Chloe Zhao's Big Oscar Win Muted in China

Zhao gives her acceptance speech with a saying in Mandarin

 

The results of the Academy Awards this year were such a breakthrough for Asian stars and films -- but no one in Hong Kong could watch them on television.

On March 29, pro-establishment broadcaster TVB announced it would not show The Oscars -- despite airing the awards show for the past 52 years -- saying it was a "purely commercial" decision.

Protesters shield themselves in Do Not Split

Perhaps it was following an edict from Beijing telling mainland Chinese media in February not to transmit live coverage of the Academy Awards this year because of the nomination of Do Not Split, a 35-minute documentary about the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and remarks made by Beijing-born director Chloe Zhao back in 2013 that were deemed controversial by Chinese internet users.

In the end China was the sore loser -- Do Not Split did not win after all for Best Documentary Short, losing to Colette about a French resistance survivor who returns to Germany for the first time since World War II, while Zhao, 39, won two Oscars for Nomadland. She is the first woman of colour and second female to win Best Director, and she also won for Best Picture, while actress Frances McDormand also won Best Actress for Nomadland.

While Asians on Twitter rejoiced Zhao's historic win, the Chinese on the mainland were completely silent, either unaware or instructed not to make any comments on social media, or if anyone tried to post something about her or her film, it was immediately censored.

A widow drifts around the US in Nomadland

Nomadland was supposed to be released in China on April 23 and it may not even happen.

Nevertheless, Zhao seems to have taken things in stride and in fact took the high road.

"I've been thinking a lot lately of how I keep going when things get hard. I think it goes back to something I learned when I was a kid," she said in her acceptance speech.

"When I was growing up in China, my dad and I used to play this game. We would memorize classic Chinese poems and texts, and we would recite them together and try to finish each other's sentences.

"There's one that I remember so dearly, it's called the Three Character Classics. The first phrase goes, '人之初，性本善', 'People at birth are inherently good'. Those six letters had such a great impact on me when I was a kid and I still truly believe them today.

Zhao's win was censored in China today

"Even though sometimes it might see like the opposite is true, I have always found goodness in the people I met, everywhere I wen in the world.

"So this is for anyone who had the faith, and the courage to hold on to that goodness in themselves, and to hold on to the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do that.

"And this is for you. You inspire me to keep going."

In that thoughtful speech Zhao demonstrated she was a well educated woman who learned Chinese classics and has kept those values as an adult. 

Why wouldn't Beijing want to uphold her as an example of a worldly and successful Chinese person who has conquered Hollywood? 

But no, it would rather not showcase someone who left China and became an independent person with an independent mind. And she's a woman.

Zhao's next movie is Marvel's Eternals, starring Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani and Richard Madden that is due out in November.

Will Beijing ban that too?

 

Hearing More of the Chinese Anthem

You'll be hearing more of the Chinese national anthem soon

The mainlandizing of Hong Kong continues as the city's three main radio stations will start to play the Chinese national anthem from November 16 to comply with the law that was enacted five months ago.

Hong Kong's licensed radio broadcasters are required to promote March of the Volunteers and anyone who insults the anthem can be punished by law.

Public broadcaster RTHK and privately-owned Commercial Radio will play the anthem before their 8am newscasts daily from November 16. Metro Radio owned by tycoon Li Ka-shing, will also air March of the Volunteers at the same time slot, but the starting date has yet to be decided.

RTHK will air the anthem before the 8am news

"It's a necessary move to fulfill the legal requirement," said Amen Ng Man-yee, a spokeswoman for RTHK. She added playing the national anthem was in line with the charter of the public broadcaster, which requires its programs to deepen Hong Kong people's understanding of "one country, two systems", and cultivate a sense of citizenship and national identity.

Ng added the practice of playing the anthem will be implemented across all six of RTHK's channels, after months of negotiations with Home Affairs Bureau officials.

Interestingly it has taken this long for radio stations to play the anthem -- since 2004 television stations including TVB and Cable TV have played the national anthem before evening newscasts. 

Anyone who publicly and intentionally insults the song faces up to three years in jail and a maximum fine of HK$50,000 (US$6,450).

US has no specific penalties for non compliance

This is in sharp contrast the United States Code, that says any person present during the playing or singing of the American anthem "should" stand at attention with their right hand over their heart. There are no penalties for non compliance. 

Has the airing of the national anthem on television in the past 15 years increased Hongkongers' sense of nationalism or patriotism?

