Thursday, September 27, 2012

Weibo Fever # 18: Are You a Hong Kong TV Series Fanatic?


Just for fun….

I saw this post on Weibo yesterday and found it so amusing that I just had to translate it and share it! 

The title of the original post is 那些年的港劇橋段 (‘The Hong Kong TV Series Story Ideas of Yesteryear’) and it consists of a bunch of cartoons that a netizen (someone named ‘Shin先生’) drew – each cartoon is captioned with a story idea / concept commonly found in HK television series.  After reading through the ‘story ideas’, I couldn’t help but laugh because some of them are truly very funny – but at the same time, I was also nodding my head in agreement because when I think back to all the HK television series that I’ve watched over the past 20+ years, I can’t even begin to count how many of these ‘ideas’ (or variations of them) were used in so many of those series!  Personally, I have actually seen every single ‘idea’ mentioned in the cartoons used in series…so I guess that ‘officially’ makes me an HK TV SERIES FANATIC??  LOL!  No problem – guilty as charged!!  HAHAHA!

How many of the below story ideas have you seen?  Are you an HK TV Series Fanatic?  :o)

P.S.:  If you are able to read Chinese, I highly recommend reading the original cartoons in Chinese because the impact is a little different (plus the cartoons are much funnier in Chinese..LOL!).

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Picture credits as listed

.**NOTE:  The translated captions are in the same order as the cartoons below.  I took the liberty of numbering each one for ease of reference (the original captions were not numbered).***


The HK TV Series Story Ideas of Yesteryear

Costume (Ancient) Drama Series Story Ideas

.1)  Mostly large families where there is a ‘master of the house’ who has several wives and children, especially sons.

.2)  The eldest son is usually riotous, the second son is hypocritical, and the third is usually the one with the brightest future.

.3)  The father (master of the house) starts off powerful and wealthy, but then is later angered to death (usually by his children) and his family is split apart, with his wealth being divided amongst his family members.

.4)  The family business goes from being well-off to declining, but in the end, the business is saved and restored to its previous glory.

.5)  Prior to the grand finale, when a main character is about to be executed, there will always be someone who steps out and says  刀下留人  (‘Save the person under the sword')!

.6)  The ‘secret’ to the main hero not dying [after he is severely injured with a sword through the heart] is always that his heart is on the right side of his body [as opposed to the left side like most people].

.7)  People who suffer memory loss [usually due to some accident or other situation] will get their memory back after being hit on the head.

.8)  The most common method of proving someone’s identity is to use the ‘blood drop method’ (滴血認親)  to prove that he/she is a long lost blood relative.


Modern Drama Series Story Ideas

.9)  Wealthy parents will usually say:  “How much money will it take for you to voluntarily leave [break up with] my son /daughter?”

.10)  A doctor comes of the emergency room and says:  “So sorry!  We have tried our best [to save so and so]!”

.11)  A girl is very obviously dressed up pretending to be a guy, but yet not a single person [in the series] is able to figure it out.

.12)  Upon entering a restaurant, the server/waiter/waitress asks:  “How many in your party?” to which the response is always: “I’m looking for someone!”

.13)  Holding someone hostage [at knife point, gunpoint, etc.] is always the best way to flee a compromising situation.

.14)  When a TV series films a sequel but characters from the original series are no longer part of the cast, 90% of the time those characters are dead.

.15)  In a rich / wealthy family, there will be an illegitimately born child who ends up falling in love with their half-brother / half-sister.

.16)  At the most ‘critical’ moment, there will always be a ‘back door’ through which one can escape.

.17)  Different characters in the series all use the same model cell phone, usually with the exact same ringtones

.18)  When a person is being followed, he/she will usually go in the direction where there is the least amount of people (bystanders).

.19)  At the moment that one intends on jumping off the roof of a building, someone will always come out and successfully discourage him/her from jumping.

.20)  In an office, colleagues are usually standing around gossiping – very little ‘actual work’ is done.

.21)  When a woman feels nauseous (meaning feel like vomiting), there is only one possibility – she is pregnant.

.22)  Upon coughing heavily, when wiping one’s mouth with a handkerchief, usually they will spit up blood.

.23)  The ‘reason’ for helping someone out is usually: “For that person’s own good, you should….”

.24)  When reading a letter/document, the words that are the least clear [i.e. blurred out, missing, etc.] are definitely the most critical.

