Chan Yat-san,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, JP (; 21 August 1919 – 27 July 2007) was a prominent Hong Kong politician and rural leader. He was a

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

indigenous inhabitant and Chairman of the powerful

Heung Yee Kuk The Heung Yee Kuk, officially the Heung Yee Kuk N.T., is a statutory advisory body representing establishment interests in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The council is a powerful organisation comprising heads of rural committees which repres ...

, and was dubbed the "King of the New Territories".

Early life

Chan was born in 1919 in the small village of

So Kwun Wat So Kwun Wat, commonly pronounced So Kwun Fat, is an area on the south coast of the western mainland New Territories in Hong Kong. The proper So Kwun Wat is a populated area in the valley between Siu Lam and Sam Shing Hui. It includes So Kwun Ta ...

near

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the more re ...

. His father ran medicine shops and a restaurant while his mother looked after the family fields. In 1940, he worked for colonial government as a food investigator for Tuen Mun and outlying islands. This job was part of an effort to gauge food supplies during the

Battle of Hong Kong The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...

. Chan fled to Mainland during the Japanese occupation. After the Communist victory in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

authorities on Taiwan were anxious to influence rising leaders in Hong Kong. Chan went to Taiwan in 1952 and reportedly studied politics. He had close links with Kuomintang figures in Hong Kong.

Career

Rural politics

He entered local politics and when he became the Chairman of the Tuen Mun Rural Committee in 1954. By 1962, he was elected Chairman of the

. He stepped down as Chairman in 1964 but was again elected in 1968 which he held the post until 1978 when he declared his retirement from politics. By then the Kuk had gained the ear and confidence of the government. Chan helped deliver the backing of rural clansmen during the

Hong Kong 1967 Leftist riots The 1967 Hong Kong riots were large-scale anti-government riots that occurred in Hong Kong during British Hong Kong, British colonial rule. Beginning as a minor labour dispute, the demonstrations eventually escalated into protests against the ...

when the colonial government was seeking public support. He was given a licence to carry a revolver for protection as the Leftist rioters labeled him as anti-China traitor. Chan was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

afterwards and regained the Chairmanship of the Kuk. As Chairman of the Kuk, Chan took an interest in

Lau Wong-fat Lau Wong-fat, GBM, GBS, OBE, JP (; 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 Territo ...

who was a talented young man from the Tuen Mun area who showed an aptitude for politics. Lau was subsequently elected Chairman of the Kuk in 1980 and still retained that post until 2015. Tsing Shan Estate, the first

public housing estate Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

in Tuen Mun, was renamed San Fat Estate after him and Lau Wong-fat.

Handover period

After Chan stepped down from active politics in 1978, he kept a close eye on current affairs. During the Sino-British negotiations and the

Sino-British Joint Declaration The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after ...

, he was concerned with securing the rights and privileges of indigenous villagers after the

transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong was established as a special admini ...

to China. He was invited by the Chinese government to the

Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Consultative Committee (BLCC; 香港基本法諮詢委員會) was an official body established in 1985 to canvass views in Hong Kong on the drafts of the Hong Kong Basic Law. Background The f ...

and became a member of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

. In the 1991 Legislative Council elections after the

Tiananmen massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

, he saw the rise of the

pro-democracy camp The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic L ...

. To counter the liberal movement and assure stability over the handover period, Chan founded the political group

Federation for the Stability of Hong Kong The Federation for the Stability of Hong Kong (, abbreviated 穩港協; FSHK) was a pro-Beijing rural political group representing the interests of the New Territories indigenous inhabitants active in the 1990s. History The Federation was incorp ...

and elected as the Chairman at the age of 74. In 1993, he was member of the

Preliminary Working Committee The Preliminary Working Committee (PWC) was a body set up by the Government of the People's Republic of China government for the preparation of the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong. The first meeting of the PWC was held in July 1995 and ende ...

of the Hong Kong SAR. Chan died at St Teresa's Hospital on 27 July 2007 at the age of 90.

Personal life

Besides politics, Chan Yat-san was also a businessman and investor. He lived in a mansion in

Kowloon Tong Kowloon Tong () is an area of Hong Kong located in Kowloon. The majority of the area is in the Kowloon City District. Its exaclocationis south of the Lion Rock, north of Boundary Street, east of the East Rail line and west of Grampian Road. It i ...

and was driven from there to the Kowloon Tong Club in a

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. He played mahjong several times a week. He owned at least six other properties in Kowloon Tong valued at more than HK$700 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Yat-san 1917 births 2007 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire Indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories in Hong Kong Heung Yee Kuk Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee members Hong Kong Affairs Advisors Hong Kong Buddhists Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong District councillors of Tuen Mun District zh:陳日新