presumably strengthened when he has his Representative (his headman from his point of view) to speak for or stand by him, and from this position the Village Representative is able to extract a power advantage which in reality raises him above the status of a mere mouthpiece for his constituency. Again, when he is called upon to represent to the Administration the state of opinion in his community on a particular issue or to aid in conveying to the community an instruction from the Administration, the Village Representative is able to some extent to manipulate the reactions of his people, perhaps sometimes for his own ends,
SOCIAL RESEARCH IN THE N.T. OF HONG KONG, 1963 211
35. Village Representatives differ among themselves in respect of the 'constitutional' conditions in which they come into office. In some communities, perhaps the majority, elections never take place, the Village Representative commanding enough general influence to enter unopposed. In others a ballot is held and then the question of the franchise arises, especially in regard to the newly immigrant population who can lay no claim to be established villagers and whose interests have nevertheless to be represented. If they are in fact given the vote then it must be because each candidate has decided that he can win their support. In the Tai Po District, and I suppose generally in the New Territories, the vote is given to the heads of households, so that the electorate may be said generally to represent mature male opinion.
36. Who would be a Village Representative? He draws no pay and belongs to a body, the Rural Committee, which has no formal powers. But in fact candidates are forthcoming, and there is evidence that many men are willing to work hard in office. They gain prestige, and if they are ambitious enough, they may eventually reach the Heung Yee Kuk. Certainly, Village Representatives give the impression of being very busy men, running constantly to the District Office, mediating between the Administration and their constituents, and consulting with one another. From the Adminis- tration's point of view Village Representatives are what their name implies, but it is a matter of common observation that in their own communities they are called 'village heads' (ts'uen cheung). What power do they in effect have? They are not a sole channel through which relations between the villagers and the Administration flow, for any individual is free to approach the District Office or one of its staff in the field, and many exercise this right freely, especially in areas where communications are good. But a villager's claim on the attention of officials is presumably strengthened when he has his Representative (his headman from his point of view) to speak for or stand by him, and from this position the Village Representative is able to extract a power advantage which in reality raises him above the status of a mere mouthpiece for his constituency. Again, when he is called upon to represent to the Administration the state of opinion in his community on a particular issue or to aid in con- veying to the community an instruction from the Administration, the Village Representative is able to some extent to manipulate the reactions of his people, perhaps sometimes for his own ends,
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