Hong Kong culture is being subsumed into Chinese culture: A study of Hong Kong film, music and media

The Hong Kong Basic Law states “Hong Kong’s previous capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years”. The key question that needs to be answered relates to the true identity of Hong Kong ‘way of life’. The transfer of sovereignty from British rule to the Chinese communist regime in 1997 has sparked widespread debate on identity politics and where Hong Kong is positioned in the wide scheme of things. In particular, the search for a distinct identity has prompted the film industry, the music industry and the like to initiate such discussion on the post-colonial cultural discourse it is experiencing today.

The Hong Kong film industry has been proactive in addressing issues of identity in its films since the signing of the Sino-British Declaration in 1984. Hong Kong is recognised for its ‘in-betweeness’, neither standing with the East or the West, but rather epitomising a hybridity that has become so crucial in the rise of global capitalism. Though globalisation has improved the affluence of Hong Kong, it has indeed been the source of many problems. Nowadays, Hong Kong relies on its economic success to establish its international status, compromising an individual, cultural identity (Chu, 2004 : 47). Andrew Lau’s Young and Dangerous (1995-2000) storyline appears to encapsulate the situation quite well. The storyline was predominantly set in Hong Kong before crossing borders into countries like Holland, Malaysia and Japan in later editions. This occurred when the triad society realised that the only way to expand ‘business’ is through an international focus on operations. In Young and Dangerous V (1998), the protagonist Nam (Ekin Cheng) reflects on his own identity, realising that as his status and affluence improves, the sense of locality that defines him is lost. He is told by triad boss Chiang to leave the street-fighting in order to pursue legitimate business (Chu, 2004: 51). To Nam, this serves as a complete revolution in identity, during a pivotal time in Hong Kong’s identity (Ferguson, 2010: 42). He must choose between being a ‘local’ triad member in Hong Kong or a businessman who must go global to make his riches. This very problem confronts the people of Hong Kong in their attempt to reconcile global and local dialectics in a space that will always be culturally impure. Hong Kong, currently a hub for international trade, boasts of its capitalist system, separate to the socialist system of Mainland China. Chow (1998) indicates that the Hong Kong focus on economic success is ‘a kind of compensatory logic’, making up for the difficulty in finding individuality. 

The whole premise of Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002-03) is centred on the identity crisis of triad member Lau Kin-ming (Andy Lau) who goes undercover in the Hong Kong police force. The trilogy encapsulates the “One Country, Two Systems” aspect of Hong Kong post-colonial identity. Lau, who has dual identities, must operate under two systems. As a Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong also operates under two systems – one under the Chinese communist regime and the other under British colonialism as defined by its capitalist economy and rigid bureaucracy (Marchetti, 2007 : 67).  In Infernal Affairs III, Inspector Yeung’s Chinese counterpart Shen is the only principal police character that remains, following the death of Yeung and Lau’s subsequent downfall. As such, this provides an implicit allegory to Hong Kong’s inevitable integration with China and its culture (Marchetti, 2007 : 90). Furthermore, a beneficial Chinese influence is highlighted in the film as Shen provides crucial information leading to the uncovering of Lau as a mole. This suggests that the resolution of the problem in the film and perhaps the problems of the Hong Kong identity may require a Chinese influence.

The development of Canto-pop, a unique product of Hong Kong, highlights the problems faced by Hong Kong in distinguishing itself from China. The rise to prominence of Canto-pop in the 1980s and 90s was sparked by demand from local audiences for the production of music in its local dialect, Cantonese (Ho, 2003 : 7). Singers such as Paula Tsui, Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung were pioneers of the change from singing Mandarin or English to Cantonese (Ho, 2003 : 8). Canto-pop faced many cultural challenges after the Handover, as it struggled to maintain its influence in the pan-Chinese music industry. The fundamental issue can be sourced back to the nature of Canto-pop. On a deeper level, it underlines the struggle to build a distinct Hong Kong culture. Canto-pop has been widely criticised for its lack of originality and innovation. It is rather a hybrid form of music, which combines foreign influences (from countries like America and Japan) with elements of Chinese popular music. Its success stems from its flexibility, being able to adjust to shifting local markets and socio-cultural climates (Ho, 2003). Also, critics have claimed that the decline of Canto-pop is partly due to its movement into the global arena and thus a loss of its local authenticity. Similarly, Hong Kong culture as a whole is only recognised for its hybridity of local and global dialectics and not for its cultural purity. Post-colonial Hong Kong has seen Mandarin become more prominent in society as a result of its introduction in education systems. The market for Mandarin songs (Mando-pop) has increased resulting from a globalised Chinese music industry which now recognises Mando-pop as more important than Canto-pop in shaping Chinese culture (Chu, 2013 : 131). As such, continuous marginalisation of Canto-pop has been the outcome, manifest through the declining use of Cantonese in the industry. The aforementioned capitalist culture of Hong Kong has played a significant role in the changes of the pan-Chinese music industry (Chan and Mak, 2013). Currently, most Hong Kong artists produce their albums in Mandarin, as it exposes them to a market that is larger and clearly more prospective and profitable (Chu, 2013 : 131). Hong Kong music stars Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung are examples of Canto-pop singers who have embraced Mando-pop and reaped the financial benefits and recognition from this change.  With the rising influence of Mandarin in popular Chinese culture, the products of Hong Kong are once again marginalised as just another dimension of China when put under the Western gaze (Chu, 2004 : 47). Hence, it is inevitable that Canto-pop be subsumed into the Chinese market, a market that it is becoming increasingly reliant upon (Chu, 2013 : 135).

