Virtual Boyfriends

March 18, 2022

Female gamers in China look for love in the cyberworld.

Fiona Dongye

University student Li Xinyi has been in love with her virtual lover Li Zeyan, who is a character of an otome game, Mr Love: Queen’s Choice, for more than three years.

Li Zeyan is 28 years old and 183cm tall. He is the president of Huarui Group, which is the largest business group in the fictional world.

“My virtual boyfriend is handsome, gentle, strong and warm. He makes me feel that I am loved and cared for. The most important thing is I know he only loves me. No matter what happens, he always trusts me and supports me. When I feel upset, I just play the game and his words always comfort me,” Li says.

Li plays the game whenever she is free. “I live in a fantasy every day. I feel like I am really in a relationship when I play the game. I can chat with him, and I can call and date him,” the 19-year-old gamer, who never has a boyfriend in real world, says.

Otome game is a type of story-based game in which female gamers develop romantic relationship with male characters in the game. It originated in Japan in 1994 and was first launched in China in 2002.

Mr Love: Queen’s Choice is one of the most popular otome games in China. Its download volume has reached 7.1 million within a month after its launch in 2017. The number of daily active users has reached more than 2 million. The monthly turnover in the first month of the game’s listing was around US $48 million, according to Aurora Mobile, a mobile big data service platform in 2018.

“I am an introvert and suffer from depression. I have always had hard time building intimate relationship with others. I know these characters in the game are all virtual, and I cannot have physical contact with them. But I think their physical presence is not that important, as long as I feel that I am being cared for,” Li says.

Li finds peripherals related to her virtual boyfriend such as love letters and necklace attractive too.

Necklace related to Li Zeyan
(Photo courtesy of Li Xinyi)

“My virtual boyfriend has his own social media account in which I can check his updates every day. He even makes a phone call to me on my birthday and during holidays. I know the call is made by the game company, but it sounds real,” she says.

Although Li is a student with no income, she has spent nearly RMB ¥30,000 (US $4,740) to top up the game.

“When I was in high school, I even skipped meals to save money. I used the money given by my parents to top up the game,” Li recalls.

Another otome game fan Wang Yujie, who has a boyfriend in real life, still finds virtual boyfriends attractive.

Wang has the same favorite game as Li, which is Mr Love: Queen’s Choice.

“I used to think of my favorite character in the game as my boyfriend. Now I have a boyfriend in real life. But I still play otome games for fun,” Wang says.

But Wang says it is difficult to say whether having a boyfriend in real life is better than a virtual one.

“The male characters in the game are perfect. They never make mistakes and ignore my feelings. But a real partner can have physical interaction with me. A virtual boyfriend cannot,” she adds.

Wang says otome game used to give her comfort. “I used to think I could not find anyone whom I could trust. So I would rather choose a virtual one,” she says.

Annie Tang, a planner of a popular otome game with over 15 million downloads, says they design games to make female players fall in love with characters in their games.

“Male characters are designed to be attractive and considerate. This makes players feel loved and gradually becomes dependent on the character,” Tang says.

Tang says game companies also create peripherals such as pendants, notebooks, dolls, and even wedding dress so that players can build connections with their virtual lovers in the real world.

“It may sound cruel, but in my view, all virtual characters are just models and codes. Those peripherals are just tools for making money,” Tang says.

Anthony Fung Ying-him, professor from the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong says otome game can satisfy female players’ emotional needs.

“Most virtual games are designed for male players. This kind of game (otome game) is specially developed for girls. From a business angle, a new group of players has been created, so the game company’s earning power is stronger,” Fung says.

He points out that people prefer finding a partner in the virtual world under strong time and space constraints.

“High school students spend a lot of time studying, and college time is short, making it difficult for young people to find lovers. Many young people also do not like blind dates. This game gives them new possibility to find a partner,” Fung says.

Sub-edited by Winkie Ng

My TV Dream

March 18, 2022

Variety shows producers want to make Hong Kong laugh again.

Jenny Lam

Having endeavored in the TV industry for almost 20 years, Janet Lam Man-ching, a variety show supervisor of ViuTV never gets bored with her job.

“The pay has always been low in this industry and this will not change in the near future. What keeps us all going on is our passion. We really love what we do,” the journalism major student says.

Inspired by her liberal studies teacher, Lam started her career as a production assistant for children’s television series in Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) in 2004.

“Working in the TV industry may not be my childhood dream. But I have always loved watching TV. My favourite show at that time was Flash Fax (閃電傳真機), a children’s programme. When I was a child, I watched TV every day right after school, starting from 4 p.m. till 6:30 p.m. news reports,” the 40-year-old TV supervisor says.

Having worked as a production assistant for two years, she was then promoted as a research writer for the infotainment section and took part in productions of programmes such as Pleasure and Leisure (都市閒情), Muscle Ranking (筋肉擂台) and so on.

After working at TVB for seven years, Lam was recruited by a creative director in Now TV to be a senior research writer. As Now TV and ViuTV are both under their parent company PCCW, she was then assigned to work as a variety show supervisor in ViuTV and continue to pursue her TV dream.

Lam and her crew have so far produced and written 15 shows for ViuTV in the past seven years, including cooking and traveling programmes.

Among her works, Be ON Game (膠戰), which debuted in 2020, is one of the most popular shows she produced. The show features famous pop stars like Edan Lui Cheuk-on, a member of local boyband Mirror. The second season was released in 2021 and the viewership rating for the first episode is 3.9, which means approximately 255,000 views, according to CSM Media Research.

“My team and I want to make people laugh when they watch our shows in times of distress. I think watching artists being tasked to perform missions such as playing basketball with superpowers is quite funny,” Lam says.

“My team and I want to make people laugh when they watch our shows in times of distress,” Lam says.

“Brainstorming for game ideas is the toughest part of the production. It took us three months to transform an idea into a real game. We kept watching the playback of game trials and throwing out new ideas to modify our plans,” Lam says.