.25)  Running outside when upset or angry, there is usually thunder and lightning or heavy rain.

.26)  Jumping off a cliff is always the best method for escaping [someone who is chasing you] without having to die.

.27)  When someone falls or is slightly injured, there is always a bottle of homemade ‘bruise ointment’ (鐵打酒) in the home.

.28)  When the main character finds out the truth, he/she usually says:  “I would rather you had lied to me forever!”

.29)  When the villain is about to shoot the main character, there will always be someone who yells out “Be Careful!” and then runs out and ‘takes the bullet’ for him/her.

.30)  When trying to escape, there will always be someone who falls down on the ground and tells the other person:  “Go quickly!  Don’t worry about me!”

.31)  Typical police dialogue:  “You have the right to remain silent, but anything you say can be used as testimony in court.”

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

CTI New Series Press Conference (9/25/2012) – 開腦儆探 (Brain Opening Detective)

Here's the information on the 7th CTI series that was announced today.  Details are from the press release that came out along with the press conference event.

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Today, CTI held a press conference to announce the 7th series that the company is currently filming: 開腦儆探 Brain Opening Detective [TN: English name is direct translation of Chinese name]

Led by Creative Director (Scriptwriter) Lau Choi Wan [former TVB scriptwriter who brought us Ghetto Justice] and Main Director Lau Shun On [former TVB director who brought us A Step Into the Past], the cast and crew of the series will join together to create an unfathomable, supernatural detective series that will attempt to get to the bottom of various mysterious and unusual cases.

Brain Opening Detective stars Felix Wong, Sam Lee, Grace Huang, Adrian Wong, Kelvin Kwan, Kathy Yuen, etc. and filming already started at the beginning of September. Today, at the press conference, eac h of the artists went onstage and introduced their character in the series and also revealed their ‘costumes’ for the first time. Afterwards, CTI chairman Ricky Wong (王維基), Managing Director To Wai Bing (杜惠冰), creative director Lau Choi Wan, and director Lau Shun On led everyone present in a toast in the hopes that the filming process for the series will be smooth.

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Brain Opening Detective (開腦儆探)

Creative Director (Scriptwriter): Lau Choi Wan (劉彩雲)
Main Director: Lau Shun On (劉順安)

Filming Dates: September 2012

Length: 20 episodes


Cast:  Felix Wong (黃日華), Grace Huang (黃芝琪), Sam Lee (李璨琛), Buzz Chung (鍾紹圖), Kelvin Kwan (關楚耀), Adrian Wong (黄芷晴), Crystal Leung (粱寶琪), Lo Hoi Pang (盧海鵬), Lo Hei Lai, Anita Chan (陳穎妍), Carlos Koo (古天祥), Dominic Lam (林嘉華), Fu Chor Yan, Kathy Yuen (湯怡), Lam Lei (林利), Bond Chan (陳少邦), Janice Ting (丁樂鍶), Bryant Mak (麥子樂), Cherry Pau (鮑康兒), etc.

Plot Summary:
Brain Opening Detective is a supernatural-themed detective series – however the ‘supernatural’ won’t be the traditional ghosts and spirits-theme that audiences are used to seeing. Rather, it will utilize ‘super’ scientific concepts as well as realistic methods to investigate a variety of mysterious, unusual cases. The series will revolve around the main character Hung Gei Yuen (Felix Wong) -- a former high-ranking police inspector who, after being traumatized by the mysterious death of his son, acquires the hidden ability to capture and enter other people’s subconscious, as he deeply believes that his son was actually murdered in the ‘inner confines of the subconscious’! At the same time, he starts to display signs of having a split personality and works hard to study about the ‘hidden subconscious’ in the hopes of one day finding his son’s killer.

Each main character in this series will have some sort of ‘hidden ability’ that makes them different from other people. Even though each of them will have a ‘regrettable flaw’ and perhaps even be viewed by society as being ‘abnormal’ or ‘weird’, this does not affect their self-esteem. In fact, they are able to turn this ‘regrettable flaw’ into a ‘hidden ability’ and use it to help them solve many mysterious cases.