This attempt at soft power is misguided. At the same time there are fewer and fewer people watching TV and listening to the radio. But the upside for radio producers is that it's one minute and 30 seconds less of programing to worry about everyday...

Families Continue Fight for Justice

Families of the 12 detained appealed to the police for help

 

The families of the 12 people who were captured at sea by the mainland authorities are not giving up on having some kind of contact with their loved ones, who were labelled as "separatists" by Beijing.

Today they held a press conference in front of the police headquarters in Wan Chai, saying they want the police to speak to their mainland counterparts and push to get the marine radar data from that day.

Andy Li is one of the 12 detained last month

In addition they want Hong Kong officials to get directly in touch with the 12 and find out why mainland authorities have refused to allow family-appointed lawyers to meet with them at the detention centre in Shenzhen's Yantian district.

The 11 men and one woman were trying to flee to Taiwan last month before the Chinese coast guard intercepted them. They are linked to protest cases from last year, and one, Andy Li was previously arrested under the new national security law. It is believed they were hoping to gain asylum in Taiwan.

"Up till now, the lawyers appointed by the families have not been allowed to meet with the detainees. In other words, the conditions of the arrested persons are still known only to the Chinese authorities," said a statement from the families that was read out by local activist Owen Chow Ka-shing, who has been assisting them.

"The Hong Kong government has only used official information from China, becoming a willing mouthpiece of the Chinese government, and has never provided any details of sent anyone there to clarify doubts."

Lee claims 12 are in good health with no proof

On Saturday, Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu told TVB that the fugitives had "selected lawyers" from a list approved by the mainland authorities, prompting a backlash from the families, who said the city authorities were failing to ensure their loved ones' basic rights.

Even though no local officials have visited them, Lee claimed all the detainees were in good health, and that the Hong Kong government was notified about the arrests five days later.

But family members of the 12 want the government to do more, such as meet with them face-to-face or at least by phone, and to ensure their appointed lawyers can get access to their relatives.

They also urged the Marine Department to disclose key data, including radar records of the speedboat in question. Knowing the marine police's patrol routes that day could help in getting a clearer picture of what happened.

The families also want the Hong Kong police to ask their Chinese counterparts the exact time, location and process of arrest, and if any of them were injured.

Chinese coast guard arrested the 12 last month

During the press conference, the father of Li Tsz-yin, the 29-year-old surveyor, said: "I hop

e the Hong Kong government can hep me get back my son and ensure he has the least of his rights guaranteed."

Even if he cannot visit his son in Shenzhen, he hoped to receive photos verifying he was being detained. in Yantian.

It is absolutely gut-wrenching to watch the families of the 12 detained be met with silence from the mainland, and the reassurances from Lee are hardly reassuring, and only demonstrate his blind faith.

The least the Hong Kong government can do is visit these dozen people in person to reassure their families that they are still alive. But no, officials don't seem interested at all in assisting the families and just parrot what they've been told by the mainland.

While Beijing may call them "separatists", the 12 still deserve equal justice under the law, and a good start would be allowing their lawyers to see them...

 

TVB Caught Up in Extradition Mess

Anti-extradition protesters are calling for a boycott of the local TV station

Another "victim" has emerged from the extradition bill fiasco -- TVB.

The broadcaster is the target of ire by some protesters who are calling for others to boycott the local TV station. My colleague explained to me it's because the broadcaster is known for being biased towards the police, presenting stories that are pro-police, how they have suffered mental distress, or how they have been attacked by protesters.

Japanese sports drink Pocari Sweat has pulled ads from TVB

As a result a number of advertisers have pulled their commercials from the station. According to leaked messages today, companies like Japanese sports drink Pocari Sweat, Pizza Hut, insurance company Cigna Hong Kong, and even a local condom maker, Wonder Life have pulled ads from TVB.

"As TVB's style has been called into doubt, the company has decided to not consider TVB when picking advertisement platforms for our products," Wonder Life posted on its social media account.

Pocari Sweat said a similar statement in the leaked message.

A TVB spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that several advertising campaigns had been suspended, but did not reveal the company names.

Hong Kong condom maker also pulls ads

"Due to the recent economic situation and political incidents, a small number of individual advertisers had to defer their campaigns or reschedule their bookings, he said. "This has no significant effect on our business."

The spokesman added the station always maintained neutrality, professionalism and objectivity in its news coverage.

TVB has been also losing popularity due to its pathetic soap opera programming, its shows losing relevance and poorly produced. So it's probably just as well the TV station is fast losing fans and advertisers...

