In This Issue, We Take a Look at a Few Facets of Hong Kong's Pop Culture
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Icons, Culture and Collective Identity of Postwar Hong Kong
Intercultural Communication Studies XXII: 1 (2013) R. MAK & C. CHAN Icons, Culture and Collective Identity of Postwar Hong Kong Ricardo K. S. MAK & Catherine S. CHAN Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong S.A.R., China Abstract: Icons, which take the form of images, artifacts, landmarks, or fictional figures, represent mounds of meaning stuck in the collective unconsciousness of different communities. Icons are shortcuts to values, identity or feelings that their users collectively share and treasure. Through the concrete identification and analysis of icons of post-war Hong Kong, this paper attempts to highlight not only Hong Kong people’s changing collective needs and mental or material hunger, but also their continuous search for identity. Keywords: Icons, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Chinese, 1997, values, identity, lifestyle, business, popular culture, fusion, hybridity, colonialism, economic takeoff, consumerism, show business 1. Introduction: Telling Hong Kong’s Story through Icons It seems easy to tell the story of post-war Hong Kong. If merely delineating the sky-high synopsis of the city, the ups and downs, high highs and low lows are at once evidently remarkable: a collective struggle for survival in the post-war years, tremendous social instability in the 1960s, industrial take-off in the 1970s, a growth in economic confidence and cultural arrogance in the 1980s and a rich cultural upheaval in search of locality before the handover. The early 21st century might as well sum up the development of Hong Kong, whose history is long yet surprisingly short- propelled by capitalism, gnawing away at globalization and living off its elastic schizophrenia. -
1 Introduction, Elvis Presley and the Beatles
Learning and Teaching of Local and Western Popular Music (Re-run) Introduction, Elvis Presley and the Beatles 3 May 2016 What is popular music? Having wide appeal to large audiences Commodity – a product of music industry Produced and stored in non-written form Difference between popular music and pop music? Pop music refers to a specific musical genre. What are the important features in popular music? Social and cultural contexts, lyrics, musical characteristics Four focuses: harmony, rhythm utilisation, instrumentation, structure (melody, tempo, tone colour, duration) Structure: Why we love REPETITION in music? “The Mere Exposure Effect” Duration – 2 to 3 mins Melody – step, repeated notes, leaps, Riff (fill) (repeated chord progression) , Lick (single-note melodic lines) Groove is the sense of propulsive rhythmic “feel” or sense of “swing Hook (主題句?) is a musical idea, a passage or phrase repeats several times Don’t Take the Girl – Tim McGraw 1994 – His first No.1 single on the Hot Country Songs chart Rhythm – syncopations Harmony – I, IV, V (ii, iii, vi) Treatment of Melody, Rhythm & Harmony in relation to Tempo Lyrics – question & answer, contrast, descriptive, repetition with variations Contexts – social, economic and cultural background: Blowing’ in the Wind – Bod Dylan, May 1963 Drum set / Drum kit Bass drum with the right-foot pedal, provides the basic beat Snare drum provides the strongest regular accents Hi-hat stand and cymbals provide finer rhythms, mark the change from one passage to another One or more tom-tom drums provide drum fills and solos One or more cymbals provide strong accent marker and musical effect What were the social and cultural contexts in the 1950s? 4 M immigrants to the States after WWII (after 1946) USA was one of the countries that benefited from the WWII Baby boom 1946-1964 about 78 M people 1950s America was a wealthy and powerful nation, but a troubled one; racial prejudice Respectable, middle-class White teenagers didn’t listen to race music. -
1 MINUTES GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE TUESDAY, JUNE 9 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT ~VIRTUAL CONFERENCE ~ Approved
