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SCMP Reporter

Six Hongkongers explain how their Hong Kong has changed since 1997.

Chan Wai-ho, 25

Footballer

South China splashed out a record transfer fee of HK$400,000 earlier this year  for Chan, whose football career took off a few years ago when Hong Kong football was at its lowest ebb.

'Investing in football is  a hobby  for the rich. When  all the investors were pulling out, the value of players dropped.

'With the supply of footballers exceeding demand, it was a take-it-or-leave-it situation for players. If you didn't accept the pay, someone else would take your place.

'Maybe a player  will break my transfer record, and I'm eagerly waiting for that day ... I hope my transfer fee of HK$400,000 is just the beginning.'

Mak Yan-yan

Filmmaker

Mak graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts  in 1998. She  has been working in the film industry since 1993 and made her name with  her award-winning directorial debut  Gege (Brother) in 2001.

'Everyone was worrying about not having a job. In the industry's heyday, about 200 films were produced a year. By the time I graduated, only about 100 films were made.

'The periods  between shooting  are the low points of my career. Although people are still talking about Butterfly [her previous film], it doesn't   mean making new movies is any easier.  It's hard  emotionally and financially.

'You can't complain. Either you do something about it or you don't.'

Cedric Chan Ho-fung, 32

Stage artist

Chan became famous for his quirky role in East Wing, West Wing. Although Cantonese theatre is now enjoying  unprecedented popularity, Chan worries about the shallow mindset of the audiences.

'Mr Tung gave Hong Kong people an opportunity to realise their strengths and weaknesses. We saw kindness and superb organisation skills, but we also saw the emptiness in people's lives, their passivity and their preference for short-term advantages over long-term benefits.

'While audiences are now larger,  the quality of the audiences  has definitely not  improved.'

Elphonso Lam Cheung-kwan

Comic book artist

Lam was  chief writer for a leading Hong Kong comics publishing house a decade ago. His new work will be serialised in a Japanese manga magazine later this year.

'If you don't nurture future generations, the industry will die off. Many assistants have left the industry to work in other fields, such as computers, animation, design or video games due to lack of opportunities.

'Comics have a  lot of support in Japan and the United States.  They have a wide range of themes,  so can be adapted as TV shows or movies.  This has sparked  new interest in comics. But in Hong Kong we only have martial arts comics.'

Cheng Yee-man, 31

Artist

Cheng is the curator and general manager of the Artist Commune at the Cattle Depot Artists Village. On July 1, 2003, Cheng got engaged to his now wife Clara Cheung.  Dressed in traditional Chinese wedding outfits, the couple  joined the 500,000  protestors who took to the streets.

'Since 2000, the arts scene on the mainland has been developing rapidly. Some paintings are sold for millions of dollars, and many Hong Kong people see it as an opportunity. Also, the government has been promoting the West Kowloon Cultural District project.

'The current situation is like a bunch of fortune sticks.  We just need to  pick out the best artists from the bunch.'

Bobo Yip Po-lam, 27

Social worker/Activist

Yip is the former  vice-convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front. She  helped  organise the July 1 march in 2004 and 2005 and has  been part of the fight to preserve the Star Ferry pier and  Queen's Pier.

'Society is more diversified now.    People's different needs have to be taken care of.  We need to preserve history   in order to  keep our roots.

'What we want to  stress in our fight  for the Star Ferry pier and  Queen's Pier is that we're no longer second-class citizens  in a colonial society. Protecting the harbour is just a means to  an end.

'We want  people to realise that the right to make decisions  about  public space belongs to all Hong Kong people, not just to a specific class.'



A decade of difference