Cooking Up an Unappetizing Show

Sexist: Three male hosts watch three women cook

Last night I was reminded by how bad -- no atrocious -- the programs are on TVB when I watched an episode of Cooking Beauties.

Three male hosts and a guest judge observe three female celebrities prepare the same dishes for them to sample and decide who is the winner.

Cantopop singer Joey Wong has trouble handling a live fish

The women wear sleeveless tops so they have to wear "sleeves" that go up to their elbows in case they get their arms dirty or splattered with hot oil. And the dishes they are making aren't easy -- presumably there's someone behind the scenes instructing them on what to do.

However, not all the female contestants know how to cook -- some of them have very bad knife skills and they almost chop off their fingers, or they have no idea how to cut up meat, let alone fish.

Back in June when the show started, the Communications Authority received over 800 complaints from viewers about how the three contestants handled a tiger grouper.

In order to kill them, one fish was thrown into hot water, another thrown on the floor. This is meant to elicit laughs from the audience, but many viewers at home were not amused.

A statement from Happy Animal Lab and Hong Kong Veg Society condemned the "unnecessary pain to animals". It also criticized the amount of food wasted, as many of the dishes were inedible (again for laughs) and had to be thrown out.

The contestants wear "sleeves" and the men watch them cook

"When fish and crustacean are thrown on the floor or a heating saucepan alive, as they cannot make any sound, the audience would not realize their pain. Because of their silence, the audience ignore their suffering. Their silence also results in their sacrifice in a farce," the statement read.

"If the animals are replaced by a pig, a chicken or a cow, will the audience still find this interesting?"

All good points.

But my main beef is that the show is sexist -- why is it that the women have to cook for the men who will judge them? And why just expose these women's short-comings when it comes to their culinary skills? Why not make both men and women compete? And have the judging panel include both men and women?

Some of the female competitors were so bad in executing their dishes that some of the judges gave them negative points, again for laughs. How is that amusing?

These "interns" wear form-fitting chef jackets and short skirts

Another part of the show are about a dozen "interns" dressed in form-fitting chef jackets and short skirts. Sometimes they are called on to compete against each other in a 10-minute cooking test. Real female chefs don't wear short skirts and aim to look pretty in the kitchen. They are there to do their job and do it well.

Cooking Beauties is a horrific show on so many levels. The fact that it still isn't cancelled just shows how tone deaf TVB executives are and it send the wrong message about women, men, and cooking.

Actor Nicholas Tse who has a cooking show and is a judge is looking more credible even though he isn't a bona fide chef either...

Regina's Bumbling Start

Yesterday Regina Ip announced she will run for Hong Kong's top job

Ah Regina, you're one of the first out of the gate, but not many are impressed with your campaign start so far.

Yesterday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee formally announced her candidacy for the next chief executive with the slogan "Win Back Hong Kong".

But many wondered why the need to win it back? From whom?

There was also a major blunder with the Chinese version of the slogan. Trying to be clever, in the character "win" or "yeng", the bottom part was removed to put the English word "win", but then the upper part of the character is associated with death... was she making a premonition?

Critics say she has a few errors in her campaign slogan...

Apparently the English version of her platform is riddled with grammatical and spelling errors, which does not bode well, nor the fact that while she was keen to give the impression she was sporty, she proposed Hong Kong bid for the 2021 National Games. But in fact it was already announced November last year that the annual athletic games would be held in Shaanxi province.

Someone didn't do their fact checking.

Other than that, during her 45-minute presentation, Ip made no effort to try to make herself more personable or friendly, talking about her background to demonstrate her motivation to want to run.

Instead she launched straight into the nine policy areas she would tackle, such as land supply and public finance, and education. Ip also wants to bring back Article 23 to the Legislative Council to pass. Good luck with that...

Even members of the audience didn't seem that enthusiastic about what she had to offer. There is also the lack of heavyweights who attended yesterday's event, aside from former chief secretary David Akers-Jones, who seems to have weird choices in who he thinks is best for the job. His last choice was Leung Chun-ying...

After the announcement, Ip took questions from the media, but eyebrows were raised when a TVB reporter asked a question in English, but Ip replied in Cantonese.

Maybe she was nervous?

Post-Mortem on Zhang Visit

Zhang Dejiang (left) gave a conciliatory stance  -- or was it an act?

For once, a student activist and a pro-Beijing veteran agreed on something -- that the four pan-democratic lawmakers who met with Chairman of the National People's Congress Zhang Dejiang on Wednesday evening before a banquet -- should not have asked for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to be removed from office.

Joshua Wong Chi-fung, secretary general of Demosisto, said he felt uncomfortable about asking for Leung to be removed.