“It is especially stressful and tough when we still have to manage three to four shows at the same time,” she adds.

Members of a production team reviewing an edited episode of a TV show.

A post-production staff is editing an episode of *Be ON game*(膠戰) in a studio.

While brainstorming for new game ideas is difficult, Lam says editing is also not easy.

“The amount of time for editing one episode of a variety show is three times more than other kinds of TV programme like drama series. We have to do sound effects and animation for every few seconds. It takes almost 10 days to edit one episode,” Lam says.

“Efforts made by my postproduction team might not be seen by the audience. But I hope the audience can really appreciate their hard work,” she adds.

Though Lam and her team have to spend more time on producing variety shows, they are not rewarded with attractive salaries in return.

“We dedicated ourselves to every programme. But the work might not always be welcomed by the audience. I know our work is not perfect, but I am glad that we have done our best in every show we produced,” she adds.

Lam admits that she always questions whether she should stay in the industry, and she decides to soldier on.

“If there are any ideas in my mind that have not been filmed as a programme, I will stay and continue my work. I hope the Hong Kong audience can be more supportive of our work and give us time to grow,” she says.

Janet Lam Man-ching (left) and Lee Wang-tat (right) have poured in their heart and soul for their TV dreams.

Bringing laughter

Her partner Lee Wang-tat shares Lam’s TV dream. He has also devoted almost 20 years working in the television industry to make his dreams come true.

The 39-year-old producer stepped into the entertainment industry as a production assistant for non-drama programmes in TVB once he finished his journalism degree at Chu Hai College of Higher Education in 2005.

His interest in movies paved his way to start a career in the entertainment industry. “I have always loved watching movies when I was young. The visuals fascinate me a lot,” he says.

But his passion for the TV industry has taken a toll on his family life.

Lee had to work for almost 19 hours per day when he was a production assistant. “I couldn’t meet with my family for almost a month. I had to finish my work quickly and could only take a nap whenever I had a break in my hectic schedule,” he recalls.

“As a production assistant, I had to do a lot of filming and video editing. The training has made me grow rapidly. I learnt how to tell a story in a more comprehensive way,” he says.

Lee says his hard work pays off eventually.

“If you are willing to work hard, it will take four to five years to get a promotion to a director level,” he says.

Lee has worked in different TV stations throughout his career. He was promoted as a director in the Asia Television Limited in 2011 and the Hong Kong Television Network Limited (HKTV) a year later.

As HKTV struggled to receive a free-to-air television licence from the government in 2013, he resorted to getting into Now TV as a producer in 2014.

Lee directed 14 shows and produced six programmes over his seven years in ViuTV, such as Travel with Rivals (跟住矛盾去旅行) and Talker: Helmet Intercom (又要威又要戴頭盔).

Inspired by ERROR TV (ERROR自救TV), a reality show featuring another boy band Error, and their manager Ahfa Wong Wai-kwan, he thinks that variety shows can have an impact on society by bringing laughter and entertainment. The thought of producing Be ON Game came into his mind in 2020.

He and his partner both agreed that there is no formula for success in producing variety shows.

“We keep monitoring the audience’s reaction and figure out their preferences. We must have faith in our team and their judgment when filming variety shows,” Lee says.

Compared to other countries like Korea and Japan, Hong Kong’s variety shows are not as popular and well-known around the world.

“Producing shows in Cantonese may limit the range of our audience but this actually represents our culture. What we can do now is to do our best and let our work speak for itself,” Lee says.

The job nature of the entertainment industry might be appealing to many, yet being underpaid is also daunting.

“I believe everyone in this industry constantly doubts whether they should continue their work, given the low income and heavy workload from time to time,” Lee says, who is going to migrate to Japan with his family later due to personal reasons.

“Producing a show brings a sense of satisfaction, which overweighs all hard work and time we paid, especially when a programme can provoke and impact the audience,” he adds.

Sub-edited by Angel Woo

We Survive!

March 17, 2022

Omicron survivors: “keep calm and carry on”.

Cheryl So

Support from family and friends, having more rest and taking Panadol are the keys to surviving the COVID-19 Omicron variant as four of our university students share their ordeal in fighting against the highly infectious virus.

The city has reported more than 650,000 COVID-19 infections and about 4,600 deaths

to date. More than 90 per cent of the population have had at least one dose of vaccine and most of the fatalities are among unvaccinated senior citizens, according to government data.

Four university students who had two doses of BioNTech vaccine in 2021 and tested positive in February say people should stay calm as they share their stories on surviving Omicron.

Jason Lee tested positive on February 16 and negative on February 26.

Jason Lee had a fever on February 16 so he did a quick test at home and the result was positive.

After joining a gathering on February 13, he and his group of friends were all infected with Omicron. He suffered from fever, headache, sore throat, stuffy nose and cough.

“The first week was tough. I took Panadol and slept more than ten hours every day. It was terrible to have a sore throat. It was painful whenever I swallowed,” Lee says.

“I kept taking Panadol and got better five days later. I tried my best to finish my schoolwork, but I was too sick to take a mid-term test. The school granted me an exemption and will grade me with another test,” he adds.

Lee’s mother also fell ill two days later and suffered from a cough while his brother stayed negative as the family tried to have minimal contact with each other.

“I had meals in my room. My mother and brother also ate in their own rooms. We wore masks when we went to the toilet, kitchen and living room,” Lee says.

Lee feels thankful that a friend of his dropped a testing kit at his doorstep. “My mother needed to do a test so that she could apply for paid leave, or else she would have to claim her leave as annual leave,” he says. His mother works in a school and his brother is an office worker.

“Thanks to my friend…he brought me food and daily necessities when my mom and I were sick. We ordered takeaway food sometimes, as I did not want to bother my friend all the time,” he says.

After waiting for almost 10 days, he received a text message from the Centre for Health Protection on February 26 and was surprised at the ‘indeterminate’ result.

“We did not receive any phone calls from any government department after the message. We tried calling a phone number we found in the government text message, but the line was always busy,” he says.

