'Puppy Teams' dog celebrities

By Reiko Lam

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                 Photo by Helena Chui

Gai jai deui, or 'puppy teams' follow celebrities to get information.

    After the death on 31 August of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a high speed chase by press photographers in Paris, the media have come under intense scrutiny for its hounding of celebrities. Freelance press photographers especially have come under fire.
     They are sometimes called paparazzi, plural of paparazzo. In Hong Kong, a related term is gau jai deui — puppy teams. They get the name from their practice of following celebrities.
     Pearl Mak Pui Yee, technically not a paparazzo because she is not a freelancer, works for Apple Daily covering celebrities.
     Said she: “I like entertainment news. I enjoy the job. It is interesting.”
     Bored by the routine duties of her previous job, she joined the profession in 1994.
     But another entertainment reporter, whose name is being withheld here, finds the job boring.
     She began her career in 1995.
     “It began as a summer job,” she said. “It is monotonous. I won’t continue it as a career for life. I can’t imagine chatting with artists when I reach my 30s.”
     She is a member of a puppy team. It gives her a sense of insecurity.
     Said she: “It is not funny to hide on private property to get news.
     “You have to wait for eight hours to take a photo, but you may get nothing.”
     “I am always scared that my identity will be disclosed and that I will be taken to the police. I feel insecure when I am working,” she added.
     Another source, formerly a reporter-writer for a local newspaper but now a property agent, worked on a puppy team.
     “I once pretended to be an applicant and listened to Chin Chi Ming’s pornographic stories.
     “I pretended to be a member of the audience so that I could ask artists questions.
     “I waited for the disclosing of the underground love stories of artists in a van for three days,” she said.
     She could have furthered her studies with her “one A and two C’s” result in the Advanced Level Examination. But she chose to be an entertainment reporter for awhile instead.
     She explained, “I am a practical person. I think money is more important than a degree.
     “After studying journalism at Baptist University for six months, I became a full-time entertainment news reporter.”
     She described her former job in this way: “I was somehow like an investigator. I had to find out the funny and extraordinary stories of idols and public figures.”
     She quit during the newspaper price battle in 1996 for ethical reasons.
     She realized that almost every newspaper tended to create stories to make sales. Many photos were products of advanced computer technology.
     “If I reported the truth, some artists would deny what they had said. If I wrote false stories, readers would like them,” said she.
     “My supervisor told me that news must have gimmicks and selling points. They had no sense of responsibility at all. I was totally disappointed.”
     A reporter with eight years of experience who requested her name be withheld compared entertainment reporters of former times to the present ones.
     “They used to be more conservative, with better self-discipline, and mainly reported positive news about artists,” she said.
“But they are now badly behaved. They report subjectively and focus on negative news,” said she.
     She said the keen competition had caused such changes.
     “Readers like abnormal news and like to know public figures’ private affairs, so the press provides what they want.
     “In case there are no funny stories, we create some ourselves, without any evidence at all,” said she.
     In July 1995, the Hong Kong Performing Artists Guild organized a “72-hour refusal to interview”, which was a protest against puppy teams.
     The artists were protesting against reporters’ misinterpretations and improper reporting.
     They also protested that the way of getting information deprived them of privacy.
     The incident notified media how serious the problem was, and the media began to restrain themselves.
     Said Mr. Jacky Yau Chi Chak, editor of the entertainment section of Apple Daily: “Education requirements for entertainment writers are higher now. A fresh reporter must have a university degree.
     “Over-exaggerated stories cannot survive anymore. Readers will not believe them. Credibility of the press is becoming more and more important now.”