Greg So: Trying to Leave on Good Terms -- Not

Commerce minister Greg So when he announced HKTV did not get a license

Outgoing Commerce and Economic Development minister Greg So Kam-leung has revealed that HKTV should have gotten a free-to-air license four years ago, and that he almost cried when when he had to announce the government's "collective decision" which resulted in 300 people in the broadcast industry out of work.

In 2013, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and his advisers rejected the application by outspoken businessman Ricky Wong Wai-kay for the broadcast license due to a "basket of factors" -- which are still unknown to this day.

So claims at the time he felt HKTV should have a TV license

"At the time I suggested three licenses should be granted because I believe in competition," So said on a RTHK program on Monday. Only i-Cable's Fantastic TV and PCCW's HK Television Entertainment Company were awarded licenses.

"I tried my best to convince the members at the Executive Council meeting, but I also had to respect the collective decision," he added. "I was trying not to cry when announcing the news [as some 300 people would lose their jobs]," he said.

Are we supposed to feel sympathy for So? Does he want the public to think he was the only rational person in the room but no one was listening or that he was out-voted?

When he was asked about his feelings over implementing a decision he did not believe in, So said: "It was part of my responsibilities... I had to explain to the public. This is the spirit of accountability system."

How about more like, I had to go along with it, otherwise I'd probably be sacked?

Why was So not questioned about the food truck debacle?

So also talked about Uber and its ongoing legalization problems in Hong Kong. He suggested that perhaps the government's regulations were perhaps not accommodating enough for this sharing economy trend.

"If its business model does not contradict the objectives behind our legislation, shouldn't we consider amending the law to allow better development for a sharing economy?" he asked.

Guess that hot potato will be passed onto chief executive-elect Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's administration to handle come July 1.

However, during the RTHK program, did no one challenge So on the abysmal failure of the food truck initiative? Last week the government finally admitted that perhaps some of the locations weren't good for customers. Hello?! We could have told you that!

He should have been raked over the coals for this half-baked idea that got worse and worse.

But perhaps this topic was one he insisted on refusing to talk about, though he was keen on getting the sympathy vote from the public.

Sorry Mr So -- can't have it both ways.

Arthur Li Dismisses John Tsang as CE

Arthur Li says John Tsang isn't the best person to be the leader of Hong Kong

Arthur Li Kwok-cheung can't help himself from bad mouthing Chief Executive candidate John Tsang Chun-wah.

The professor who is an Executive Council member of Hong Kong and a delegate of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, says Tsang gives the public the impression he is a "gentle and nice guy", but that the city's next leader had to be more than that, adding that Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor fits the bill.

"Carrie is extremely hands on, very dedicated and will tackle problems. She will not shy away from difficulties. John is a very nice person, he will sit back, relax and let you get on with it," explained Li.

Li says Carrie Lam is more diligent at getting the work done

He said having a laid-back management style was the worst thing for Hong Kong, which is facing stiff competition from Singapore, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

"Executive Council members have worked with [Lam and Tsang] for a number of years and have seen how they performed. I do not think a single Exco member is supporting Tsang," said Li in Beijing.

Li cited examples of how issues were handled by Tsang, such as HKTV not getting its free-to-air license, Cable TV is shutting down, and how the recently debuted food trucks in the city aren't working out well. "It's disaster after disaster after disaster," he said.

While Tsang came up with the idea of having food trucks in Hong Kong, it was Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Gregory So Kam-leung who implemented it, but less than a month in, some operators are complaining about the locations and the lack of customers. One operator has already decided to quit even before rolling out his food truck, despite having paid for it.

John Tsang came up with the idea of food trucks in HK

However, Tsang has said in a previous interview that teamwork and mutual trust are important.

"I rely on my people to do things because... the people you appoint are the people you should trust," he said. "If you don't trust them, why appoint them? And if you appoint them, but you still don't trust them, there must be an issue in your judgment."

