Lau Wong-fat

Lau Wong-fat
劉皇發
Non-official Member of the Executive Council
In office
21 January 2009 – 30 June 2012
Appointed byDonald Tsang
Succeeded byCheung Hok-ming
Member of the Legislative Council
In office
30 October 1985 – 25 August 1988
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byCheung Yan-lung
ConstituencyRegional Council
In office
12 October 1988 – 22 August 1991
Appointed bySir David Wilson
In office
9 October 1991 – 30 June 1997
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byCouncil abolished
ConstituencyRural
In office
22 February 1997 – 8 April 1998
(Provisional Legislative Council)
In office
1 July 1998 – 30 September 2004
Preceded byNew parliament
Succeeded byLam Wai-keung
ConstituencyHeung Yee Kuk
In office
1 October 2004 – 30 September 2008
Preceded byIp Kwok-him
Succeeded byIp Kwok-him
ConstituencyDistrict Council
In office
1 October 2008 – 30 September 2016
Preceded byLam Wai-keung
Succeeded byKenneth Lau
ConstituencyHeung Yee Kuk
Chairman of the Regional Council
In office
1 April 1995 – 31 December 1999
Preceded byLam Wai-keung
Succeeded byCouncil abolished
Chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk
In office
1 June 1980 – 31 May 2015
Preceded byWong Yuen-cheung
Succeeded byKenneth Lau
Chairman of the Tuen Mun District Council
In office
1985 – 1 April 2011
Preceded byRicky C. C. Fung
Succeeded byLeung Kin-man
In office
6 January 2012 – 31 December 2015
Preceded byLeung Kin-man
Succeeded byLeung Kin-man
Personal details
Born(1936-10-15)15 October 1936
Lung Kwu Tan, Tuen Mun, British Hong Kong
Died23 July 2017(2017-07-23) (aged 80)
Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
Cause of deathChronic condition
NationalityHong Kong Chinese
Political partyFSHK (1991–93)
Liberal Party (1993–2008)
Economic Synergy (2009–12)
BPA (2012–17)[1]
SpouseLau Ng Mui-chu
ChildrenKenneth Lau
ResidenceHong Kong
Alma materLing Shan College
OccupationPolitician and businessman
Lau Wong-fat
Traditional Chinese劉皇發
Simplified Chinese刘皇发
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLiú Huáng fā
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationLàuh Wòhng faat
JyutpingLau4 Wong4 faat3

Lau Wong-fat, GBM, GBS, OBE, JP (Chinese: 劉皇發; 15 October 1936 – 23 July 2017) was a Hong Kong businessman and politician. He had been the long-time chairman of the Rural Council, the most powerful organ representing the interests of the New Territories indigenous inhabitants from 1980 to 2015. He was also a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1985 to 2016. From 2009 to 2012 he was a non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. He had also served as the member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Regional Council and the Tuen Mun District Council.[2]

He began to involve in New Territories rural politics as a village representative in the Tuen Mun Rural Committee and climbed to the head of the villagers as the chairman of Heung Yee Kuk in 1980, where he kept the position for 35 years until he passed it on to his son, Kenneth Lau. He was appointed member of the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee and played an instrumental role in ensuring rural interests in the drafting of the Basic Law of Hong Kong.[3] He was first indirectly elected to the Legislative Council through the Regional Council functional constituency in 1986 and he held his seat through Heung Yee Kuk constituency from 1991 to 2004 and from 2008 until 2016 when he was replaced by his son. From 2004 to 2008 he was indirectly elected through the District Council constituency. He was also the chairman of the Tuen Mun District Council from 1985 to 2011 and the chairman of the Regional Council from 1995 to 1999.

In 2009, he was appointed by Chief Executive Donald Tsang to the Executive Council, the highest advisory council of the Hong Kong government where he served until 2012. For this, together with his extensive ownership of land and property, he was known as the "King of the New Territories" (新界王) or the "Land Emperor of the New Territories" (新界土皇帝).[4] He died in 2017 at the age of 80.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference LegcoBio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Legco.gov.hk. "97–98 legco memo. Archived 21 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine." Legco.gov.hk Retrieved on 9 October 2010.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference son was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Big5.ifeng.com. ""疑洩露樓市新政 香港“新界王”被調查" Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine ifeng.com. Retrieved 9 October 2010.