MINUTES GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE TUESDAY, JUNE 9 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT ~VIRTUAL CONFERENCE ~ Approved - October 21, 2020. ATTENDANCE Members Present Members Absent Guests Staff Walid Chakroun, Chair Louis van Belle Ahmed Alaa Mohamed Alice Yates Terry Townsend, Vice Chair Ryan Williams John Constantinide Jeremy Pollack Chris Gray Stephen Gill David Underwood Emily Porcari Larry Fisher Nate Heffner Doug Cochran Patricia Ryan Michael Bilderbeck Lorey Flick Mahesh Prabhu Steve Comstock Sheila Hayter Paul Francisco Lilas Pratt William McQuade Madison Schultz Anne Wilson Ross Montgomery Charles Hon Andrew Manos Ayman Eltalouny Robert Hoadley Paula Seidel Kinga Porst Hydras Kara Kempski Tim Ashby Samantha Slater Matthew Jesson Helen Walter-Terrinoni Chad Smith Allison Maginot Andrea Phillips Rajan Rajendran Colin Laisure-Pool Brendan Hall Daryl Collerman Anthony Scaccia Eduardo Conghos Ben Becker Sam Hui Mustafa Morsy Gian Modgil Jeremy Stockmans Roger Jones Devin Abellon Dunstan Macauley Pat Fitzgerald Michael Schwedler INCOMING MEMBERS Eileen Jensen Steven Emmerich Meghan McNulty Nanette Lockwood Thomas Reyes Damon McClure George Pantelidis Farooq Mehboob 1 CALL TO ORDER, WELCOME AND ROLL CALL Mr. Chakroun called the meeting to order at 8:01 a.m. EST and welcomed the members. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present. ASHRAE CODE OF ETHICS Mr. Chakroun read the Code of Ethics commitment, and also reviewed the etiquette for the virtual meeting format. ASHRAE Code of Ethics Commitment In this and all other ASHRAE meetings, we will act with honesty, fairness, courtesy, competence, inclusiveness and respect for others, which exemplify our core values of excellence, commitment, integrity, collaboration, volunteerism and diversity, and we shall avoid all real or perceived conflicts of interests. -
Newsletter 63 More English Translation
Hong Kong Film Archive e-Newsletter 63 More English translation Publisher: Hong Kong Film Archive © 2013 Hong Kong Film Archive All rights reserved. No part of the content of this document may be reproduced, distributed or exhibited in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Research Golden Harvest and the Generational Change in 1970s Hong Kong Cinema Po Fung The 1970s were a period of pivotal transitions in Hong Kong cinema. It was also the era of Golden Harvest, from its birth to becoming the main pillar of the film industry. In changing times, Golden Harvest had the flexibility to move with the times, but on the other hand its success came from it spearheading much of the change. Looking at the changes in the company itself, one can see some of significant movements in Hong Kong cinema back then. A New Crop of Homegrown Directors Founded in 1970, Golden Harvest released its debut production The Invincible Eight in 1971. Before The Big Boss hit the screens on 31 October, 1971, Golden Harvest’s productions and distributions include Lo Wei’s The Invincible Eight; Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman, co-directed by Hsu Tseng-hung and Yasuda Kimiyoshi; Hsu Tseng-hung’s The Last Duel, Yip Wing-cho’s The Blade Spares None; Huang Feng’s The Angry River and The Fast Sword; Lo Wei’s The Comet Strikes; Wong Tin-lam’s The Chase; Hsu Tseng-hung’s The Invincible Sword and Law Chi’s Thunderbolt.1 On genre, these were all martial arts, or wuxia films from the ‘new wuxia era’ trend driven by the Shaw Brothers. -
Cantonese As a World Language from Pearl River and Beyond
Volume 10 Issue 2 (2021) Cantonese as a World Language From Pearl River and Beyond Jiaqing Zeng1 and Asif Agha2 1St. Paul’s School, Concord, NH, USA 2University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA DOI: https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v10i2.1435 ABSTRACT In this paper, I will be comparing different registers of Cantonese from all around the world, mainly focusing on the Pearl River Delta region after the 1800s. Yet my larger purpose is to draw attention to how these different registers relate to the cultural values and social lives of the people living in those places. Max Weinreich, a pioneer sociolinguist and Yiddish scholar once said, “a language is a dialect with an army and a navy (Fishman).” Cantonese is no exception, and the state of this language has been dependent upon four factors: the geographic distribution of the Cantonese- speaking