Frankie Lam vows to quit HK if government refuses HKTV a licence
A top actor with Hong Kong Television Network says his family will consider leaving the city if the government is adamant about refusing HKTV's free-to-air television licence application.
Frankie Lam Man-lung described himself as "a Hongkonger through and through".
But the government's defence of its licensing decision, without giving a reason, stirred up very gloomy sentiments in both him and his wife, actress Kenix Kwok Ho-ying, about the future of this city, he said.
Lam launched his tirade against the decision in an interview yesterday with the .
"Hong Kong has turned into a mess. How can people still believe that justice can be upheld in our society?" Lam asked.
"There have been many failed policies, including his [the chief executive's] own illegal structures, since he took office. But still I thought we could give him some time if he admitted his mistakes sincerely.
"If the national education [curriculum] is introduced, I can still choose to send my daughter overseas to study. But now, this dispute is simply forcing people to turn political," the father of a three-year-old said, during the interview at Hotel Icon.
The couple had agreed to leave the city if there was no turnaround, he said.
Lam said the HKTV rally outside the government headquarters was the only protest he had joined in more than two decades. The last time he joined a protest was in 1989, after the June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
A leading man in countless television dramas, Lam has been in show business for 20 years. He left TVB two years ago to join the new HKTV venture chaired by Ricky Wong Wai-kay and said he has no regrets. "I would never regret that because this is where I have found happiness through the quality of work," he said.
He worked non-stop for five days and nights shooting a TVB drama and sacrifices were made on the show's quality - in a network with no competition.
But at HKTV, he said, Wong would accept nothing but the best. "We are shooting dramas of movie standard. The equipment and the scripts are of the highest standards, and actors get enough rest to enjoy acting and ponder their characters."
