Newsletter No. 539

# 5 3 9 | 0 4 . 0 6 . 2 0 1 9 2 018 saw Hong Kong bid farewell to many illustrious personalities whose lives are deeply intertwined with the city. An admirable attempt to pay tribute to these extraordinary lives and times was made by the Shaw College’s four-part assembly series ‘Great Lives, Great Ideas: Echoes from the Past’. Mr. Ivan Choy , the mastermind of the retrospective, said, ‘Not only are these personages well-known, but they signify the golden age of Hong Kong. Our students may feel unfamiliar with these giant silhouettes of the past century, but if we invite experts to illuminate their lives and the era they shaped, students could gain insight into the evolution of our home city.’ The inaugural talk, ‘Chow Chee-keong and His Football Era’, was delivered by Prof. Lui Tai-lok , Vice President of The Education University of Hong Kong and a self-proclaimed football fan on 8 March. Chow Chee-keong (1948–2018), the Malaysian-Chinese footballer who was considered Asia’s greatest goalkeeper, reached the pinnacle of his career from 1971 to 1974 as he played for South China in the local league. The football craze then, Professor Lui says, had to do with the willingness of club owners to invest in the teams and the economic model at that time—when people went off work early enough to go and watch football matches. The owner-centric system, however, proved both boon and bane, as the team’s survival depended much on the owner. The rise of televised football in the nineties also changed watching habits, dealing the last blow to the local football ethos. In her talk on ‘Jin Yong and the Eighties’, Dr. Margaret Ng draws a fine distinction between Louis Cha (1924–2018) the intellectual and Jin Yong the novelist. His 15 martial arts novels, produced under Cha’s pen name Jin Yong in 15 years since 1955, create an imaginary homeland where the Chinese diasporic subjects may reconcile themselves to their Chinese roots. And a romantic world it is, where ideals like honour and fidelity reign, and the heroes actualize themselves as moral and spiritual agents at the turning points of history. Contrary to the aspiration for freedom Jin Yong demonstrates, Cha the newspaperman takes a more conservative stance. He asserts democracy does not sit well with Hong Kong and is going to wreak havoc on the city’s prosperity and way of life. Next, Prof. Wong Nim-yan of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature reveals the promiscuous side of Liu Yichang (1918– 2018)’s writerly career in ‘All Memories are Sodden: Liu Yichang and Hong Kong Literature’. To survive on the margins of life and make room for penning his experimental novels—amongst them The Drunkard and Intersection , Liu made the compromise of producing a plethora of romance and erotic dime novels. The study of Liu’s erotica, Professor Wong thinks, will land us in an advantageous position to understand the sacrifices the writer had to make in order to follow his vocation. Beyond these men of letters, the series also ventures into the movie realm by having esteemed film critic and researcher Mr. Po Fung recount the success story of Raymond Chow (1927– 2018), the legendary film producer who re-enacted the story of David