population, the economic development of Cantonese-speaking regions, official status, and international sig- nificance. Introduction Cantonese is one of the Chinese dialects and the mother tongue for the Guangfu people of Han Chinese, who were originally from China’s Lingnan region. The language has a complete set of nine tones, retaining many features of Middle Ancient Chinese since the area seldom suffered from wars and was unaffected by the nomadic minorities in northern China. It has a complete series of characters that can be expressed independently from other Chinese lan- guages, and it is the only Chinese language that has been studied in foreign universities in addition to Mandarin. It originated from Canton (Guangzhou) because of the important role that Canton had played in China’s important pol- itics, economy, and culture since ancient times, and it still has official status in Hong Kong and Macau today. -
Rendering the Regional
Rendering the Regional Rendering the Regional LOCAL LANGUAGE IN CONTEMPORARY CHINESE MEDIA Edward M.Gunn University of Hawai`i Press Honolulu Publication of this book was aided by the Hull Memorial Publication Fund of Cornell University. ( 2006 University of Hawai`i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 111009080706654321 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gunn, Edward M. Rendering the regional : local language in contemporary Chinese media / Edward M. Gunn. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8248-2883-6 (alk. paper) 1. Language and cultureÐChina. 2. Language and cultureÐTaiwan. 3. Popular cultureÐChina. 4. Popular cultureÐTaiwan. I. Title. P35.5.C6G86 2005 306.4400951Ðdc22 2005004866 University of Hawai`i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources. Designed by University of Hawai`i Press Production Staff Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group Contents List of Maps and Illustrations /vi Acknowledgments / vii A Note on Romanizations /ix Introduction / 1 1 (Im)pure Culture in Hong Kong / 17 2 Polyglot Pluralism and Taiwan / 60 3 Guilty Pleasures on the Mainland Stage and in Broadcast Media / 108 4 Inadequacies Explored: Fiction and Film in Mainland China / 157 Conclusion: The Rhetoric of Local Languages / 204 Notes / 211 Sources Cited / 231 Index / 251 ±v± List of Maps and Illustrations Figure 1. Map showing distribution of Sinitic (Han) Languages / 2 Figure 2. Map of locations cited in the text / 6 Figure 3. The Hong Kong ®lm Cageman /42 Figure 4. Illustrated romance and pornography in Hong Kong / 46 Figure 5. -
The Hui Brothers’ 1970S Films and What It Meant to Be a Man in Hong Kong, 1974-78
Wai, Hai Mai Lam Yun Lei Ga? [Hey, You a Man or Not?] The Hui Brothers’ 1970s Films and What It Meant to Be a Man in Hong Kong, 1974-78 A graduating essay submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in The Faculty of Arts History Department We accept this essay as conforming to the required standard. ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ University of British Columbia 12 April 2007 Ronny, don’t forget, when we die, our movies don’t die. Your grandson, your great-great grandson, will be watching that. Movies are immortal. --Michael Hui to Hong Kong New Wave film director Ronny Yu 1 1 Lisa Odham Stokes and Michael Hoover, City on Fire: Hong Kong Cinema (New York and London: Verson, 1999), 170. Table of Contents Prefatory Remarks: A Personal Take on the Young Man i Introduction: The Hui Brothers’ 1970s Films and What It Meant to Be a Man in Hong Kong 1 Chapter 1: Generational Masculinities: Cheap Bosses, Centripetal Families, and the Ethos of Complaint 14 Chapter 2: Practical Masculinities: Masters of Improvisation, the Pak Dong Spirit, and the Ethos of Pragmatism 33 Chapter 3: Playboy Masculinities: Paying the Family, Chasing Girls, and the Ethos of Luxury 51 Conclusion: Wai, Hai Mai Lam Yun Lei Ga? 63 Bibliography 68 Prefatory Remarks: A Personal Take on the Young Man A question and a look have always haunted me whenever I have told people that I am slaving away at a thesis. The first: “What, you’re a graduate student?” Apologetically, I begin to answer, “No, I’m working on a thesis on men in 1970s Hong Kong for my B. -
An Introduction to Cantonpop