Friday, September 21, 2012

Felix Wong’s daughter Adrian first of the ‘Five Tiger’ offspring to join entertainment industry; Kent Tong’s 17-year-old twin sons to follow suit

This is an AWESOME article that one of the veteran reporters at Mingpao wrote and seeing that I'm an 80s girl and Five Tigers fan, I of course would not pass up the opportunity to share this with fellow Five Tigers fans.  Though there is mention of the Four Heavenly Kings in this article, it's really mostly about the Five Tigers and their children -- just wanted to make that clear in case any one reading this was expecting the article to talk about the Heavenly Kings (to be honest, I'm not 100% sure why the reporter even mentioned the Heavenly Kings -- maybe because of the Andy Lau connection?).

At any rate, I'm pretty much excited to see any article about the Five Tigers because it brings back those feelings of nostalgia for me.  It's nice that this article mentioned more about Kent Tong, since most audiences probably are not as familiar with him nowadays due to him no longer being part of the HK entertainment industry anymore.  Though Five Tigers fans like me have continued to keep up with news related to them, I'm sure not everyone has, so it's nice to see updates like this every once in awhile. In the case of Kent Tong, I'm glad this article talked more about his relationship with his children, since in the past, most of the articles that mention Kent usually focus on his prior relationship with Barbara Yung.

Anyway, great article and great 'step back into time' for me (though it was very brief...LOL)!

Enjoy!  :-)

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Felix Wong’s daughter Adrian first of the ‘Five Tiger’ offspring to join entertainment industry; Kent Tong’s 17-year-old twin sons to follow suit

Source:  Mingpao

Translation:  llwy12

Kent and his twin sons Bruce (left) and Chris (right)


Isabella Tong (right) and her mother Jiang Kun


Isabella (middle), Bruce (right), Chris (left)

Kent Tong's  twin daughters Tian Tian and Yuan Yuan

Felix Wong and daughter Adrian

Michael Miu and daughter Phoebe

Michael Miu and son Murphy


The HK entertainment industry’s ‘golden era’ of the 80s and 90s brought us TVB’s ‘Five Tigers’ [Tony Leung (梁朝偉), Andy Lau (劉德華), Michael Miu (苗僑偉), Felix Wong (黃日華), Kent Tong (湯鎮業)] as well as the music industry’s ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ [Jacky Cheung (張學友), Andy Lau (劉德華), Leon Lai (黎明), Aaron Kwok (郭富城)]. Today, almost 30 years later, the Five Tiger and Heavenly King titles may be considered a part of ‘history’ now, but the artists themselves are still very much a part of the HK entertainment world. These ‘Tigers’ and ‘Kings’ have all reached (or exceeded) the half century (50 year old) age milestone and all except for one (Aaron Kwok) have married and started families of their own.


Michael Miu’s children sent far away from industry

Back in the day, each of the ‘Five Tigers’ and ‘Heavenly Kings’ possessed their own charm and charisma that endeared them to fans and audiences around the world – therefore, it is not surprising that their offspring would possess a similar charm and interest toward the entertainment industry.

Recently, Felix Wong’s daughter Adrian Wong (黃芷晴) signed with fledgling [soon to be] TV station CTI and has already started filming a TV series for them, thereby becoming the first of the Tiger and King offspring to follow in her father’s footsteps and join the entertainment industry. As the saying goes, ‘all children are the best in the eyes of their parents’-- so when their children decide they want to pursue a career in the industry, it is natural for celebrity parents to try and help them out any way they can. Even though Adrian may not necessarily stand out in terms of looks, she does have a sweet smile and friendly personality, so hopefully, with ‘special training’ from her dad Felix, she will be able to gain the audience’s favor in her new acting career.

Actor Michael Miu and actress Jamie Chik (戚美珍)’s children – 20 year old daughter Phoebe (苗彤) and 18 year old son Murphy (苗俊) – inherited their parents’ good looks and definitely possess future ‘star’ potential. However Michael and Jamie decided to send them overseas to pursue their studies – far away from the ‘colorful’ HK entertainment industry.

With Felix’s daughter already starting in the industry and Michael’s children continuing with their educations, the next Tiger offspring likely to join the industry will undoubtedly be Kent Tong’s 17-year old twin boys Bruce (湯君慈) and Chris (湯君耀). The twins will be graduating this year and both are interested in pursuing a career in the entertainment industry – of course, Kent’s fellow ‘Tiger’ brothers have already voiced their support and encouragement.


