Businessman Kenneth Lau faces big challenges in succeeding his father as Heung Yee Kuk chairman

It seems impossible to write about him without first mentioning his father - rural patriarch Lau Wong-fat - whose tardiness in arriving at the Legislative Council for the political reform vote last Thursday triggered a bizarre walkout by 32 fellow progovernment lawmakers that eventually turned a historic vote into a farce.

The fact that so many lawmakers were willing to try such a tactic in a bid to deny a quorum so Lau could arrive for the vote perhaps spoke about the weight of the rural patriarch - affectionately called Uncle Fat by friends - in local political circles.

But businessman Kenneth Lau Ip-keung - better known as Uncle Fat's son - has pledged to make a difference in his new role as chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk, the ageing rural body that his father had headed for the past 35 years.

First things first, he said he would like to polish up the public image of the kuk and that of his fellow indigenous villagers.

Kenneth Lau, 49, who took over from his father earlier this month, said he would like to listen to outsiders and get them involved in talks with the kuk to eliminate their misunderstandings about rural affairs.

"I hope to see more communication with urban people to try to eliminate their misunderstanding [about us]," said Lau. "Some people do not quite understand the village people. Of course, there are also others who choose not to understand us.