Let's forget about elections, rising unemployment and United States President Bill Clinton's visit this summer and talk about what really matters to young people in Hong Kong: Japanese mini-soap operas.
Being totally un-hip (I thought Hanson was an ugly girls' band), it was only last month I accidentally stumbled across this mega-television phenomenon during a trip to a packed shopping arcade in Mongkok.
Most of the wardrobe-size shops were selling not only Category Five video compact discs (VCDs), but other non-pornographic Japanese titles such as Long Vacation, Love Generation, Beach Boys and High School Teacher.
When I asked my colleagues whether they had heard about these Japanese soaps, they said: 'A year ago. Where have you been, Kevin?' I assured them they did not really want to know.
But to illustrate Hong Kong's obsession with these Japanese imports (the mini-soaps, not Category Five VCDs), here is a piece of disturbing news I spotted in the newspapers this week.
Headline: Noriko Sakai Fan Attempted Suicide. A 20-year-old girl (yes, 20, not 12) attempted suicide after she heard rumours her 'idol', Sakai, a singer and mini-soap starlet, was dead.