Interesting that Li is so outspoken and critical of Tsang -- is he a proxy for Leung Chun-ying, whom Li supported in 2012? For his loyalty, Li was rewarded with an appointment to the governing board of the University of Hong Kong, a move that was strongly criticized by academics in the institution.

May we also add he is the younger brother of David Li Kwok-po, chairman of BEA Bank, and they are the grandsons of the bank's co-founder, Li Koon-chun.

There probably aren't many people on the fence who need to be swayed in this three-horse race -- people on the Election Committee pretty much know who they are voting for. Maybe Hong Kong people want an easy-going guy?

HKTV Boss to Run in Legco Election

Ricky Wong wants to prevent CY Leung from having another five-year term

HKTV boss Ricky Wong Wai-kay continues to make headlines. This time he wants to run for a seat in the Legislative Council so that he can do his bit to oust Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying out of office.

While he plans to run for a seat in either New Territories East or Hong Kong Island (most probably the latter), Wong is most keen on promoting one of his key agendas of getting rid of Leung.

He explained if Leung continued governing Hong Kong for another five years, there would be even deeper divisions between the government and the people.

Leung and his administration have been a thorn in Wong's side

"Hong Kong is sinking, and our city is at a crossroads," he said. "We must sound out our views to Beijing," Wong said.

"The importance of my business and the prospect of a free-to-air TV license can't compare with the overall interests of Hong Kong society," he said today. "Hong Kong has given me a lot of opportunities, and I strongly feel I need to take up this mission -- preventing Leung from serving another term."

Wong is no political rookie, having been a member of the Liberal Party from 1993-1996. He has also won elections in the information technology subsector in the Election Committee polls in 2006 and 2011. The committee selected the chief executive in 2007 and 2012.

While he supports universal suffrage, he is not for independence, but self-determination.

In 2013, the Executive Council denied issuing the free-to-air license to Wong's HKTV, which was a huge public uproar and not surprising he is still sore about it.

HKTV's "Election" looked at the chief executive elections

He asked for a judicial review and in April last year, the Court of First Instance ruled the government's decision was unlawful, as Exco failed to follow the pro-competition 1998 reform of banning a pre-set number of TV licenses when it rejected HKTV's application. This meant Exco had to reconsider the application.

However, last month, the Court of Final Appeal quashed the Court of First Instance's ruling.

Because Wong didn't get a license, he instead launched an online entertainment shopping venture. You can watch dramas, and shop for groceries and other items online.

We'll see if Wong makes good on his announcement to run for a seat in Legco in September. He is not the only person who hopes Leung will not run for another five-year term.

Wong probably realizes -- like the localists have -- that the only way to influence the agenda is to get a Legco seat. Protests and petitions are not enough anymore.

We wish him luck.

Last Day of the Sheep

Beautiful Japanese orchids for sale at Victoria Park

On Chinese New Year Eve, we did the customary cleaning out the flat, stocked up on food, and headed to Victoria Park in Causeway Bay.

Lots of orchids for sale, by the boatloads...

It wasn't particularly packed, but what was most annoying was that the sun was shining overhead with no shade and we were overdressed, leading to patience wearing thin.

We didn't go through the entire fair, but had a decent taste of it. Ever heard of a rice cooker where you can also make cakes and souffle in it? HKTV even had a stall selling various goods including DVDs of its popular series Election for HK$100.

Afterwards as we headed to the MTR station behind Sogo, which is also where Causeway Bay Book Store is. In front of it was a man doing his own artistic protest. He dipped his hand into soapy water and shampooed his hair, then took a handful of suds and placed them carefully on the ground, creating a kind of bubbly white trail.

An artistic protest about missing booksellers with shampoo

It was meant to make fun of pro-government lawmaker Ng Leung-sing, who in early January said in the Legislative Council that the five missing booksellers had gone to the mainland to have fun with prostitutes.

This was the young man's way of keeping the story alive, and getting an audience of curious onlookers.

Meanwhile off to the side, an artist was painting the entrance to the bookstore (it's actually a stairwell), and the shops next to it, while also recording the performance artist on his smartphone.