Though tested negative on February 26 at home, Lee has been staying home ever since his recovery. “I do not want to be infected again. I just want to be safe,” he says.

Lee kept chatting with his friends to get rid of his loneliness when staying at home. “It is really unusual for me to not see my friends for weeks. I think chatting with friends and sleeping really help me get through Omicron,” he adds.

Jason Lee received a message from the Centre for Health Protection informing him that his result was indeterminate in February. (Photo courtesy of Jason Lee)

Christy Chan tested positive on February 15 and negative on February 27.

Christy Chan tested positive preliminarily after a few infection cases were reported in her dormitory on campus on February 15.

Suffering from a fever on February 14, Chan had symptoms of cough and having phlegm.

She was not allowed to use shared facilities such as the toilet and kitchen and she could not have shower or dinner outside her own room. Her room was also disinfected by the university.

“After taking Panadol and vitamin C for two to three days, I felt much better. I felt terrible when I had a fever on the first day. But once the fever was gone, I felt fine,” she says.

She was sent to another dormitory with a private toilet to do quarantine for seven days. “The room was like a hotel room. It had a heater, new bed sheet and pillow prepared for me. The staff provided me with toilet paper and towels,” she says.

She reported her case to the government a day later on February 16 and received a government text message on February 19, telling her to wait for their call. “My symptoms were gone when I received a call from the Centre for Health Protection. The caller asked for my address only and there were no further questions,” she says.

During her seven-day quarantine, her mother brought food and daily necessities to her university and a staff delivered them to her room. “My family was pretty calm about the whole situation. They did not seem to worry,” Chan says.

On February 26, Chan received a package with a testing kit, a thermometer and a handbook of personal hygiene from the Centre for Health Protection.

“More and more people have been infected, so it has become less of a big deal. People do not need to panic and go to the hospital if their symptoms are mild,” she says.

Christy Chan stayed in this room for quarantine for seven days. (Photo courtesy of Christy Chan)

Meals were provided to Christy Chan when she was under quarantine on campus. (Photo courtesy of Christy Chan)

Jade Cheung tested positive on February 21 and negative on February 27.

Jade Cheung did a quick test at home and tested positive on February 21 after suffering from a sore throat and a runny nose for two days.

She suspected that she was infected when she bid farewell to her friend at the airport on February 19. “I did not take off my mask. I still do not know how I was infected,” she says.

“I just took some Panadol and slept more than eight hours a day when I was sick. I felt better four days later,” she adds.

On February 25, Cheung went to a community testing centre in the North district after her symptoms were gone.

“The queue was short with only a few people. After two days, I received a text message saying that my result was positive. My family including my father, my mother, my sister and my brother were all negative. So they went on with their lives and went back to work,” she says.

“While I was in quarantine, I watched Youtube and played mobile phone games. Sometimes I did revision for my tests. It was just like every other day. A relative tested positive in early February so my family had some experience dealing with this and they were all very calm when I fell ill,” she adds.

“A relative has two flats so I stayed at one of them for quarantine. I had to attend online classes with my mobile data but the network was unstable. Despite the trouble, I managed to get on with my study,” she says.

Her mother brought her food and other daily necessities. She also cooked meals and ordered takeaway food sometimes.

On 29 February, she went to a community centre to do another test and received a message saying her result was negative two days later.

“We are on our own now. There are too many cases and the government cannot provide support to everyone. It is important to have testing kits and Panadol at home. We need to equip ourselves and get ready for a rainy day,” she says.

Jade Cheung received a message from the Centre for Health Protection informing her that her result was positive on February 26. (Photo courtesy of Jade Cheung)

Mary Wong tested positive on February 17 and negative on February 26.

Mary Wong tested positive at home on February 17 after hanging out with a friend who later also caught Omicron. Suffering from mild symptoms like cough, she stayed in her room after testing positive.

“I cleaned the toilet after using it. I had meals in my own room and my family had meals in the living room. My family asked me to wear a mask even when I was in my bedroom alone,” Wong says.

“My sister had to move out of our bedroom so that I could quarantine myself. Though I was ill, I was quite happy that I could have some ‘me-time’,” she adds.

On February 17, she sent a specimen to the government for a test. None in her family was infected but her family could not go to work because she tested positive.

“My family needed a proof from the government for paid leave, so they kept asking me when I would have my test result and even asked me to do more tests. They seemed to blame everything on me and thought I was very troublesome,” she says.

“I was annoyed when they yelled at me for not wearing a mask. So I got into quarrels with them more often,” she adds.

After taking Panadol and sleeping ten hours a day, she felt better five days later. She received a government message informing her that her result was negative on February 26.

“My family still forced me to stay in my own room and wear a mask all the time even after I tested negative because they were afraid I might still be sick,” she says.

“I do not think my health is affected by Omicron and my family just overacted. People really do not have to panic. It was like a flu to me,” she says.

Sub-edited by Angel Woo

Quality Nursing Home for the Wealthy

March 17, 2022

Rich Chinese demand more quality nursing homes.

Lily Wang

Wang Ziqiang, a 54-year-old businessman, has been paying an annual deposit of RMB ¥100,000 (US $15,740) for an 85-square-metre room in an elderly home in Zhejiang province since 2019.

In total, he has to pay RMB ¥1.5 million (US $15,740) in 15 years before he and his wife can live there when they are in their 60s.

“I made the payment for my mom, who is now in her 70s. But she refuses to move in. So I decided to change the plan for myself and my wife,” Wang says.

“I thought it would be good for my mom and my wife. My wife keeps saying she is tired of taking care of both my mom and two children. My younger daughter is just seven,” he adds.

The nursing home which Wang and his wife plan to move in is still under construction. He might have to settle other payment which is now unknown to him in the future.

Wang says the institution provides medical service, housekeeping service, and catering service, but charges of these services are not confirmed yet. “I also have to pay for other services my wife and I need in the future,” Wang says.

