19-10-21
Is age the enemy of popularity? Old singers are often harshly categorized as senile, old-fashioned and unattractive. ‘Ageism’ conveniently allows the younger generations to see old people as worse than themselves and so, they self-assure.
In Hong Kong, stars especially singers are divisible into 3 classes: the stars of the months, old singers and the stars of all time. 70% of the young singers usually last for one to two years and vanish. Old singers are neglected. On the other side of the river, evergreen singers like Jacky Cheung(張學友) , Andy Lau(劉德華), Hacken Lee(李克勤) and Eason Chan (陳奕迅) have been hot in Hong Kong for more than 20 to 30 years. From a sustainability standpoint, the entertainment industry is now looking for new and younger singers who can last for 5 to 10 years, and not apparently still relying on these established stars for recycling their dazzling light.
The recent COVID-19 provided the young singers in Hong Kong with plenty of ammunition to take over the stage. Fans were unable to fly to Korea for their young K-pop idols who were also unable to come to Hong Kong to comfort the living souls. Youngsters sought domestic supply and we could see a sudden notable ‘baby boom’ of young idols locally. Among them, 4 hottest ones were chosen by the influential radio station Commercial Radio Hong Kong to create a pop concert known as ‘Music is Live’ (拉闊音樂會) with explosive mass appeal. They were Keung To(姜濤)(a cutie sweetie), Tyson Yoshi(程浚彥)(a muscular rapper), Terence Lam(林家謙)(a good boy next door) and Jer(柳應廷)(a killer in love songs). I had the honour of being invited to the concert and a ticket costed US$1,000 in the black market.
Four young singers are charming but Hong Kong being on lockdown does help their popularity tremendously. There are 4 kinds of luck and theirs is probably the ‘motion luck’. The special pandemic situation became the driving force behind their popularity and the motion propelled the process of idolization in favour of them. Some call this kind of luck ‘right timing’ and others describe it as ‘wind beneath the wings’.
There is one thing in life that we have to exclude when we plan but do include when we expect the result. It is called ‘sheer luck’. Many of us pass a test by sheer luck when questions are multiple-choice. Being a high school student, I applied for a competitive training class offered by a local television station called Hong Kong TVB and was accepted. They later offered me the job of a part-time scriptwriter after my graduation in the 80s. I was never good enough to deserve their good opinion. When I studied law in university, I counted on this part-time job to give me income. I did not dismiss the idea there should be some kind of metaphysical explanation behind my luck but I just enjoyed feeling lucky.
The 3rd kind of luck is neatly labelled as a ‘lucky star’. My friend said to me, “My husband has been my lucky star. There is no way I could have made my life through without him.”
In spite of being a lawyer, I spent the 80s and 90s moonlighting as a TV and radio scriptwriter and program host. I met too many ‘lucky stars’. They identified, encouraged and enabled my semi-professional development in the broadcasting field. These lucky stars were mentors that helped me focus my efforts by setting goals and giving feedbacks. My 3 unforgettable lucky stars are Winnie Yu Tsang(俞琤), Eileen Cha(查小欣) and Ng Sui Wan(吳雨). I could not shrug off these lucky stars and simply treated my wonderful time in TVB, Commercial Radio, Metro Radio, Radio Television Hong Kong(RTHK) and Rediffusion Television as sheer lucks. It must be special chemistry or destiny that brought these lucky stars somehow coming into my life to pave my path.
The last kind of luck has 2 complexities at its core: being lucky and working hard at the same time to hit the luck. It is sketched as ‘preparation plus opportunity luck’. By failing to work hard to get yourself fully equipped when luck suddenly strikes you, you are preparing to fail. Please always remind yourself: someday your luck will surely come but meanwhile, you need to spend your life sharpening the axe in order to catch it.
In 2008, Cable TV approached and offered me the retainer contract of being the legal consultant to their Entertainment News Channel. I asked why. They explained, “You are a lawyer but you have worked part-time in the various broadcasting stations in Hong Kong for over 20 years. We want to grab a chair and listen to your ‘enter-legal’ view without having to remunerate you on each and every occasion.” I could seize this luck because I had prepared myself and worked hard for it.
Some argue there is no such thing as luck but they admit the possibility of coincidence. For those who believe in luck, you should thank your luck to make the situation better. But, do share your luck. Bestow luck into your helping hand and let yourself be a lucky star for other people in need. Happiness will be viral.
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