Kent Tong’s eldest daughter has ‘star potential'

Back in the day, Kent Tong was considered the most handsome of the Five Tigers. Though that may no longer be the case now (as his mid-life weight gain and hair loss will tell you), one thing that hasn’t changed much is Kent’s affinity with females. After his well-known relationship with 80s TVB actress Barbara Yung (翁美玲) ended with her death in 1985, Kent has been in several subsequent relationships, two of which turned into marriages. His first wife was actress Jiang Kun (姜坤), who was a known beauty with looks resembling a younger version of veteran actress Brigitte Lin (林青霞). Not long after she joined the industry, Jiang Kun married Kent and together they had 3 children – eldest daughter Isabella (湯愛嘉) as well as the twins Chris and Bruce. Isabella is very much a beauty, as she inherited many of her parents’ handsome features -- in terms of looks, she resembles a ‘hybrid’ of Gigi Lai (黎姿) and Cecilia Cheung (張栢芝). It’s rumored that many of Kent’s friends in the industry hope to persuade 19 year old Isabella to join the HK entertainment industry, since it’s rare nowadays to find her type of young, fresh beauty in the industry.

Despite the invitations to join the entertainment industry, Isabella has expressed that she enjoys going to school more – therefore, she plans to finish college first, then decide at that time whether to join the industry. Instead, her brothers Bruce (the older twin) and Chris (younger twin) have actually expressed an interest in joining the industry. Earlier this year, the twins got the chance to introduce themselves on the Mainland variety program Tian Tian Xiang Shang《天天向上》—fortunately, the audience’s reaction was quite positive, so it looks like they may not have a problem gaining audience affinity. However, when the hosts asked the twins why they wanted to join the entertainment industry, they candidly replied: “To earn more money!” Perhaps the boys understand their father’s burden in taking care of their large family, so they hope to start working early to help him out.

During the program, Kent shared with his sons his personal experience being part of the entertainment industry and gave them some sound advice: next year, they will turn 18 and with the ‘official’ transition to adulthood, they will have the freedom to do things on their own, such as learn to drive, date girls, go to bars, etc. – though Kent encouraged them to be independent, he also reminded them to work hard, set goals for their futures, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and be responsible to their family, their friends, and to society in general . Even though his sons don’t live with him, Kent’s relationship with his sons is still very deep.


Two marriages, six children

Kent and his first wife divorced many years ago and he has since married second wife Alice, who is 20 years his junior – together, they have a pair of 3 ½ year old twin daughters, Tian Tian (甜甜) and Yuan Yuan (圓圓). Prior to his second marriage, he and his girlfriend at the time were together for a few years and they had a son – therefore, Kent has a total of 6 children to take care of. Towards his family responsibilities, Kent once said: “Even though I’m nowhere near as popular as Andy Lau or Tony Leung [in terms of career], I feel lucky to have my kids – seeing them grow up happy and healthy, that is my greatest happiness!” Kent may have had a lot of relationships in the past, but at the end of the day, he is a responsible man.

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Chinese version:

大姐大手記﹕多仔公湯鎮業 17歲孖仔攻娛圈

「五虎」下一代 黃芷晴接第一棒


【明報專訊】「四大天王」與「無綫五虎」都是80年代演藝界的黃金代號,30年後的今天,這些封號已變「古董」,無論天王與五虎都已是5字頭的熟男,人生走到半百之齡,都各自有自己家庭與仔女,只有郭天王郭富城依然充滿活力,未肯成家立室延續下一代。


苗僑偉仔女遠離娛樂圈

當年的「五虎」與「天王」,個個都是萬人迷,大家期待他們的下一代都是靚得出色。最近黃日華的女兒黃芷晴,就成為五虎與天王的下一代之中,第一個繼承「父業」,加入娛樂圈做藝人。老實講,「父母眼裏的仔女都是最棒的」,更出於愛仔女之心,一定出盡力為仔女鋪路。雖然在大姐大眼中這個世侄女樣子未算突出,不過她勝在笑容甜,所以希望在父親的特訓下,可以在演技上取得觀眾緣。苗僑偉的一對仔女苗俊與苗彤亦都好有做明星條件,但父母早已將兩人送到外國,希望兩個仔女遠離娛樂圈,不會心郁郁想入行。

大家又估一估,下一個加入娛樂圈的五虎、天王第二代又會是誰?大姐大知道應是五虎中的多仔公湯鎮業一對17歲孖仔,二人名叫湯君慈與湯君耀,他們今年預科畢業,已積極部署進軍娛圈,相信一班叔伯又要為世侄發功了。