Despite all the uncertainties, Wang still considers spending his retirement life in a nursing home a good idea.

“I think it is worth it. The fee will be higher if I want these services at home. It is difficult to hire a good domestic helper, and expensive to hire medical professionals to work at home. I do not want to burden my children,” he says.

“It is difficult to hire a good domestic helper, and expensive to hire medical professionals to work at home. I do not want to burden my children.”

There were more than 260 million aged over 60 in China, accounting for 20 per cent of the whole population, while the birth rate was less than one per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics in 2020.

By the end of 2020, there were 38,000 nursing homes for the elderly in China, marking an increase of over 37 percent since 2015, while the number of beds jumped by 7.3 per cent reaching 8.24 million, according to Li Jiheng, minister of civil affairs, who attended a press conference in February 2021.

“It is highly likely that my children will have to take care of at least three elderlies. One of my children will have to take care of me and another will take care of my wife. They also have to take care of their future parents-in-law, Wang says.

Mike Chen, a senior manager of a nursing home for old people from well-off families in Xiaying, Ningbo, says living in nursing homes that offer quality services is quite a popular choice for elderlies from affluent families like Wang’s.

“Our rooms were rented out quickly. As there have been more incidents about conflicts and tragedies involving families and their domestic helpers who are hired to take care of the elderly reported in the press, many families have started looking for alternative retirement living options,” says Chen, who has eight years of experience in the elderly care industry.

“As there have been more incidents about conflicts and tragedies involving families and their domestic helpers who are hired to take care of the elderly reported in the press, many families have started looking for alternative retirement living options.”

The nursing home Chen works at has a building in the complex with all kinds of medical facilities prepared for clients with serious illness. “Many families cannot take care of their loved ones with serious illness, and we have a team of medical professionals who can help them,” he says.

Chen says a contract is signed between the nursing home and clients. “We guarantee our clients can live here until they pass away. Their children can also live here as long as we have the capacity to provide them the service,” he adds.

When asked how nursing homes can fulfil all their promises for their clients who have to start paying more than a million before they can move in, Chen remains silent.

Kong Xianglai, a lecturer teaching economy at the Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, points out that the ageing population in China has created business opportunities for this kind of nursing home.

“There are some problems in the system, such as the payment method. But we still see nursing homes flourishing, showing that there is a strong demand for such service,” Kong explains.

“The well-off families can afford high-quality service. They, in this case, can be considered as the demands, and institutions like these nursing homes offering quality service can meet their demands. They form a perfect economy,” says Kong, who does research on elderly population.

Kong says sending parents to nursing homes does not necessarily imply that their children do not love them.

“This kind of love can be understood in two ways. On one hand, children want their parents to have better service and care. On the other hand, parents want to move in so that they will not burden their children. It is almost impossible to ask a working middle-aged person to give up everything in his life to only take care of his parents,” Kong says.

But Kong thinks the ageing population should not be considered a problem. “People often view elderly people as burdens. They are old, but it does not mean they have no value. Actually, many elderly people can continue to work,” Kong says.

“People often view elderly people as burdens. They are old, but it does not mean they have no value. Actually, many elderly people can continue to work.”

Currently, the retirement age in China for men is 60 while for women is 50. The government is exploring the possibility of extending the age to 65.

“Elderly people are being stereotyped. If more jobs can be provided for them so that they can live on their own, the problem of the ageing population in China might be alleviated,” he says.

Edited by Kajal Aidasani
Sub-edited by Leung Pak-hei

Calligraphy Therapist

March 17, 2022

Calligraphy therapist Kwan Man-lung comforts troubled souls with his writing.

Enya So

Calligraphy artist Kwan Man-lung plays the role of a therapist by comforting troubled souls with his magic brush.

In 2021, Kwan helped a woman who shared her story about having a miscarriage and suffering from depression at a calligraphy event.

“I wrote ‘We trust that destiny will bring us a better life’ with my brush to encourage her at the event. The woman found strength in my calligraphy. She later was pregnant again with a baby girl. She visited me to tell me about the good news after a few months,” he recalls.

“I feel touched when people share their thoughts with me and find warmth from my calligraphy. I hope my art can bring happiness to others. This is a mission I am committed to,” he says.

“I feel touched when people share their thoughts with me and find warmth from my calligraphy. I hope my art can bring happiness to others. This is a mission I am committed to.”

Kwan usually categorises people with different kinds of worries in folders in his mind to help others efficiently.

“Relationship problems are saved in one spot in my brain and workplace problems are stored in another folder. I take ideas out when I need them,” he says.

“When someone shares his or her worries with me, I am all ears and I give them advice sometimes by thinking in his or her shoes to understand them. This gives me ideas when I am writing calligraphy for them,” he adds.

Kwan mostly writes encouraging messages for others with his calligraphy such as: “Believe that everything is the best arrangement” and “Never forget why you started and there will be reward. There is always light for us”.

“Stay Healthy and Happy” and “We will get over the situation in this year” written by Kwan Man-lung

“The most important elements in my calligraphy are humour and memes that can help those with worries to relax and stay positive,” he says.

Kwan thinks calligraphy is the combination and variation of Chinese characters. He was inspired by Japanese and Chinese calligraphy that he absorbed their characteristics to create his own calligraphy.

The Career of Therapist

Kwan develops different calligraphy styles and fonts style by finding inspiration from anime, games, Japanese music, Cantopop and films by Wong Kar-wai. They also help him to think of what kind of painting to go with his calligraphy.

“Writing and drawing are my hobbies. When I was in secondary school, I usually helped to create artistic fonts and design backdrops and posters,” Kwan says.

The 34-year-old artist has been working as a full-time calligraphy artist with the name Dark. Kenjamin since the end of 2015. Kwan says the nickname means driving away darkness in everyone’s heart.

“My motto is ‘practice makes better, but not perfect’. So through consistent practice, I wish to transform my own and others’ negative vibes and worries into my creative calligraphy which can bring comforts to my clients,” he says.

