January 1999

A female chief in the village

By Pete Yeung

    The election of five female villagers as the chiefs of their own villages marked a new era of women's status in the New Territories.

    Miss Lily Cheung Wing Yee, 33, is one of those elected female chiefs in Hong Kong.

    Miss Cheung was born in her village and spent 14 years of her childhood there. Then, she left home and went to Canada to pursue her studies.

    After she had finished her degree in business administration in Canada, she returned to the village in 1991.

    Four years later, she participated in the election and made a great success in the campaign. After that, she became the youngest female chief in the New Territories.

    Wearing a white T-shirt, a pair of white trousers and white leather shoes, Miss Cheung gave a bright image under the morning sunlight.

    She is energetic, sociable, friendly and confident.

    The interview started with a straightforward question: Sexual discrimination.

    Miss Cheung said," I would not deny that there is sexual discrimination in the village.

    "However, this problem is becoming less serious because the villagers are now willing to open themselves to the modern society and begin to accept new values.

    "They chose me as the chief of the village as they trust my ability in handling village affairs, ignoring the fact that I am a woman.

    Nowadays, women in rural areas of Hong Kong, including wives and daughters, still do not have the right to inherit the properties of their husbands and fathers.

    "I disagree that the system discriminates against female villagers.

    "If a male villager with no son dies and leaves over his wife and daughters in the village, according to the rules of our village, one of his brothers will take over his land and house.

    "Nevertheless, the brother has to bear one great responsibility: he has to support the widow and her daughters until the widow dies and the daughters get married.

    However unfair it seems, this rule prevents outsiders from 'invading' the village.

    "Usually, villages belong to a specific surname. My village is of course, the Cheung's village.

    "Villagers do not want other people with different surnames to own land in their villages. They have a strong sense of identity.

    "When a woman gets married, ownership of properties may be transferred to her husband. Then, outsiders can also own properties in the village.

    "This will seriously interrupt the structure of the rural society."

    According to Miss Cheung, the system was designed at a time when many traditional villages aggregated together in a specific region.

    "In the past, marriages usually occurred between villages.

    "Therefore, if a female villager married into an adjacent village, she could continue to enjoy the benefits, and she did not lose any rights at all.

    "However, the system can no longer function properly in such a modern society as most of the people do not live in a village," said Miss Cheung.

    Both Miss Cheung's grandfather and father were chiefs of the village in the past. This was one of the major reasons for her desire to become the chief.

    "When my grandfather and father were village chiefs, villagers often requested for help from us. They called at any time and from any place in the village. Sometimes they might come to knock at our door at three o'clock in the morning.

    "When I grew up, I began to help my father to handle village affairs and I got used to this working environment.

    The second reason is her experience of overseas education.

    Miss Cheung said that her education in Canada gave her the sense of responsibility of being a good citizen.

    "When I returned from Canada, I found that the villagers did not regard me as an outsider although I had stayed away for such a long period. They simply considered me as a member of the village.

    " This gave me a great sense of belonging. So, I wanted to do something for this village."

    As Miss Cheung walked around the village during the interview, she stopped several times to talk to a police officer and some villagers to discuss village affairs.

    "Although this is a job without payment, it gives me lots of satisfaction," she concluded.

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