大女湯愛嘉靚女有星味

當年有型有款的湯鎮業,雖然中年發福,濃密頭髮都一去不返,不過他卻好有女人緣,與已故的無綫花旦翁美玲的感情故事之外,他的第一任老婆亦是出名美人姜坤。當年姜坤加入娛樂圈被形容為縮水林青霞,不過出道不久已被阿湯追求成功而結婚,然後就生了一女兩子;女兒湯愛嘉兼備了父母優點,非常靚女,樣子有如黎姿與清純版的張栢芝混合體。聽聞不少娛圈世叔伯都游說19歲的愛嘉入行,因香港娛樂圈已很少找到這類清純女星。

不過愛嘉喜歡讀書,所以準備完成大學,再考慮是否加入娛樂圈。反而阿湯一對孖仔卻好想以Twins姿態入行,17歲的孖仔、大寶叫君慈(Bruce)、小寶叫君耀(Chris),以後者性格較活潑。兩人今年一起上過內地節目《天天向上》初露頭角,原來內地觀眾對他們反應不錯,故應有觀眾緣。不過主持人問他們為何要加入娛樂圈?兩人坦率說﹕「想掙多啲錢!」可能孖仔了解到老竇擔子不輕,所以早點出身可幫輕家計。

大姐大看到在節目裏阿湯給一對孖仔的一番話,大致是說兒子明年就18歲成人,可以學揸車、交女朋友、去酒吧、睇成人電影,不再是兒童,也不能再依賴父母;要學會獨立,也不應互相依賴,要為自己將來定一個目標,努力奮鬥,不單要身體健康,還要有健康人生,對家庭、對朋友、對社會負責。父子雖不是一起生活,不過父子情卻濃。


兩段婚姻共6個仔女

阿湯雖已另有家室,展開了第二段婚姻,娶了個年輕他20多年的老婆,再生了一對孖女叫甜甜、圓圓,已經3歲半;在第二段婚姻之前,亦有一名紅顏知己為他生了一個兒子,所以他一個人要養6個仔女。阿湯說過﹕「雖然我沒有劉德華、梁朝偉般紅,不過我有一班仔女,見到他們健康成長就開心。」大姐大認為的阿湯雖然情多,但起碼也是個負責任的男人。

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Interview: This is ‘So Gay’: Koo Ming Wah’s difficult 18 year career journey

I'm currently watching the TVB series Divas in Distress (巴不得媽媽) -- well, too be specific, 'kind of watching' is the more appropriate way to put it, since I've pretty much been forwarding through most of the episodes due to not liking some of the cast and also parts of the storyline. 

Not planning on commenting much about the series itself, since I technically didn't even watch majority of it, but there are a few characters that I actually like from the series -- one of them is the character of 'So Gay' played by veteran actor Koo Ming Wah (古明華). 

Ok, I'm sure most people probably never even heard of Koo Ming Wah prior to this series -- for me personally though, I've known of him since the 90s, as I remember that he had some pretty good roles back then, even though the roles were small and mostly insignificant (yet he was able to leave an impression, at least on me).  I really started paying more attention to Koo Ming Wah after Gun Metal Grey, since I really enjoyed that series and his performance in there was quite good.  Actually, even back in the 90s, his acting was already very good, it's just that he never had much luck in terms of his career, as he was almost always relegated to playing minor characters (and he's been at TVB for 18 years already!).  This is why I'm glad that Koo Lo (as most people call him) is finally getting recognition for his acting -- IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!  I'm very happy for him and definitely hope that TVB will give him better roles in the future!

By the way....Koo Ming Wah did 6 interviews with various Media outlets recently and after reading all of them, I chose to translate this particular one from East Week Magazine (primarily because it's the most detailed one and also the most moving) .  It's a very touching interview and after reading it, my respect for Koo Ming Wah definitely went up several notches -- the part where he talks about his mother and his daughter really got me teary-eyed!  From these interviews, it's obvious that Koo Ming Wah is a good man!  I wish him the best of luck!