An Introduction to Cantonese Pops (Updated version) Dr Helan Yang (Learning and teaching materials for teachers’ reference) Teachers may make reference to the book “Reading Cantonese Songs: The Voice of Hong Kong Through Vicissitudes”《粵語歌曲解讀:蛻變中的香港聲音》 written by Yu Siu Wah and Helan Yang Historical Overview The Origin of Cantonese Pops It is commonly held that Cantonese Pops (known as Cantopop1) emerged in the 50’s, but it is more likely that Cantonese songs with newly composed tunes and lyrics had already come into existence in Hong Kong as early as the 30’s. For example, the song《壽仔去拍 拖》with Cantonese lyrics intercalated with English words featured in an album released by New Moon Records Ltd (新月唱片) in 1930 was already emblematic of Hong Kong culture. The strophic structure of the lyrics and its reflection on life’s reality are similar to that of the ‘Humorous Songs’ (諧趣歌曲) of the 50’s and 60’s. According to Lu Kam (魯金), an expert on Hong Kong folk heritage, the two songs “Sleep Well My Baby”《兒安眠》and “The Miss Who Couldn’t Care Less”《風流小姐》featured in the singer Li Qi Nian’s (李綺 年) album released by New Moon Records in 1935 have new tunes and new lyrics, and can be regarded as the predecessor of Cantonese Pops. The early Cantonese Pops did not have a uniformed nomenclature. The Cantonese albums of the 50’s were released under the various names of ‘Dancing Songs’ (跳舞歌曲), ‘Dancing Cantonese Operatic Songs’ (跳舞粵曲), ‘Cantonese Modern Songs’ (粵語時代 曲), ‘Cantonese Ditties’ (粵語小曲) and ‘Modern Cantonese Operatic Songs’ (時代粵曲). -
Ricky FUNG CEO
Ricky FUNG CEO International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Hong Kong Group) ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ Ricky T.C. Fung is synonymous with the modern Canto Pop era that first emerged in the early ’70s. This phenomenon eventually made Hong Kong a creative regional music centre in Asia. With background as a musician in a famous local band the Mystics, Ricky grasped the intricacies of American soul and country music, British pop culture and Chinese traditions. This translated to a highly successful career as a talent scout and record producer for the very top artists that emerged in Hong Kong. These included Sam Hui, The Wynners (Alan Tam, Kenny Bee), Leslie Cheung, Teresa Teng, Michael Kwan, Annabelle Louie, Priscilla Chan, Albert Au, Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau, plus other big names in the business he’d work with like Roman Tam, Danny Chan, Cui Jian, Patricia Chan and Cally Kwong. He’d served in executive positions in major recording companies that included PolyGram and EMI. He was equally active in industry matters. As a well-known songwriter at that time, he was a founding member of the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong back in 1977. His efforts in building the Hong Kong home repertoire earned him a Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award in 1984. He served as a member of the Copyright Tribunal from 1997 to 1999. Recently, Ricky took up the post of CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Hong Kong Group), continuing the quest in advancing the Hong Kong music industry. Page 30. -
Hong Kong Cantopop
Hong Kong Cantopop A Concise History Yiu-Wai Chu Hong Kong University Press The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Road Hong Kong www.hkupress.org © 2017 Hong Kong University Press ISBN 978-988-8390-57-1 (Hardback) ISBN 978-988-8390-58-8 (Paperback) All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound by Hang Tai Printing Co., Ltd. in Hong Kong, China Contents Acknowledgments viii A Note on Romanization x Chapter One Introduction 1 Chapter Two Days of Being Marginalized: The 1950s to the Early 1970s 21 Chapter Three The Rise of Cantopop: The Mid- to Late 1970s 40 Chapter Four An Age of Glory: The 1980s 69 Chapter Five The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: The 1990s 105 Chapter Six After the Fall: The New Millennium 145 Chapter Seven Epilogue: Cantopop in the Age of China 184 Appendix Chronology of Major Events 197 Selected Bibliography 218 Index 226 1 Introduction “Every generation has its own voice,” claimed James Wong 黃霑, the late god- father of Cantopop, in his doctoral thesis on the development of Cantopop.1 The English term “Cantopop”—Cantonese popular songs—did not come into existence until the 1970s, when Billboard correspondent Hans Ebert used it “to describe the locally produced popular music in Hong Kong” in 1978.2 Per James Wong’s remark—which was adapted from the well-known saying of the Qing dynasty master of Chinese culture, Wang Guowei 王國維: “Every dynasty has its own representative form of literature”3 —Cantopop is a musical form from and the voice of contemporary Hong Kong. -
