bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Chris Yeung

MARRIAGE, the work and feelings of journalists, lifestyles and habits of bus drivers: these are among the topics of an RTHK television programme, Three Brothers, that discusses the cultural differences seen in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland.

 The significance of the 30-minute weekly series, however, has gone beyond a soft attempt by RTHK to help enhance mutual understanding among the three places. It marks an important step by the broadcaster to meet the socio-cultural, educational and creative needs of the community in a new era.

 With the sovereignty handover past, Director of Broadcasting Cheung Man-yee says it is time for a more balanced discussion on the role of RTHK.

 'Two years ago, our target was to ensure freedom of expression remained and programmes such as City Forum and Headliners would continue to be shown.

 'It was necessary to be political in the past: the adherence to 'one country, two systems' policy was important in the face of the handover.

 'We have a clearer direction now. By and large, we can say we have 'one country, two systems' and freedom of speech to a certain extent.

 'We don't want the public discussion of our role being oversimplified as a question of [whether we should be] pro-government or anti-government.

 'We are conscious of the need to play a role in society-building in areas such as education and culture,' Ms Cheung said.

 'As we enter the millennium, there are a lot of changes. There's the question of whether nationalism will conflict with our outward-looking values. The debate over mother-tongue teaching is a case in point.

 'Then there is the question of falling standards in the media. Is there abuse while we are trying to maintain freedom of the press?'  Yet less than a year after the handover, Ms Cheung was in a fighting mood following attacks from the pro-Beijing camp on RTHK's criticism of the Government.

 The RTHK-bashing caused furore in the community after a veteran Beijing adviser, Xu Simin, fired his salvos in a meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in the capital last year.

 Critics argued that in times of difficult governance, the government-run broadcaster should help propagate government policies.

 Presenters in radio phone-in and political satire programmes were accused of being biased towards the pro-democracy factions.

 RTHK responded with working guidelines for journalists and programme presenters. Government officials have maintained they have no plans to change the status of the publicly-funded body.

 To Ms Cheung, RTHK has gone the 'necessary stage' in which its prime concern was its 'political future'.

 She says, however, that the pursuit of values such as democracy, rule of law and human rights should always go hand-in-hand with the development of culture.

 'That's why there are always people saying Hong Kong is not ready for democracy . . . It's our obligation to help promote high-quality culture. Hong Kong people deserve to see better things.'  Ms Cheung says the two-day Millennium Media Conference attended by public broadcasters from Europe and Asia that began on Friday provided an opportunity for them to discuss the way forward.

 Public broadcasters in Europe, she points out, are facing drastic political and economic changes that might give inspiration to local broadcasters. Some problems - such as budget cuts - are felt by RTHK.

 'We'd also like to look at the Asian models such as NHK in Japan, Shanghai and Beijing, and Singapore for inspiration.'  As the Government revamps its structure on cultural policy, Ms Cheung says the broadcaster hopes to do something more 'inspiring and positive'.

 She admits content relating to the mainland could be politically sensitive, but says: 'Apart from the political and ideological perspective, we believe there will be better understanding on China from a cultural perspective.'  A 30-minute programme, Our People Our Land, tells the feelings of Chinese people towards their native soil.

 On July 25, Cultural Vibes will be launched to promote art, culture and creativity.

 Although these are small steps, Ms Cheung holds high expectations that Hong Kong will catch up with other cosmopolitan cities in cultural development.

 'You go to Italy, France and Canada, there are many programmes on arts and culture. Even on China Central Television, we are able to watch a lot of cultural programmes such as opera and classical music.

 'Our television stations do not offer these. They offer repetitive dramas and game shows. We should diversify and stimulate the appetite of the public.'  In the long run, Ms Cheung says it will benefit RTHK if it has its own channel to broadcast television programmes, even with only 10 or 20 per cent of the total audience.

 'We hope that we will be able to broadcast programmes during 'fringe' time. With new technology, we can increase the exposure of our programmes by putting them on our Web site.

 'We are also studying the possibility of co-operating with commercial bodies on sponsorships for arts and culture. We want to get sponsorship for some arts and cultural activities over a longer period of time; not one-off sponsorship of a particular performance,' she says.

 In her opening address on Friday, Ms Cheung cast doubts over whether commercial broadcasting could be relied upon to 'provide a balanced diet'.

 'My firm belief is that public broadcasting has a vital role to play in maintaining cultural diversity. That's not to say that we, as public broadcasters, don't face problems and unhealthy tendencies of our own.

 'Government or public sponsorship can encourage us to be elitist. They can encourage in us a tendency to take a paternalistic and authoritarian approach to cultural development. And it can even encourage us to go in for a kind of cultural protectionism, to see ourselves as 'culture police', sometimes keeping at bay good ideas from the rest of the world.

 'We need to keep our fingers on the pulse of public feeling if we are to be relevant to the lives of our audiences,' she said.

 Asked if the emphasis on RTHK's role in cultural development marked a shift from a more political role, Ms Cheung said: 'We will continue on one hand to attach importance to political concerns.

 'On the other hand, we'd like to promote cultural development . . . It's our obligation to do so.' 



Culture takes baton from politics at RTHK