“Black is the colour that I use most frequently to express my emotions and the colour I am most familiar with,” he adds.

Before being a full-time calligraphy artist, Kwan tried working as an office clerk, a salesman and a shop assistant.

Now he sets up stalls in marketplaces to sell calligraphy writings, designs Chinese fonts for company brands and advertisements and organises talks and workshops about calligraphy to make a living.

“My income depends on how many calligraphy projects I have every month. It is quite unstable. The pandemic makes it more difficult to host workshops and sharing sessions,” he says.

“Most events such as the Lunar New Year Fair and company annual events have been cancelled because of the pandemic. I used to write spring couplets at these events. But these events have been either cancelled or reduced in scale because of budget cuts and the pandemic,” he says.

Kwan Man-lung holding his piece of calligraphy “Good luck on everything”

Future of Calligraphy

Kwan thinks financial support is not the only way to show appreciation of art creation. He also values the interaction with people sharing worries with him during calligraphy promotion.

“Some people simply buy my calligraphy artwork without talking to me. Sharing ideas is important for promoting art and creating art,” he says.

“Sharing ideas is important for promoting art and creating art.”

Kwan hopes more people can learn about calligraphy so that it can be shared and developed in other parts of the world.

“There are many passionate calligraphy artists in Hong Kong. I hope more people can appreciate their artwork and show support to their works,” he says.

Sub-edited by Alina Chen

Dream To Be Star

March 16, 2022

Young Hongkongers set their sights on becoming the city’s next idol.

Yika Ng

Elka Cheng Tsz-ki was a contestant of King Maker IV, a reality show hosted in November 2021 by a Hong Kong TV station ViuTV. She only made it to the top 60 in the contest, but that does not stop her from pursuing her dream to become a singer.

Cheng had to cover spending on costumes, transportation, booking venues for training with money she saved from her part time job.

“I only ate one meal a day to save money during those two months of shooting for the reality show. The recording of the show often took more than 24 hours. I barely had time to sleep,” the 19-year-old says.

“Despite all the hardship, I will not give up. After having the experience of performing onstage in the contest, I fell in love with performing. I want to be a singer in future,” Cheng says.

Elka Cheng Tsz-ki made it to the top 60 in King Maker IV. (Photo courtesy of Elka Cheng Tsz-ki)

Cheng is now working at a clothing shop as a part-timer and she is now a member of Lolly Talk, a YouTube channel which she co-hosted with a few of the contestants she met in the reality show. At the same time, she is also taking singing lessons and sometimes she does busking.

Apart from dealing with financial problems to chase her dream of stardom, Cheng also struggles with maintaining family relationships.

Growing up in a single parent family, Cheng lives with her father who does not support her dream.

“We used to have a lot of conflicts about my future plans as my father thinks the entertainment industry is dangerous and he scolds me for not having a job with stable income,” she says.

Cheng has tried to ease tension between her and her father by sharing her work and her whereabouts hoping that her father will not worry about her when she is out working.

“Our relationship is better now. My father now listens to me rather than asking me to shut up,” she says.

Cheng is not alone struggling to make her dream come true.

Like Cheng, Tania Chan Kei-ching, made it to the top 60 in the same talent contest in 2021. She also participated in Stage K, a K-pop Dance competition hosted by Korean Television JTBC in Seoul Korea in 2019.

“I did not win any award or sign any contract with agency after taking part in those two contests but it both broadened my horizons, and I met people who share my stardom dream,” the year one university student says.

Chan is now studying hotel and tourism management and runs a YouTube channel with her friends.

While participating in the talent contests, Chan struggled to strike a balance between her study and filming for the TV programme.

“I had to skip a lot of my lessons due to the filming schedule. I often feel frustrated. I had to practice singing and dancing from the afternoon till midnight then I still had to do schoolwork,” she recalls.

“I enjoy studying but at the same time I enjoy performing on stage. I will not give up my study while pursuing my dream to be a singer. Because I can get a job with stable income if I hold a university degree,” she says.

Chan is now practicing singing and dancing more, hoping that she can post more dancing and singing content on her Instagram and YouTube this year to continue to pursue her dream as a singer.

Tania Chan Kei-ching participated in the K-pop Dance competition hosted by Korean Television JTBC in 2019. (Photo courtesy of Tania Chan Kei-ching)

Tania Chan Kei-ching also made it to the top 60 in King Maker IV. (Photo courtesy of Tania Chan Kei-ching)

Youtuber and dance teacher Li Pui-pui also challenged herself by participating in the same talent contest.

Li says she wants to try different things in life, and she does not want herself to regret for not participating in the show.

“I used to be self-critical and had low self-esteem. Seeing how other participants who are already professionals in dancing and singing, I always view myself as a half-baked performer,” Li says.

“It took me a lot of courage to re-watch a performance video of myself and read comments about my performance by netizens,” she adds.

Li spent HKD $10000 in total for preparing filming of the talent contest.

“I was financially struggling but it felt like I didn’t gain much in terms of popularity after the hard work. But I have learnt more about myself. I have learnt that I’m not a great singer so I can try rapping. I also found out that I am more interested in acting,” she says.

“I have been through quite a lot but this is just a start, not the end,” she adds.

Youtuber and dance teacher Li Pui-pui who also joined King Maker IV. (Photo courtesy of Li Pui-pui)

Li Pui-pui’s youtube channel. (Photo courtesy of Li Pui-pui)

Future stardom in Hong Kong

Professor Kim Shindong at The Media School of Hallym University points out that the entertainment industry in Hong Kong lacks a training system for glooming new blood.

“Hong Kong is not providing enough training programmes to educate and train people in creative arts,” he says.

“If you have the talents, discovered in early ages, and are trained more intensively by professionals who are knowledgeable and skillful, then there is a higher chance of success,” he adds.

Sub-edited by Angel Woo

Tough Road To Stardom

March 16, 2022

Trainees from South Korean entertainment companies share stories of hardship.