Hong Kong’s struggle to come to terms with its own identity is in part due to the consequences of an interaction with China. Young and Dangerous V highlights the political implications of Hong Kong’s unification with China. Triad boss Chiang outlines to Nam that the Beijing government will be keeping a watchful eye on Hong Kong’s actions despite the autonomy it has been promised. Events affecting the Hong Kong media after the Handover have put Chiang’s words in the film to perspective. The issue of political interference sheds light to issues concerning press freedom in Hong Kong. Recently, there have been an increasing number of incidents involving the media, which have resulted in claims of the Beijing government breaching Hong Kong Basic Law. For instance, the Digital Broadcasting Company (DBC), a HK radio station known for providing a platform to challenge the administration and promote freedom of speech (Cheng, 2012), was shutdown in 2012 over corporate disputes. However, many protested claiming that there was underlying pressure from China. China views any overt manifestation of a separate cultural identity as a political threat to its regime (Lo, 2007 : 436). Regardless of the validity of these claims, Chong (2012) suggests that incidents like the shutdown of DBC reflect a situation where dissident views are being suppressed when they shouldn’t be. 

On the question of cultural identity, Hong Kong is also characterised by its press freedom and the ability to exercise freedom of speech – both Western concepts of institutional expression. Indeed, this emphasises the ‘in-betweeness’ of Hong Kong through combining both Asian and Western ideals in its constitution. Though claims have risen suggesting that Hong Kong media is currently being undermined by political pressure close to Beijing.  Today, more than half of Hong Kong’s media bosses are members of China’s parliament and its top consultative body (Chan, 2014). Moreover, state-backed Chinese companies currently dominate the Hong Kong media market. The irony is that China can enforce its culture in Hong Kong by gaining control of the media tycoons – the capitalists who represent the very economic system that separates China from Hong Kong. As a result, the unconscious movement towards integration with Chinese economy has damning implications on any possible emergence of Hong Kong’s own authentic, cultural identity.

Hong Kong’s struggle to form it’s own cultural identity after the Handover is manifest through its film, music and media. Hong Kong’s global status, being an amalgamation of other cultures rather than its own, emphasises the difficulty to separate itself in the first place. Moreover, the decline of Cantonese as un-profitable and losing popularity has prompted a return to Mandarin or rather, the ‘mother-tongue’. Considering its lack of a political identity, Hong Kong has attempted to focus their efforts on establishing its very own ‘lifestyle’, which is one of consumerism, revolving around its capitalist economic system. However, its capitalist culture inevitably leads to a growing economic dependence to China, which offers a larger market. In Young and Dangerous VI, Nam explains the futility of the tensions between Hong Kong and Taiwanese triad societies – he says the bottom line is that ‘they are ultimately all Chinese’. Perhaps the question to be answered should not be able if the Hong Kong cultural identity can sustain a separation from China but rather how fast they will succumb to the ever-present influence of Chinese culture. After all, the first article in Hong Kong Basic Law states: “The Hong Kong SAR is an inalienable part of the People’s Republic of China”.

References

Websites

Chan, Y. (2014). Hong Kong's Free Press In Danger As China Tightens Grip On Media. [online] The Huffington Post. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yuen-chan/hong-kong-press-freedom_b_4568648.html [Accessed 24 Apr. 2014].

Chong, D. (2012). Political interference alleged in protest over shutdown of DBC. [online] South China Morning Post. Available at: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1065299/political-interference-alleged-protest-over-shutdown-dbc [Accessed 24 Apr. 2014].

Academic Journals

Chow, R. (1998) Ethics after Idealism: Theory – Culture – Ethnicity – Reading (Indianapolis and Bloomington: Indiana University Press, p, 177

Chu, Y.W. (2004) “Who Am I? Postcolonial Hong Kong Cinema in the Age of Global Capitalism,” in Esther Cheung and Yiu-wai Chu, Between Home and World: A Reader in Hong Kong Cinema (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 39-58.

Ferguson, L. E. (2010). Hong Kong: Communicating 1997 and beyond through Film. eSharp, Special Issue: Communicating Change: Representing Self and Community in a Technological World, 30.

Ho, W. C. (2003). Between globalisation and localisation: a study of Hong Kong popular music. Popular music, 22(2), 143-157.

Kaeding, M. P. (2011). Identity Formation in Taiwan and Hong Kong–How Much Difference, How Many Similarities?, 258-279

Lo, Kwai-Cheung (2007) “A borderline case: ethnic politics and gangster films in post-1997 Hong Kong,” Postcolonial Studies, 10,4: 431-446

Mak, R. K., & Chan, C. S. (2013). Icons, Culture and Collective Identity of Postwar Hong Kong. Intercultural Communication Studies, 22(1).

Books

Chu, Y. W. (2013). Lost in Transition: Hong Kong Culture in the Age of China. SUNY Press. 131-135Marchetti, G. (2007). Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Infernal Affairs-The Trilogy: Chinese People and British Rule in Hong Kong, 1841-1880 (Vol. 1). Hong Kong University Press.