ANNUAL REPORT 2019 PRINTED on POST-CONSUMER WASTE RECYCLED PAPER Zoff Continued Its Fast Expansion, Including a New Location at the Prestigious Lee Theatre Plaza
(Incorporated in the Cayman Islands with limited liability) Stock Code: 00831 ANNUAL REPORT 2019 PRINTED ON POST-CONSUMER WASTE RECYCLED PAPER Zoff continued its fast expansion, including a new location at the prestigious Lee Theatre Plaza. Contents Corporate Information 2 Highlights 3 Chairman’s Statement 5 CEO’s Statement 8 Management Discussion and Analysis 14 Corporate Governance Report 20 Directors and Senior Management Profile 40 Information for Investors 45 Directors’ Report 46 Independent Auditor’s Report 59 Consolidated Profit and Loss Account 65 Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income 66 Consolidated Balance Sheet 67 Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity 69 Consolidated Cash Flow Statement 70 Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements 71 Ten-Year Financial Summary 128 Convenience Retail Asia Limited Annual Report 2019 1 Corporate Information Executive Directors Head Office and Principal Place of Business Richard YEUNG Lap Bun (Chief Executive Officer) 15th Floor, LiFung Centre PAK Chi Kin (Chief Operating Officer) 2 On Ping Street Siu Lek Yuen Shatin Non-executive Directors New Territories Victor FUNG Kwok King # (Chairman) Hong Kong William FUNG Kwok Lun + Godfrey Ernest SCOTCHBROOK * Benedict CHANG Yew Teck * Website www.cr-asia.com Independent Non-executive Directors Malcolm AU Man Chung +* Legal Advisers Anthony LO Kai Yiu #* Mayer Brown ZHANG Hongyi #+* (as to Hong Kong Law) Sarah Mary LIAO Sau Tung + Conyers Dill & Pearman, Cayman (as to Cayman Islands Law) Group Chief Compliance and Risk Management Officer Jason YEUNG Chi Wai Auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers Certified Public Accountants Company Secretary Maria LI Sau Ping Principal Banker The Hongkong and Shanghai Registered Office Banking Corporation Limited P.O. -
Chinese-Ness’: Articulating Identities-Of
PERFORMING ‘CHINESE-NESS’: ARTICULATING IDENTITIES-OF- BECOMING IN THE WORKS OF FOUR SINOPHONE THEATRE DIRECTOR-PLAYWRIGHTS IN THE 1980s A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Wah Guan Lim August 2015 © 2015 Wah Guan Lim ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT Performing ‘Chinese-ness’: Articulating Identities-of-Becoming in the Works of Four Sinophone Theatre Director-Playwrights in the 1980s Wah Guan Lim, Ph.D. Cornell University, 2015 This dissertation is the first full-length comparative study of contemporary drama that attempts to reflect the diversity of the Chinese-speaking world. By presenting a circuit of Sinophone creativity that differs substantially from that assumed by conventional literary history, which focuses on the People’s Republic of China, I investigate the formation of identity in the 1980s through the works of four important diasporic theatre director-playwrights — Gao Xingjian (China), Stan Lai (Taiwan), Danny Yung (Hong Kong) and Kuo Pao Kun (Singapore). I focus on the problem of “Chinese-ness,” arguing that the foregoing dramatists share an interest in problematizing essentialist notions of Chinese identity. In the aftermath of the Cold War, the Iron Curtain not only divided the “two Chinas” across the Taiwan Straits, but also impacted the two former British colonies. Two imagined scenarios emerged — a re-sinification and eventual handover to China, and a clamp down on Chinese education due to the Red Scare — that forced the ethnic Chinese majorities of each state to respond to the accelerating emergence of China on the world economic and political scene on the i one hand, and simultaneously grapple with the ever-changing internal paradigm of the differing circumstances among each of the four sites on the other.