Charlie Chun

Fighting for Fame

Kanokrak Ngamlikitlert was once an idol trainee under SM Entertainment, one of the leading entertainment groups in South Korea, when she was 13.

“Being an idol is my childhood dream. I like singing and dancing,” Ngamlikitlert, now an 18-year-old communication arts major student, says.

Only four including Ngamlikitlert were selected out of thousands to become trainees in a global audition in Bangkok, Thailand in 2017.

She travelled to South Korea for training and took singing, dancing and Korean classes during her three-month school break in summer, and she had to keep practising when she was in Thailand.

Weight Loss Challenges

Weighing 60kg with a height of 173cm when she first joined the Korean agency in 2017, she was told to reduce her weight to 48kg.

“I only had two or three apples a day and I reduced my weight to 48kg in six months, but the agency kept asking me to lose more weight. I did not have my period for a year due to weight loss, and I suffered from binge eating when I returned to Thailand ,” she recalls.

After three years of training, Ngamlikitlert was told to leave the company as she failed to lose more weight.

“I did lose weight to 48kg, but my weight later bounced back to 55kg, I was asked to leave the company in June 2019,” she says.

“Sometimes I think if I could endure a bit more, I might have become an idol. But I experienced both physical and mental pressure, and my health got worse,” she says.

Ngamlikitlert received a lot of offers from other training agencies in South Korea after leaving SM entertainment.

“I do not want to be a trainee anymore after the overwhelming experience. I will continue my study,” she says.

Kanokrak Ngamlikitlert filming a dance cover in Thailand.
(Photo courtesy of Kanokrak Ngamlikitlert)

Self-realisation

Like Ngamlikitlert ,Vorakarn Jungrungruengthaworn was another Thai student selected to be a SM Entertainment idol trainee in South Korea in 2017.

She aspired to join the entertainment industry after watching BTS’s performance when she was 13.

“I wanted to be like BTS. I was impressed by their performance. I practised singing for two hours and dancing for more than four hours for three months to get ready for an audition in 2017,” the 19-year-old student recalls.

She was recruited by SM entertainment at the age of 15, but was sent home because she gained 1kg after a month.

“I was depressed when I was told to leave. I thought I would be able to stay,” the communication arts major student says.

Unlike Ngamlikitlert however, she has not given up her dream. She still attends auditions held by other entertainment companies, and is seeking job opportunities from both dance and media industries.

“I will not give up, and at the same time, I will not limit my options to only dancing,” she says.

Vorakarn Jungrungruengthaworn preparing for dance practice in Thailand. (Photo courtesy of Vorakarn Jungrungruengthaworn)

Also sharing the same dream of stardom is Suyeon Kim from South Korea. Now a university graduate, she declined to reveal her identity due to contract issues.

Seeing South Korean girl group Girls Generation on TV at the age of 10, she was inspired to join the entertainment industry.

Kim’s dream almost came true when she was scouted by a casting manager in 2016 at the age of 16 when she was meeting a friend in Cheongdam, Seoul.

But being a trainee was not as easy as she thought that she quitted after six months.

“My health condition worsened because of unbalanced diets and extreme weight control. Trainees can only eat salad and chicken breasts,” Kim recalls.

“I was scolded by trainers because I failed to reduce my weight to meet the target set by the agency. It was traumatising. I was not able to practice and eat properly for days since I was too upset,” she recalls.

She decided to quit and continued her last year of study in high school after her first contract expired in 2016.

“My company offered to extend my contract under the condition that I had to quit school so that I could focus on training. But I do not think I like singing that much after knowing more about myself in the trainee experience,” she says.

Pathway to Success

Cases of trainees being exploited in South Korea have been widely reported by the media, such as slave contracts, extreme weight control and long training hours.

Professor Kim Shindong at The Media School of Hallym University, points out the situation has improved during the last decade after the government implemented laws to regulate the industry.

“The Korean government took actions to protect trainees, and slave contracts no longer exist,” Kim says.

Since 2009, the Korean Fair Trade Commission, South Korea’s regulatory authority for economic competition, states that a contract should not exceed seven years.

The South Korean government also introduced policies in 2014 to forbid underage singers and actors from taking part in overnight performances and productions, and from being coerced into sexualized portrayals.

Kim thinks the trainee system provides a pathway for young people who want to join the entertainment industry to chase their dreams.

“Being an idol trainee is somehow similar to getting a university degree. One has to study hard to survive harsh competition and get into top universities. You need to work hard to be successful. You can just drop out if you cannot stand it,” he says.

Sub-edited by Angel Woo

Shining For My Stars

March 16, 2022

Cup holders, photo cards and posters were placed in milk tea shops to celebrate Jeremy Lee Chun-kit’s birthday in a cafe in Yau Ma Tei in September 2021. (Photo courtesy of Ko Sin-lam)

Mirror fans design products to support their idols.

Esme Lam

Sheep Yeung, a fan of Mirror, started to make dolls modeling on Jer Lau Ying-ting, one of the singers in the 12-member boy band in January 2021.

“I posted an image of Lau edited by myself on my Instagram story and tagged him to share his song to others in August 2021. To my surprise, he saw my story. Although he did not reply to me, this made me feel so happy. So I tried to design some goods to promote Lau,” she says.

Each of her dolls nicknamed “Lau BB” comes with a set of clothes, a birth certificate and a linen bag. Each package costs HKD$250 (US $32.1) and over 300 fans of Lau have ordered it.

“I chose to design and produce dolls for Lau since there are fan-design dolls in each fandom and I wanted to own a doll modeling on Lau,” she says.

Sheep Yeung designed a doll modeling on Jer Lau Ying-ting and named it “Lau BB”. (Photo courtesy of Sheep Yeung)

Yeung spent three to four months and many efforts to revise her design and communicate with a factory for production.

“I never thought so many fans would buy my dolls. It is a miracle. I am not studying design or anything about creativity. I am not even good at drawing. But still some people like my dolls and are willing to pay for them,” she says.

