DESPITE facing a competitor recognised as Hong Kong's most popular legislator, Ray Lau Kong-wah is confident of beating independent Emily Lau Wai-hing.
According to a poll by the Social Sciences Research Centre of the University of Hong Kong this month, Miss Lau was again the most popular legislator, winning 64.2 per cent of votes.
But Mr Lau, founder of district-level concern group Civil Force, said that although he had been defeated by Miss Lau in 1991, the outcome of the race between them this time could not be predicted.
He said changes in the geographical constituencies had given him the edge in the competition for the New Territories East seat.
'As the newly-drawn constituency of New Territory East has excluded Sai Kung, the area where Miss Lau won quite a lot of support last time, I will be in an advantageous position.
'That's because I have been working for Sha Tin for more than 10 years [as a district board member], the resident associations, and the kai fong know me well,' he said.
Mr Lau, who is also a China-appointed Hong Kong Affairs Adviser, said he was not worried about losing support by being labelled a pro-China figure.