and Goliath. Golden Harvest, the film company founded by Chow in 1970, effectively ended Shaw Brothers Pictures’ decades-long grip on the industry and market. Mr. Po ascribes the movie mogul’s success to his discovery of Bruce Lee, the martial arts superstar who lifted the company’s fortunes, the absorption of talents from Shaw Brothers, flexible modus operandi like the dividend model, and the making of Cantonese movies that resonate with the Cantonese-speaking public. The big names we know nowadays, including John Woo , Sammo Hung , Jackie Chan and Michael Hui are spotlighted by this much revered ‘godfather of the Hong Kong film industry’. When asked if such a success story can be replicated, Mr. Po plainly says ‘no man ever steps in the same river twice’. One can, however, take home an important lesson from Chow: to play to the winds coming in whatever direction, and zigzag diplomatically to the goal. Translated by Amy Li 中國語言與文學系 黃念欣 教授主講的「所有的記憶都是 潮濕的─劉以鬯與香港文學」，講題出自劉以鬯（1918 – 2018）先生名作《酒徒》。 劉以鬯1948年來港，一生筆耕五六千萬字，今天出版的 不過三百萬字，其餘的他斬釘截鐵絕不傳世。那是為娛 樂別人而寫的，包括大量三毫子小說，有神怪武俠，也有 言情、豔情甚或色情。娛樂別人，他才可維持生計，從事 為娛樂自己而寫的創作。佳作如《酒徒》、《對倒》，黃念 欣形容為「有前衞的現代主義手法，新穎的版面設計。」 然而研究香港文學不能只重高雅，更需兼顧俗文學。 「潮濕」一詞令人浮想聯翩。黃念欣認為首先當然是那 些衝擊道德底線的文字，她認為這有助我們了解，在文 學求索的路上，劉以鬯要付出怎樣的代價以求存，才最終 達到其崇高的文學地位。當年文壇禁區不多，然有「經 濟審查」—文字賣不到錢，會給過濾，停掉連載小說和 專欄。 另一聯想是骯髒與污垢，即小說所記錄的香港社會面貌。 《酒徒》裏被社會遺棄屈辱的文人，用酒來沖洗掙扎於 雅俗文學之間的痛苦，與他相濡以沫的是同樣受唾棄的 舞女。 資深電影研究者和評論家 蒲鋒 先生以「鄒文懷─嘉禾 及其打出的電影一片天」為題，分析1970年成立的嘉禾 電影公司為何能在短短十數年間，結束香港電影業由邵 氏兄弟公司獨霸的局面。 蒲鋒認為首要是盡得天時。嘉禾耗資跟邵氏打版權官司， 險因此消滅於萌芽狀態。幸而力捧李小龍，票房大捷，不 但解了財困，還站穩了陣腳。 知己知彼是鄒文懷最大實力。他1958年加入邵氏，由宣 傳主任至獨攬製片大權，深切了解邵氏的成功也造成弱 點：主力起用最賺錢的員工，墨守成規，受忽略者有才難 抒，自然心生叛逆。鄒遂另起爐灶，聚集這些欲求明主的 導演、編劇、演員，銳意革新，迸發火花。 鄒氏善於進取求變。成本有限，他引入分紅等新合作模 式。1973年李小龍猝逝，嘉禾遽失最大資產。然而，他看 準許氏兄弟在電視掀起的粵語諧謔熱潮，邵氏仍固執於 製作國語片之際，嘉禾的雙星電影系列已成功攻佔粵語 片地盤。邵氏還在重用五十年代出身的臺灣派導演，嘉禾 已開始培育本地年輕人才如 吳宇森 、 洪金寶 ，帶來創新。 觀眾問這樣的成功經驗可否複製，蒲鋒對以「人不能兩次 踏進同一條河流」。七八十年代香港比東南亞所有地區 都更有創作自由，然而臺灣解嚴之後即迎頭趕上，南韓、 中國大陸、泰國的市場也不再予取予攜。周邊環境不斷變 遷，香港電影要再創新高，也得靈活變通。 文／盧惠玉 月 前，逸夫書院舉行「逝者之思：時代的回音」書院 聚會系列，緣起自2018年多位與香港關係密切的 人物先後離世。主責策劃四個講座的 蔡子強 老師 說：「一群書院老師和同事都說，這些人士不單出名，也象 徵了香港一個黃金年代。現在的同學對他們可能感到陌 生，如果邀請有份量的講者講述他們的生平，也講他們的 年代，或可助同學了解到香港年代改變的軌跡。」 3月8日的首場聚會「仇志強和那些年的香港球壇」，邀請 教育大學副校長、「資深球迷」 呂大樂 教授主講。年僅十 五便入選馬來西亞國家隊的大馬華人球員仇志強（1948 – 2018），五度獲選亞洲最佳門將，在七八十年代先後參與 多個香港球會，而於1971至1974年效力南華期間達到事業 巔峰，與香港球壇最鼎盛的年代互為呼應。 呂大樂分析當年香港球壇興旺的原因，「其一是班主樂 於投資，球隊表現理想，班主覺得光彩，又投資更多。」 霍英東以七八千元月薪力挖仇志強加盟東昇，成為一時話 題。班主斥資請國際球星訪港或加盟，港球迷乃得見 比利 和 碧根鮑華 等巨星。其二是經濟模式，「當年球迷還可以下 班後吃碗麵才『睇夜波』，坐滿政府大球場。現在有多少人 可以在七時之前下班？」 球會興盛，制度和規劃卻未能配合。訓練場地匱乏，從未 有球會考慮成立公司，上市發展。一旦班主失去興趣，球隊 便要解散。適逢九十年代電視廣播球賽蓬勃發展，遂轉變 了觀賽習慣和欣賞水平，潰散了本地的足球文化。 吳靄儀 博士主講「金庸與八十年代」時指出，查良鏞（1924 – 2018）和金庸以及其小說中人物實屬兩個不同的世界。 她先略述七八十年代香港的社會政治概況，包括中英談 判，中英聯合聲明的誕生，以及基本法起草。查在1985年 獲委任為基本法起草委員，曾提出協調性的「雙查方案」。 查良鏞1948年來港，1955年起以筆名金庸在十五年內寫作 十多部武俠小說，吳博士形容為讓在殖民地寄人籬下者得 以保持與中國文化的聯繫，海外華人得到中國文化的養分。 他筆下的英雄俠士重義輕財，徘徊於出世入世之間，往往在 歷史轉捩點成就了道德自主，變成為國為民的俠之大者。 金庸曾評說沒有民主制度，浪漫英雄只有殉道一途。因為 君要臣死，臣不得不死。明將袁崇煥遭崇禎淩遲處死便是 明證。然而，《鹿鼎記》中康熙自詡雖非堯舜禹湯，惟愛民 勵治，勝過所有明朝皇帝，何解偏要反清復明。作者儼然 隱喻：國家如統治得繁榮穩定，為何一定要改變？ 吳博士最後引述《明報》社評，帶領聽眾透析查良鏞是否 很多人心目中的查大俠。查雖然多次提到香港人渴望自由 開放社會，說人權法治會促進經濟穩定繁榮，然而他亦曾 清晰表明香港不具備實行民主的條件，並稱如果實行民 主，將破壞目前的穩定繁榮和生活方式。 v 劉以鬯 Liu Yichang 仇志強 Chow Chee-keong 鄒文懷 Raymond Chow w 查良鏞 Louis Cha The Unwaning Legends 逝者如斯， 而未嘗往也 逸夫書院聚會系列 ShawCollege Assembly Series