Four pan-democratic lawmakers saw Zhang on Wednesday

"It seems they ignored the electoral system in Hong Kong," he said on RTHK this morning. "I think pan-democrats should have focused on Hong Kong people's demand for universal suffrage and self-determination... because it's the political system's fault, not just a person's."

Meanwhile, Cheng Yiu-tong said on TVB that he heard the pan-democrats "telling Zhang to stop Leung from seeking re-election" next March.

"They should not say that because they are popularly elected lawmakers... Re-election is also Leung's personal choice," said the local deputy to the NPC.

They both have a point.

 Wong says the four shoul have pushed for universal suffrage

However, Labour Party lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan clarified on Commercial Radio what they talked about with Zhang.

"What we said was that Leung caused social divisions and it would be inappropriate for him to seek another term," she said. "We also mentioned that the problematic electoral system should be reformed."

Democratic Party's Emily Lau Wai-hing said she told Zhang it was inappropriate for Leung to govern Hong Kong.

Was this a constructive conversation? Or was Zhang just paying lip service to these lawmakers?

Knowing Zhang and how he handled the 2003 SARS crisis and had the gall to suggest that Guangdong (when he was governor) and Hong Kong cooperated closely on dealing with the outbreak.

Cheng says the four shouldn't have said Leung should go

That was hardly true, with China not even acknowledging at first there was a problem, resulting in 1,755 people infected, and 299 who died.

So do you trust Zhang with sincerely listening to people and willing to take action in the best interests of Hong Kong than the Party?

Hong Kong's Late Night

Johnson Lee's first guest on Sze U Tonight is Sandra Ng

For the longest time, I always wondered why Hong Kong didn't have a late night talk show format like David Letterman or Jimmy Fallon. The city is full of celebrities and socialites -- who wouldn't want the exposure -- particularly a relatively controlled one -- to promote their movies, albums, concerts and products?

Seemed like a natural to me, but the entertainment media scene in Hong Kong seemed to be dominated by print and online, with particular attention paid to what the stars were wearing than what they were saying...

Or perhaps there were concerns a celebrity wouldn't be able to sustain a relatively intelligent conversation for more than five minutes?!

But now my notion has been realized by TVB.

On Sunday the broadcaster debuted Sze U Tonight, featuring host comedian Johnson Lee Sze-chit. Check it out here.

However, critics pounced on the show for copying the look of Late Show with David Letterman complete with a skyline of Hong Kong in the background, a wooden desk, vintage microphone and a mug with pencils.

Cultural critic Jimmy Pang Chi-ming said the show demonstrated Hong Kong's television industry hitting a new low, with ATV recycling programs and struggling to pay its staff their salaries, while TVB had a virtual monopoly.

"TVB has no competitor, which means they do not need to invest in production," Pang said. In the long run, the TV industry will shrink if it cannot keep talented people. This is definitely a new low," he said.

Content-wise the first show was on the crass side. There was a long trailer explaining how Lee was lured back to TV (a long-winded and outrageous situation where he was a hermit somewhere in the New Territories with long gray hair and relied on a cane).

But all of a sudden he was transformed into a clean cut man complete with a sharp suit walking along Lan Kwai Fong and in front of The Peninsula before bursting onto the stage very much like every other talk show host in the United States.

However, unlike Conan O'Brien who was so nervous on his first outing that he constantly fiddled with his watch, Lee was relatively comfortable in front of a studio audience that included his parents. He claimed that for 30 years he had watched late night television in the US and so you could see he was keen to imitate those before him.

First up was actress Sandra Ng Kwan-yu, who is promoting her upcoming Chinese New Year film 12 Golden Ducks (ie gigolos). After showing a clip from the movie (that included Michelle Loo), Ng invited three male co-stars to come out where they strutted their stuff.

Then Lee suggested a competition between him and one of the men with the other two in a dance competition that Ng would judge. One had to dance as if he had to go do a Number 2, another like he couldn't scratch his itch... you get the idea.

It was a good laugh, but what about a decent conversation with Ng about the film or more on how she had to transform herself physically into a man for the part?

Nevertheless, the show continues with three more stars, two women and a guy coming out and playing another game with Lee with a selection of raw and cooked eggs. They have to smash them on the opposite sex's head, and whoever pics the raw eggs wins. It's funny to watch because Lee gets three raw eggs.

The musical guest? Alex To.

We'll have to see how long this show lasts, but with Lee being so passionate about finally being able to do a late night talk show format, it can't go any lower... can it?

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?