Although many fans have ordered her dolls, Yeung does not make any money from it.

“Being a creator and fan of Mirror, the starting point of designing and producing these dolls is to make my creations come true and share them with others. So it is never about making money,” she says, adding that she is only selling at a price which is slightly higher than the cost.

Sheep Yeung’s dolls come with a set of clothes designed according to Jer Lau Ying-ting’s previous image. (Photo courtesy of Sheep Yeung)

Cup holders holding fans together

Another Mirror fan, Ko Sin-lam designed cup holders featuring images of Jeremy Lee Chun-kit, another member of Mirror, for free distribution at three milk tea shops to celebrate his 26th birthday from September 4 to 9, 2021.

“I think it is a good opportunity to celebrate my idol’s birthday by distributing free cup holders as it is a good chance to promote Lee. Consumers who just want to have a drink may take a look at my cup holders and learn about Lee,” Ko says.

“Milk tea shops can also be a gathering place for fans to celebrate his birthday together by holding events,” she adds.

Ko and her partner started to design her cup holder in July 2021. They picked a photo of Jeremy from her concert photo collection and a background colour to match the picture.

“To match Lee’s image and the vibe of his performance, roses and butterflies were added to enrich the design of the cup holder,” Ko says.

“It is a very rewarding experience. I received lots of support and encouragement from many Mirror fans,” she adds.

She says she will continue to design cup holders for her idol this year.

Sharing the same passion for Mirror as Yeung and Ko, Maggie Leung started designing stickers featuring one of the 12-member boy band Edan Lui Cheuk-on in 2018.

She has so far designed over 140 stickers which are shared on instant messaging platforms including Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal.

Leung became a fan of Mirror after watching their debut press conference in 2018. The freelance illustrator then started to produce these stickers with her “Berdan”, a character designed by herself.

“Berdan” has the characteristics of both Lui and Bert, a character from a children television show Sesame Street.

“After watching the canvassing video of the final round of King Maker in 2018, I found Lui and Bert look quite alike. That was how I found inspiration for my stickers design,” Leung says.

“I started to draw stickers as I wanted to make something useful with low cost, and I thought it would be interesting to use them when I text my friend. So I do it for myself rather than for Mirror and their fans,” she says.

Leung says it takes about 30 minutes to draw a draft, outline a sticker and finally colour it.

She launched her first batch of her stickers on Telegram in November 2018. Lui’s fans love them and often use them.

“I am really surprised. I just make them for fun. I never thought my stickers would be used by others in their chats,” she says.

Leung says she will continue to expand her series of stickers.

“Berdan” stickers designed by Maggie Leung were shared on Telegram in November 2019.

Joy to Hong Kong

Chan Ka-ming, former lecturer in social science at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, thinks that the fan-design culture of Mirror is more overwhelming than the Korean version.

“Take advertising light boxes and billboards as examples, they are just little spots for fans to take pictures in Korea. But light boxes and billboards featuring Mirror are now city attractions in Hong Kong,” he says.

“To celebrate Keung To’s (a member of Mirror) birthday, fans placed many light boxes, billboards and even decorations on a tram in Causeway Bay, where Keung To lives. It became “Keung To Bay” during his birthday,” Chan adds.

Chan states that fans can make use of their talents and in return they have a sense of achievement when producing designed products.

“People are frustrated due to the political issues in recent years. As fans can achieve both joy and sense of achievement through supporting their idols, they are very involved in making these goods,” he says.

Chan thinks that making fan-design goods may also be seen as an act to vent their dissatisfaction to society.

“Mirror is a Hong Kong boy band, a product of ViuTV, which is a ‘weaker’ player in the television industry compared with TVB. Supporting Mirror therefore becomes a way for their fans to show their dissatisfaction to the great powers,” he adds.

Sub-edited by Angel Woo

Voice of Transgender Youth

March 16, 2022

A transgender young man founded an organization to raise the public awareness of transgender.

Christine Tang

Liam Mak Wai-hon, a 20-year-old associate degree student, faces more daily challenges than his peers, as he is going through gender affirming therapy.

Born as female, Mak has always wanted to live as a man and he turned into a transgender man four years ago.

“I told my mom I was a boy when I was three. My mom was not mad and thought I was just being childish,” Mak recalls.

Mak has been taking hormone pills bought from a pharmacy for his gender affirming therapy without medical advice since the summer of 2019.

Now he receives hormone injections every three weeks coupled with oral drugs and medical support to alter his body condition towards male.

“There is no end for hormone treatments, and I have to do it for the rest of my life,” Mak says. He is also considering going to Thailand for a top surgery to remove his breasts.

Liam Mak Wai-hon wants to be a boy since he was a child.
(Photo Courtesy of Liam Mak Wai-hon)

Along his transition journey, Mak has met other young transgender people, with whom he created a WhatsApp group of 10 members to share their experience in 2018.

Two years later, he formed Quarks – Hong Kong’s first trans youth organisation which now has over 2,300 followers on its official Instagram account and more than 100 members in the WhatsApp group.

Quarks has reached out to youngsters to promote peer support and arouse public awareness for transgender on social media since 2020.

According to the Food and Health Bureau, there were 495 patients diagnosed with gender identity disorder, and 40 persons have received partial or full sex reassignment surgery from 2010 to 2015.

Gender dysphoria, an unease caused by a mismatch between biological sex and gender identity, can lead to mental illness if such feelings grow intense.

“The state of life we (trans teens and trans adults) go through is different. Most organizations are for older transgender people aged over 30. We want to provide peer support for trans teenagers and young adults,” the founder of Quarks says.

“The state of life we (trans teens and trans adults) go through is different. Most organizations are for older transgender people aged over 30. We want to provide peer support for trans teenagers and young adults.”

Challenges in everyday life

Being trapped in a wrong body, Mak has always faced difficulties in his daily life.

Wearing female school uniform was one of the challenges during his school life.

It was not an easy battle since he studied in a Christian secondary school. His mother had to negotiate with his teachers and he needed to be assessed by a doctor.