An artist painting the scene at the bookshop

It's a strange way to mark the end of the Year of the Sheep, but who knows how mischievous the Year of the Monkey will be. Things don't look too promising for the five. We can only continue to shed a spotlight on them to remind people of their plight...

Vindication At Last

HKTV chairman Ricky Wong is very pleased with the High Court's decision

HKTV founder and chairman Ricky Wong Wai-kay was grinning from ear to ear this afternoon after news broke that the High Court had ordered the Chief Executive in Council (CEIC) to reconsider its decision to deny HKTV a free-to-air license in October 2013.

Justice Thomas Au Hing-cheung said the government had failed to follow the policy that stipulates there should be no limit on the number of broadcasting licenses issued. He allowed the judicial review launched by HKTV and claimed the government's decision failed to take into account the legitimate expectation of the television station with regards to any changes in policy.

"The CEIC should have regard and take into account the policy as constructed in this judgement and HKTV's legitimate expectation," Au wrote in the judgement.

HKTV had been encouraged by the government to apply for a free-to-air license and was the first to apply on December 31, 2009. iCable Communications and PCCW subsidiary HK Television Entertainment applied the following year, and were approved in October 2013, while HKTV was shut out.

One of HKTV's hottest actors is Gregory Wong

The station had already sunk over HK$900 million into staff, production and constructing a multimedia centre in Tseung Kwan O, which is why Wong felt he had no choice but to lodge a judicial review, arguing that a 1998 government policy stipulates that the broadcast market would be open to fair competition and would not limit the number of licenses issued. 

The judge said the government had effectively decided that "there should be a limit of no more than two licenses that could be granted", and that the three applicants were considered and ranked which of the three should be given a license.

"The decision is therefore in my view made not in adherence to the policy," the judge wrote.

If the government wanted to change the policy, the judge said, it could only do so lawfully by taking into account the legitimate expectation of the parties involved, and to publicly justify its action.

However, "The government had failed to do so in making the decision... and in any event [it] had not given any reasons for why [it] decided to change the policy," Au wrote.

Wong was victorious, saying he had popped open three bottles of champagne to celebrate.

"The most important thing now is that the court has handed down the judgement and the Chief Executive in Council should, according to law and the judgement, reconsider its decision and reach a conclusion that will make most Hong Kong people happy," he said.

Wong called on the CEIC to issue a free TV license to HKTV, so that Hong Kong people could enjoy high-quality free TV programs.

Talk about vindication. Wong stuck to his guns and luckily with deep pockets, has the judge siding with him in this case. Wong will not be pushed around.

It is also a mini moral victory for others as proof that the government cannot impose new policies illegally, that there is still some kind of recourse in Hong Kong.

Now what to do about that electoral reform package...

The Battle for Viewers has Begun

A toast of victory for Ricky Wong (centre) with the launch of HKTV online

HKTV boss Ricky Wong Wai-kay got his comeuppance with the launch of his widely-anticipated online television station yesterday that had over 1 million downloads, far beyond his expectations.

"I thought I would only have 30,000 to 50,000 viewers this morning," he said.

Wong suffered a massive setback when the government rejected his application for a free-to-air license last year. It sparked massive protests at Civic Square in the government headquarters in Tamar.

He then tried to get a mobile TV license but told this could not go ahead for technical reasons and so he went online instead.

There were 330,000 downloads of HKTV's app via smart TV or set-top boxes, and 670,000 downloads through mobile devices. There were 250,000 viewers in the first seven hours of service.

Live streaming was available from 8pm and on-demand viewing of the crime thriller Borderline and political drama The Election were available from 6am.

Some people complained on social media that they could not access HKTV's website after live broadcasts began at 8pm, and Wong promised to try to fix the glitches as soon as possible.

Seems that Wong chose November 19 to launch HKTV's online service on the same day TVB celebrated its 47th anniversary.

Wong Cho-lam (left) proposes to his girlfriend on TV...

