Hong Kong Studies Reader Series Series Editors Brian C. H. Fong Academy of Hong Kong Studies The Education University of Hong Kong Tai Po, Hong Kong Tai-Lok Lui Academy of Hong Kong Studies The Education University of Hong Kong Tai Po, Hong Kong Stephen Chiu Academy of Hong Kong Studies The Education University of Hong Kong Tai Po, Hong Kong In recent years, Hong Kong society has undergone significant political, economic and social changes. Hong Kong Studies, as an interdisciplinary field of area studies that takes “Hong Kong” as a central subject of analy- sis, has become the focus of attention for both locals and non-locals from different backgrounds. There is a growing demand from local and non-­ local students, school teachers, scholars, policy researchers, journalists, politicians and businessmen to understand the development of Hong Kong in a more systematic way. The Hong Kong Studies Reader Series is designed to address this pressing need by publishing clear, concise and accessible readers to key areas of Hong Kong Studies including politics, history, culture, media, etc. The series aims to offer English-Chinese-­ Japanese trilingual guides to anyone who is interested in understanding and researching Hong Kong. More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15923 Klavier J. Wang Hong Kong Popular Culture Worlding Film, Television, and Pop Music Klavier J. Wang Tisch School of the Arts New York University New York, NY, USA ISSN 2523-7764 ISSN 2523-7772 (electronic) Hong Kong Studies Reader Series ISBN 978-981-13-8816-3 ISBN 978-981-13-8817-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8817-0 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu- tional affiliations. Cover illustration: © Yuji Sakai / Getty Images This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-­01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore HONG KONG STUDIEs READEr SErIEs Hong Kong Studies is an interdisciplinary field of area studies that takes “Hong Kong” as a central subject of analysis. In recent years, Hong Kong society has undergone significant political, economic and social changes, making Hong Kong Studies the focus of attention for people both inside and outside Hong Kong. As a result, there is a growing demand from local and non-local students, school teachers, scholars, policy researchers, journalists, politicians and business- people to understand the transformation of Hong Kong in a more sys- tematic way. The Hong Kong Studies Reader Series is designed to address this press- ing need. By publishing clear, concise and accessible readers on key areas of Hong Kong Studies ranging from politics and history to society and culture, we aim at offering academic guides to anyone who is interested in understanding and researching Hong Kong. For Hong Kong Studies, it is probably the best of times. v vi HOng KOng StuDies ReaDer Series The Academy of Hong Kong Studies (AHKS), established in July 2015, is the first, and so far only, academy dedicated to fostering Hong Kong Studies within local tertiary institutions. Adopting the strategic direction of “Worlding Hong Kong Studies”, the AHKS drives interdisci- plinary knowledge creation and transfer initiatives on Hong Kong-centric subjects and fosters the development of a “cross-regional Hong Kong Studies research community”. https://www.eduhk.hk/ahks Academy of Hong Kong Studies, The Education Brian C.H. Fong University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong Tai-lok Lui The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Stephen Chiu Tai Po, Hong Kong ON TrANsLATION AND ROMANIZATION Translations from Chinese materials to English are based on several rules. Translation of Chinese film titles is consistent with the “Hong Kong Filmography” published by the Hong Kong Film Archive. The original Chinese film titles presented in pinyin and original Chinese characters are also given following the English translation. Translations of television drama titles, song album titles and song titles are mostly mine unless another translation version is available from the pro- duction entity (e.g. TV drama When Heaven Burns/Tian Yu Di 天與地). Similar to the translation of film titles, pinyin transcription and original Chinese characters of the titles follow English translations. Names of people from Hong Kong are generally Romanized and pre- sented according to the style commonly used in Hong Kong. Some go with English first name followed by Chinese surname (e.g. Bruce Lee, Leslie Cheung), while some follow the original order in which surname goes before first name (e.g. Ng Cho-fan, Wong Kar-wai). Names of people from mainland China are usually transcribed according to the pinyin sys- tem (e.g. Cai Chusheng, Ruan Lingyu). Special cases such as film stars who are known to the world by their stage name are directly Romanized according to the Cantonese or Mandarin pronunciation (e.g. Kong Suet, Siu Yin Fei). The different treatments on the translations are based on how these people are conventionally known to the society and thus trans- literated according to the Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland Chinese or Southeastern Asian Romanization system. For the sake of clarity, Chinese characters are supplemented following the translation. vii ACkNOWLEDGMENTs First and foremost, I cannot express enough gratitude for the generous intellectual, material and affective support from the Academy of Hong Kong Studies (AHKS), the Education University of Hong Kong. Without the consistent and generous support from AHKS, I could not have pro- duced this monograph. The AHKS is the first ever and still the only Hong Kong-based institution that is dedicated to fostering Hong Kong Studies within local tertiary institutions. Embracing the “worlding Hong Kong studies” mission, the AHKS drives interdisciplinary knowledge creation and transfer initiatives on Hong Kong-centric subjects and fosters the development of a “cross-regional Hong Kong Studies research commu- nity”. This mission neatly interlocks with my overall academic pursuit in popular culture research and Hong Kong history, especially in terms of how Hong Kong has been playing a crucial role in converging talents of multi-ethnicities and spreading “culture made-in Hong Kong” to the world. It is indeed a tremendous honor for me to be AHKS’s first post- doctoral research fellow and to be granted sufficient room and resources to bring this mission into action–the production of this monograph, Hong Kong Popular Culture: Worlding films, television and pop music. My privilege and precious opportunity as a new PhD graduate back in 2016 when I joined the AHKS are concretized by the provision of this book project under the groundbreaking book series Hong Kong Studies Reader Series edited by Dr Brian C. H. Fong, Professor Lui Tai-lok and Professor Stephen Chiu Wing-kai. Acclaimed scholars on Hong Kong society and cultural development, Professors Lui and Chiu have always been such illuminating mentors, and I owe them my greatest gratitude. I ix x AcknOwleDgments am also indebted to Dr Brian Fong for his never-failing support and encouragement on my prolonged information gathering, book planning and writing journey. At the juncture that Hong Kong, after 20 years of her reversion to the People’s Republic of China’s sovereignty, is experiencing an identity crisis and has witnessed flows of social movements that demand larger room for democratization and political freedom, the inauguration of the Hong Kong Studies Reader Series is a timely contribution. I join force to respond to the call of time by completing this book, recounting, re-discovering and re-positioning Hong Kong popular culture as the crown jewel to the city and a (hidden) gem to regional and world cul- tural scape. Special thanks also go to scholarly advisors, colleagues and friends who have offered me valuable and constructive ideas, comments and sugges- tions at different stages of the book composition: Professor Chris Berry, Dr Chow Yiu Fai, Professor Chu Yiu-Wai, Professor Francis Lee Lap Fung, Dr Stephanie Ng Yuet-wah, Dr Enoch Tam Yee-lok and Professor David Der-wei Wang. In addition, encouragement and intellectual spark could always be obtained from heart-warming conversations with Professor Anthony Fung Ying Him, who led me down the road of popular culture research back to my Masters degree studies; Professor Eric Ma Kit-wai, my qualitative research method teacher who motivates me through his inspir- ing life experience and teaching methods; and Professor Ng Chun Hung, whose Hong Kong popular culture research works laid the founding stone in this field.