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This is ‘So Gay’:  Koo Ming Wah’s difficult 18 year career journey
 
 
Translation:  llwy12
 
 
TVB’s currently airing drama series  Divas in Distress巴不得媽媽caused beauty pageant winner Eliza Sam (岑麗香) to become the new ‘Golden [Discussion Forum] Goddess’, but at the same time, it also brought about unexpected popularity for veteran actor Koo Ming Wah (古明華) [known as ‘Koo Lo’ (古佬) to his friends and colleagues], who plays the effeminate character ‘So Gay’ (蘇基) in the series.  Since the series aired, Koo Lo has garnered tremendous praise for his performance, with netizens creating a ‘One Person One Like – Support So Gay for an Award’ Facebook page, showing their support for him to win in either the ‘Most Improved Actor’ or ‘Best Supporting Actor’ categories at the TVB Anniversary Awards this year.  Within a matter of days, the Facebook page received over 60,000 ‘Like’ votes and over 900 comments praising Koo Lo’s performance – despite becoming an ‘overnight sensation’, the 48 year old actor reveals that he’s not sure how to react to the sudden popularity.
 
Take today’s interview for instance – when we asked him to do the photo shoot portion of the interview in his ‘So Gay’ persona, Koo Lo willingly obliged.   As he prepared for the interview, he bumped into various colleagues at TVB City, all of whom greeted him affectionately, loudly yelling out: “Gay Gay!” [his nickname in the series] or telling him: “So Gay!  Support you all the way!” – some of his colleagues even requested to take pictures with him!   Towards all of this, Koo Lo responds with a shy grin:  “Thank you, thank you!”
 
Asked about the success of the character ‘So Gay’, Koo Lo grins sheepishly and states:  “I never imagined the character would become so popular!  Re-watching my performance, I feel that there are still many areas where I could have done better.  Back when we were filming the series, the behind-the-scenes crew would tell me:  ‘Wow, this character will definitely become a hit!’ but I would respond back with: ‘Oh, stop being crazy!  You guys always say that with all of my performances!  Tell me, which performance have you not said would be a hit?’   Hahaha!  Actually, many behind-the-scenes crew contributed to the success of the character ‘So Gay’ – but of course, I have to thank the series producer Tak Gor (Poon Ka Tak 潘嘉德) for being brave enough to cast me in the role!  If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have so many supporters now and wouldn’t be able to understand how wonderful this feeling of ‘perplexity’ [over the sudden popularity] truly is!  But, to be honest, this moment could very well be a temporary thing that will eventually come to pass.”
 
See, this is how ‘So Gay’ is like in real life!
 
 
The past 18 years
 
After the photo shoot, Koo Ming Wah stepped out of his ‘So Gay’ persona and went back to being ‘Koo Lo’ – the difference in his appearance was significant, as his looks instantly returned to being ‘scruffy-looking’ without a single trace of  the character’s ‘effeminate nature’ about him.  Koo Lo states:  “When Tak Gor first suggested me for the role of ‘So Gay’, there were people who doubted his decision, but he simply stated: ‘He can do it!  Koo Ming Wah can do it!’  With that, he gave me the role!   The mutual trust that we have in each other, to be honest, it would probably never happen with any other producer!  Actually, the role I had in the series Street Fighters 《廟街.媽.兄弟》[aired in the year 2000] was also pretty significant and had a lot of screen time – that series was also produced by Tak Gor.  So going from being a ‘nobody’ to being recognized now, I am really very grateful to him!”
 
In 1993, Koo Ming Wah earned a ‘Best Newcomer’ nomination at that year’s Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) for his performance in the film Sex Racecourse《旺角馬場》.  Even though he didn’t win the award [TN:  he lost to future HKFA Best Actress winner Anita Yuen], he did capture the attention of TVB and not long afterwards, he was recruited to join the TV station.  In the 18 years since then, Koo Lo has participated in more than 40 TV series (he had to look up the info in Wikipedia to confirm):  “Counting through the series – The Driving Power非常外父, Ten Brothers 十兄弟, The Wintermelon Tale大冬瓜, Street Fighters, etc. – if you ask me how many series I was truly happy filming, there are probably less than 8 altogether!  And that’s over a period of 18 years!”
 
From our calculation, the reason for Koo Lo’s ‘dispirited’ feeling was probably because the majority of the roles he played in those 18 years were either insignificant villain characters such as a rapist, murderer, criminal, debt collector, etc. or if he happened to play a ‘good’ guy, he was usually a one of a group of workers at a café or perhaps even a street vendor.  There were times when the characters he played didn’t even have a name and his status was even less than that of a 4th or 5th line actor:  “Actually, throughout these 18 years, the time I spent NOT working was even greater than the time spent filming!  If we talk about time spent actually filming something, I would say it was only about 100 days out of the year – so pretty much I only spent a third of the year filming!”
 