And in the battle for ratings, one of its stars, comedian Wong Cho-lam wore a red checkered suit and carrying a massive bouquet of red roses, proposed to his long-time girlfriend actress Leanne Li Ya-nan during the anniversary gala.

After he gave a heartening speech, Wong Cho-lam presented her a three-carat diamond ring, and she promptly took off the ring she was wearing and put on his before even accepting the proposal.

Oh yeah -- I do!

Talk about using the romantic strategy in the battle for ratings...

Apparently TVB chairman Norman Leung didn't know about Wong Cho-lam's plan to propose on TV, but was apparently moved to tears...

Up to the Same Tricks

TVB host Nat Chan Pak-cheung hanging out with Patrick Tse Yin

Ever since Ricky Wong Wai-kay lost the bid for a free-to-air TV license for HKTV, Hong Kong people began complaining louder about the low quality of programming on TVB, even though it makes the most money.

Its rival ATV is a distant second and so the public was hoping HKTV would give TVB a run for its money -- literally.

However it was not to be, though people were still keen to make TVB work harder.

This past week TVB broadcast its 46th anniversary charity show, and before the event, flamboyant host Nat Chan Pak-cheung pledged he would crawl home on his knees if the show only had a three-point rating.

By throwing down the gauntlet, Chan inspired a campaign to boycott the annual show and track down the households that were monitored for ratings. Chan later pledged he would donate HK$3 million to charity if the ratings hit 30 points.

In the end he just squeaked by at 31 points, with an average rating of 29 points of 1.856 million viewers and a 95 percent free-TV audience share for TVB.

Does this mean the majority of Hong Kong people love bad TV?

We see TVB is creating more budget programs like the one we saw tonight.

Magic is a perennial favourite, but the TV station didn't build a special set for the show. Instead the three hosts went on location to different places in Hong Kong to get magicians to do tricks in front of passersby.

The first place was Cheung Chau where they met with a magician from the outlying island. His first trick was pointing to a fishing boat in the distance with a red T-shirt hanging on it.

From the viewer's perspective his hand covered up the boat, but then in an instant the T-shirt was not on the boat but on his body!

Another was literally making sandcastles on the beach by lifting a cloth off the sand. How he did that I had no clue.

Then the trio of hosts went to Sham Shui Po where another magician lit up light bulb tubes like light sabres without any wires, while another in Mongkok made fish balls appear in a paper bowl with curry sauce. Or how about the magician putting his hands in a tank with just one small fish and then opening his hands to release a whole school of fish?

The only bizarre one was having a pretty TVB starlet change clothes literally in seconds. She walked into one changing room and in two to three seconds wore a new outfit. Then she walked towards the camera and was covered up by a clothes rack and presto! A new set of clothing.

Towards the end she wore a dark blue dress and for the finale a white dress on top and you could see the blue dress underneath...

The show format was very similar to Cris Angel and a Taiwanese magician Lu Chen who are in restaurants or hotel lobbies doing tricks in front of live audiences, but the TVB one is set in Hong Kong.

How hard is it to copy what's already been done?

Not Just About TV

Tens of thousands showed their displeasure at the government on Sunday

The media was expecting a few thousand people to show up on Sunday afternoon to protest the Hong Kong government's rejection of Hong Kong Television Network's free-to-air license application. But in the end there were tens of thousands, with police saying the turnout peaked at 36,000.

The protesters dressed in black to illustrate what they saw as the darkest weeks for the city's media industry. Not only were they protesting the government's decision, but also calling for the preservation of Hong Kong's core values.

After marching from Causeway Bay to Tamar, the protesters were joined by former HKTV employees, some of whom took turns to make speeches.

Actor Frankie Lam Man-lung of HKTV said the commerce secretary owed the public an explanation.

"Tell me why we were disqualified. Let us work harder to improve. I just want to do my job properly. I do now want to know that I failed without a reason," Lam said teary-eyed. "I do not know whether there is still hope in Hong kong, and if there is any need to work hard any more."

