Lau Wong-fat

Dr the Honourable Lau Wong-fat GBM GBS OBE JP
劉皇發
Non-official Member of the Executive Council
In office 21 January 2009 – 30 June 2012
Appointed by	Donald Tsang
Succeeded by	Cheung Hok-ming
Member of the Legislative Council
In office 30 October 1985 – 25 August 1988
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	Cheung Yan-lung
Constituency	Regional Council
In office 12 October 1988 – 22 August 1991
Appointed by	Sir David Wilson
In office 9 October 1991 – 30 June 1997
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	Council abolished
Constituency	Rural
In office 22 February 1997 – 8 April 1998 (Provisional Legislative Council)
In office 1 July 1998 – 30 September 2004
Preceded by	New parliament
Succeeded by	Lam Wai-keung
Constituency	Heung Yee Kuk
In office 1 October 2004 – 30 September 2008
Preceded by	Ip Kwok-him
Succeeded by	Ip Kwok-him
Constituency	District Council
In office 1 October 2008 – 30 September 2016
Preceded by	Lam Wai-keung
Succeeded by	Kenneth Lau
Constituency	Heung Yee Kuk
Chairman of the Regional Council
In office 1 April 1995 – 31 December 1999
Preceded by	Lam Wai-keung
Succeeded by	Council abolished
Chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk
In office 1 June 1980 – 31 May 2015
Preceded by	Wong Yuen-cheung
Succeeded by	Kenneth Lau
Chairman of the Tuen Mun District Council
In office 1985 – 1 April 2011
Preceded by	Ricky C. C. Fung
Succeeded by	Leung Kin-man
In office 6 January 2012 – 31 December 2015
Preceded by	Leung Kin-man
Succeeded by	Leung Kin-man
Personal details
Born	(1936-10-15)15 October 1936 Lung Kwu Tan, Tuen Mun, British Hong Kong
Died	23 July 2017(2017-07-23) (aged 80) Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
Cause of death	Chronic condition
Nationality	Hong Kong Chinese
Political party	FSHK (1991–93) Liberal Party (1993–2008) Economic Synergy (2009–12) BPA (2012–17)[1]
Spouse	Lau Ng Mui-chu
Children	Kenneth Lau
Residence	Hong Kong
Alma mater	Ling Shan College
Occupation	Politician and businessman

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.