Mak was finally able to dress in a male uniform when he was in Form Five, but he was not allowed to go to boys’ toilet even in his male uniform.

Dressing like a tomboy is not what Mak wants. “I want to be a man but not a tomboy. The latter is just a girl wearing male clothes,” he says.

“I want to be a man but not a tomboy. The latter is just a girl wearing male clothes.”

Apart from troubles encountered at school, he was also once offended at work.

He worked as a part-time bartender in January 2020. At first, everything went well. His co-workers addressed him as a man. But their attitude changed after the first week.

“My colleagues teased me by asking if I am a man or a woman. They thought I was a weirdo because I went to a male toilet,” Mak says.

He later found out his manager and co-workers gossiped about his gender. His employment application form which included his biological sex and other personal data, was shared among his colleagues without his consent.

“I think their behaviour is disrespectful, and it shows that the public lack understanding of transgender,” Mak says.

According to the Immigration Department, in order to change the gender entry on one’s identity card, one has to complete sex re-assignment surgery and only bottom surgeries would be counted.

But Mak does not find it necessary to undergo bottom surgeries at this moment.

Only 5.6 per cent of the transgender respondents had changed the sex entry on their identity cards, according to the largest transgender survey conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Transgender Resource Center.

The future of Quarks

Looking ahead, Mak says he will register Quarks as a charity.

“I want to have long-term planning and ensure wider acceptance for our organization in the future,” he says.

Gathering of Quarks core members
(Photo Courtesy of Liam Mak Wai-hon)

For now, Quarks raises public awareness of transgender on social media and holds events for trans youth as a registered society under the Societies Ordinance.

“Our recent events include Diversity Hub, where three marginalised groups of people — transgender, ethnic minorities, and deaf people — come together for interactive workshops to embrace diversity and foster connection between communities,” Mak says.

“We plan to publish a book about experiences of being transgender and organise monthly reading club for them to share opinions,” he says.

“With Quarks and hormone medication, I am more relaxed and gain more confidence in myself. I care less about how others think of me and shift the focus back on myself now,” he adds.

Edited by Angel Woo
Sub-edited by Winkie Ng

Long for Reunion

March 16, 2022

Families separated by the pandemic hope for border reopening.

Cynthia Chan

Working in Xiamen, a city in Fujian province, Chen Yihua has not seen his family in Hong Kong for two years. Before the pandemic, he would return home every two week to see his wife and daughters, who are working and studying in Hong Kong.

“My elder daughter graduated from secondary school and entered university last year. My younger daughter grew from 155 cm to 160 cm tall. She is becoming a teenager. We are growing apart, yet I still cannot see them,” the 52-year-old father sighs.

Separated from his wife and daughters since early February 2020, Chen and his mother, who stays in the Mainland, miss their family in Hong Kong.

“My 87-year-old mother is in poor health. She always asks when my children will visit her,” the merchandiser says.

“She could not hold her tears when she saw her grandchildren in a video call this Chinese New Year. It does not feel like Chinese New Year without the whole family,” Chen adds.

Chen Yihua’s daughter in Hong Kong is having a video call with her father, who is now in mainland China.

While many countries are coexisting with COVID-19, China is one of the few countries adopting “Zero COVID” policy.

But Chen questions the logic of the policy. “China should take reference from Singapore’s border control policy. Achieving community immunity is the right way to combat the virus,” Chen says.

The Long Wait for Reunion

Chen’s family is not alone. Form three student Hannah Cheng Zihan has not seen her father for a year. The 14-year-old girl came to Hong Kong from Shenzhen with her mother in 2019 while her father stayed to work.

Before the pandemic, Cheng’s father travelled to Hong Kong every day. Now, they can only stay in touch by phone calls and text messages. Cheng misses the physical interaction with her family.

“I can only see my dad on screen, but I cannot touch him or hug him. I am worried we will become distant after being apart for so long,” she says.

“I can only see my dad on screen, but I cannot touch him or hug him. I am worried we will become distant after being apart for so long.”

This year’s Chinese New Year is Cheng’s first time spending the festival without her family.

“I feel lonely and I miss my family. We used to have dinner in Shenzhen to celebrate Chinese New Year. But we could not this year, as my school holiday is too short due to having quarantine,” Cheng says.

Hong Kong citizens travelling to the Mainland must undergo a 21-day quarantine, according to an announcement from Guangdong provincial government on December 31, 2021.

Strict quarantine requirement is imposed based on the China’s “Zero COVID” policy for visitors to enter the Mainland.

“My relatives in the Mainland always tell us they miss us and my grandparents at home long to see us. I feel sad that I cannot see them too,” she adds.

Cheng is also worried about getting along with them after the long separation. She hopes to return to the Mainland as soon as possible. “The travel restrictions are too strict. I hope the government can shorten the quarantine period,” she says.

The Pains and Cries Neglected

In view of the situation of cross-border families, the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) has been helping more than 1,000 families since 2021 by negotiating with the government.

They held a press conference with grassroot families on December 12, 2021, urging the government to reserve quotas for reuniting families and people with special needs when borders reopen.

Sze Lai-shan, the deputy director of the organisation, says they are offering them financial and legal assistance.

“We are helping One-way Permit holders to extend their stay in Hong Kong,” she says.

One-way Permit is a document issued by the Chinese government, allowing residents of the Mainland to live in Hong Kong or Macau.

Sze says some have quitted their jobs in Hong Kong to reunite with their families in the Mainland, while some are suffering from financial plight, especially single-parent families.

According to a report about the impact of the pandemic to cross-border families conducted by SoCO in May 2021, over 80 per cent of respondents were extremely depressed due to reduced income and class suspension.

“The Hong Kong government said it was none of their business but rather that of the mainland government. The border control policy is too rigid without considering the cross-border families. The Hong Kong government should communicate better with the central government,” Sze says.

Edited by Winkie Ng
Sub-edited by Kajal Aidasani