Koo Lo continues:  “I’ve never been disappointed about not getting to be male lead – all I hope for is that the characters I play can have a little bit more to do.  For example, in the series Gun Metal Grey刑警, I played the role of a veteran cop – with that role, I was already very happy that I was able to find myself in that character and in that performance!  Because I truly truly love acting!”
 
 
Path to becoming a voice actor
 
Luckily, Koo Lo still had his job as a voice actor to help him make a living.  As a voice actor, Koo Lo participated in the Cantonese-language dubbing process for foreign films such as Puss In Boots, Toy Story 3, Shrek 2, Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen, Three Kingdoms, etc.:   “Prior to joining TVB, I worked at the HK Repertory Theatre – one day, Ting Yu (丁羽) [renown veteran voice artist] came to visit and said that he was looking for some ‘new voices’ – just like that, I became part of the theatrical group and from that point on, I would film series as well as do voice work on the side.”
 
Two years prior to accepting the role for Divas In Distress, Koo Ming Wah had actually already made the decision to transfer to the voice acting department at TVB and not film series anymore:  “To be very honest, the first 2 years after I joined TVB, I felt happy because everything was so new and fresh, but then 5 years went by, then 10, then 15 and I started to see creativity becoming more and more limited – I started feeling that my ‘fighting spirit’ was slowly diminishing, so I thought perhaps it was the time for a change.”
 
Koo Lo continues:  “But then prior to switching over, I got the chance to film Gun Metal Grey and work with actors such as Felix Wong (黃日華), Michael Miu (苗僑偉), Vincent Wong (王浩信), Oscar Leung (梁烈唯), etc. – seeing them have such passion and heart for acting, it immediately reminded me that in actuality, the company didn’t really change and such actors were always present, it’s just that my attitude toward acting had changed.  After switching to the voice acting department, I swore to myself that I would take my work and life more seriously going forward – as a result, I was able to learn a lot more about acting, since I had to watch a lot of films for my job in voice acting.  Then, at the beginning of this year, Tak Gor challenged me to take on the role of ‘So Gay’."
 
 
The youthful HKAPA days
 
Koo Ming Wah graduated from the HK Academy of Performing Arts (HKAPA) in 1990.  He revealed that back in the day, he decided to apply to the HKAPA because of his friend, comedian / actor Tat Ming Cheung (張達明):  “Tat Ming and I were classmates in primary school and high school, so we were really good friends.  After graduating, he continued with his studies, whereas I went to work at my brother’s factory as a machine operator.  Not sure what triggered it, but one day, all of a sudden, he came over and asked me if I was interested in joining a theater company with him – just like that, we ended up joining [veteran actress] Law Koon Lan’s (羅冠蘭) theater troupe.”
 
“Later on, we found out about a place called the HK Academy of Performing Arts, so Law Koon Lan suggested that we try to apply.  Since my factory job at that time was extremely boring and I wanted a change in environment, I decided to go with Tat Ming to apply.   Only Tat Ming was accepted the first year  -- I tried applying again the second year and finally got in.”
 
Koo Lo emphasized that the 4 years he spent studying at the HKAPA were the happiest years of his life:  “If I didn’t have those 4 years, it definitely would have been regrettable!  Since grants and loans were available back then to help with schooling, seven of my male classmates and I pooled some money together to rent a house in Sheung Wan to serve as a dormitory  -- with 8 guys going to school and hanging out together day and night, imagine the fun we had!  Haha!”  [Koo Lo’s 7 male classmates included Sunny Chan (陳錦鴻), Emotion Cheung (張錦程), Tat Ming Cheung (張達明), Joey Leung (梁榮忠), Chung Chi Wing (鍾志榮), Desmond Tang (鄧偉傑)].
 