Some of the protesters admitted they didn't watch much TV now, but felt the government's decision went beyond the medium. "The government has given me the feeling that it doesn't care about what the general public thinks -- it didn't even bother to explain its decision," said Philip Wong, a retiree.

Interestingly this protest comes a year after the 10-day standoff on the issue of national education, where tens of thousands descended on Tamar and cross their arms as a sign they did not want to be taught propaganda in schools. As a result the government backed down -- for now.

This insistence on following Beijing's orders doesn't sit well at all with Hong Kongers who can see right through the intentions.

"The government, including the People's Republic of China government, want to control the media and to manipulate the mindset of us so they can format a group of new Hong Kong people who only know to follow their instructions," said Stephanie Tang, a 33-year-old freelancer who was in the demonstrations yesterday. "We want to tell the PRC that the Hong Kong people are not idiots. Don't cheat us."

But it is the Hong Kong government that is cheating us -- it is not looking after Hong Kong interests for Hong Kong people.

That is the bitter pill the public must swallow, regardless of the promised benefits. We are trying to refuse the pill even though the government is trying to force it down our throats.

It's a sad reality to see the Hong Kong government allowing the "mainlandization" of Hong Kong so easily, and so soon after the handover. But as long as we show our displeasure in numbers, Beijing cannot ignore us and our demands. We must continue our fight to keep Hong Kong the way we want it to be.

Populist Underdog

We will have to wait and see what HKTV chairman Ricky Wong does next

Move over, Li Ka-shing, there's a new hero in town.

Hong Kongers have found a new underdog to support and it's Ricky Wong Wai-kay, 50, Hong Kong Television Network chairman whose application for a new free-to-air TV license was rejected by the government earlier this week.

Instead it was given to i-Cable's Fantastic Television and PCCW's HK Television Entertainment, both run by established tycoons, Peter Woo Kwong-ching and Richard Li Tzar-kai, son of Li Ka-shing respectively.

In 2009 Wong was encouraged to apply by a senior government official who he refuses to name, and was never told only two licenses would be handed out; nor was Wong's application considered the weakest of the three.

On Tuesday, about 15 minutes before the formal announcement, Wong received a call that his application was rejected without any proper explanation. He then held a press conference in which he voiced his anger, saying the whole decision-making process was opaque and is now seeking a possible judicial review.

After that he gave lay-off notices to 320 of 500 staff effective at the end of this month.

Many of the public were outraged by HKTV's rejected application, and they immediately setup a Facebook page supporting Wong and calling the government to issue HKTV a license. It was also a way for them to show their concern about the government's fairness in its decision. Some 400,000 people liked the page.

And then last night Wong showed up at an open-air forum at Chinese University -- his alma mater -- and was overwhelmed to see some 2,000 students and teachers eager to listen to him.

Reports described Wong as having tears in his eyes to see such strong support that it inspired him to continue to commit himself to creative industries.

Even though there is a protest march organized for this Sunday, Wong said he would not participate. "I can bring more benefits to people as a businessman," he said. "I am not a fighter for democracy."

He then displayed his dry sense of humour. When asked if he would buy ATV, one of the existing free-to-air stations, he replied his preference for buying flats. He said one had to worry about things not working and rats when buying a second-hand flat, which is why he preferred a clean, new one.

Wong also mocked the government, saying, "I don't understand how they do their public relations... they should provide a simple explanation for the rejection and start damage control."

Then a student asked him how he would deal with calls from "grandpa", a nickname for the central government, Wong replied that his grandfather had died many years ago.

When asked whether TVB, the other existing free-to-air station should worry about not having its license renewed, Wong sarcastically said, "TVB's news programs are so good. They shouldn't worry."

Some critics hypothesize Wong didn't get the license because the government feared he would not support it or the central government, while others worried about the erosion of the city's free market.

Nevertheless, Hong Kong people have propped up Wong as its new underdog to root for. To them he stands for justice, creativity and brashness. As long as he keeps fighting, the public will support him.

They are the ones who wanted better TV programs, but it seems the government would rather have more mindless entertainment on the airwaves.