Heung Yee Kuk rural body aims to spruce up image with videos hailing role of Hong Kong’s indigenous villagers in city’s success
- The three-part series comes at a time when villagers’ small-house policy rights have been restricted by a recent court ruling
The online campaign, meant to burnish the reputation of the Heung Yee Kuk, coincided with mounting controversies over villagers’ so-called small-house rights following a recent court ruling.
The three-part series, with running times of between 2 ½ minutes and four minutes each, were uploaded to the Facebook page of the kuk, a government-recognised body that represents the interests of New Territories villagers. The clips are also available on YouTube.
Dr Yau Wing-kwong, a co-opted member of the kuk who is also in charge of the video trilogy, said: “We hope to set the record straight. There are many misunderstandings surrounding the small-house policy and rural affairs.
“We have done a lot of research and we present the objective facts. We hope to promote public understanding of rural affairs as well as the kuk’s role and work. It is not our intention to use the project as a tool to bargain for more rights.”
He also said he hoped that the messages could reach out to more young people.
The production is bilingual, with Chinese versions already available. The first two parts have been adapted in English, and a version for the third is in the pipeline.
The first video, titled “New Territories Indigenous Housing”, centres on the controversial small-house policy.