Koo Lo continued:  “After we got off from school, we would all hang out at the house and review through the stuff we learned or sometimes just sit around and chat.  Of course, we had fun outside of school too, eating and drinking, hanging out with other friends, partying, etc.  Haha!  The school environment was very nice too  -- the buildings were clean and pretty, there were a lot of glass windows with a view of the harbor, pretty girls dancing upstairs [TN: referring to the dance department at the HKAPA]…haha!  Those few years, we didn’t have any burdens and could do pretty much anything we wanted (except for illegal stuff and things that might embarrass our families).  That was definitely the ‘good life’…haha!  It was also during those 4 years that I got the chance to really study acting and explore it in depth – because prior to that, I didn’t feel that I had any talent for performing at all!”
 
 
A mother’s love for her child
 
Aside from Tat Ming Cheung encouraging him, Koo Lo also decided to go into acting because  of something his mother said to him:  “At that time, I asked my family: ‘If I wanted to go back to school, would that be okay?’  The reality is that back then, my family would not be able to support me financially, since our family was big and only my dad was working – therefore, when I asked the question, my dad did not give an opinion, since he knew he would not be able to support me…however….” (Koo Lo’s eyes start to tear up)  “…my mom took the matter to heart…” (the tears slowly start to flow) “…my mom told me: ‘Little brother [his nickname as a child] – life is short!  If going back to school is what you want to do, then go ahead and do it!  Mom will support you no matter what!’” (at this point during the interview, Koo Lo could no longer hold back the flow of tears and sobs silently).
 
After regaining his composure, Koo Lo continued:  “Those words from my mom gave me tremendous strength and energy!  It completely changed my life!”
 
Growing up as the 5th of a total of 6 children, Koo Lo’s family lived in a small house in Ngau Tou Kwok.  During the day, the place where they lived was a manufacturing center for wicker chairs and at night it become the place where they ate and slept:  “My dad was the only breadwinner in the family.  Every morning, my mom would make porridge and some eggs and that would be our breakfast – once a month, we’d get the chance to go out to the city and have a bowl of noodles.  A lot of times, we would help boil water for the workers making the chairs so they could take a bath, then after they finished eating dinner, we would help clean the tables – after they got off work, we would help clean up the place…life was pretty difficult back then!”
 
Out of the 6 children, Koo Lo was the one who had the closest relationship with his mother:  “My mom and I were very close!  That’s because as a kid and even when I was growing up, she never had to worry about me – at school, I always made sure that I was on my best behavior and never did anything that could get me in trouble.  Even though my mom never went through much education, she was a very reasonable and understanding woman who loved all her children dearly – she sacrificed a lot and invested all her time and energy in raising us to be good people.  She is a model mother!”
 
Two years ago, Koo Lo’s mother passed away:  “She had diabetes as well as heart problems...she went into the hospital one day, but the doctors weren’t able to save her….”  As Koo Lo recounted his mother’s passing, tears once again flowed down his face:  “…but the benevolence and love that both she and my dad showed to us children really impacted me greatly and helped me understand what type of parent I should be in the future!”
 
This is truly what we call ‘teaching with love’!
 
 
He is willing to die for her…
 
Koo Ming Wah is married and has a 14 year old daughter named Tammi:  “I met my wife back during my Acting Academy days – she was in the dance school (specializing in Chinese dance) and I was in the drama school.  We dated for 8 years and this year, we will be married for 16 years already.”
 
After his wife graduated from the HKAPA, she became a freelance dancer – unfortunately, not long after they married, his wife got into a car accident that caused permanent injury to her leg and ended her dancing career:  “After that, she became a ‘lazy bug’ – even when I told her to go out and work, she wouldn’t do it!  Haha!” (He pretends to be upset.)
 
As for his daughter Tammi:  “Hahaha!  She is very independent!  Her classmates know that I am her dad, but they’ve never bothered her about getting celebrity pictures or autographs – but even if they do, she always handles the matter very calmly, though it could also be that I’m just not popular enough! Ha!”
 
Koo Lo continues:  “The great love that my mom showed me definitely affected the love I have for my daughter!  When my daughter was born, she had difficulty coughing up the spittle in her throat and I thought to myself:  ‘can I cough it up for her instead?’  Her health is not very good and even when she was a child, she would constantly get sick – she also has asthma as well as kidney problems.  Sometimes when I see her getting really sick, I get scared that she might not be able to make it through and worry that she might leave us – each time, I pray to God and ask him to take my life instead!  It’s true!  If you ask me who I would be willing to die for…my wife – no, but my daughter – absolutely!”
 
Seeing Koo Lo’s eyes start to well up with tears again, I [the reporter] couldn’t help also feeling a knot in my throat.