Rarely has the world been as excited about a new president of the United States as it is about Barack Obama. Hong Kong is no exception. Not only will the inauguration of commander-in-chief No44 be televised live tonight (at 12.30am), but many American groups are throwing parties around town. Other folks are having a bit of fun. For example, Madame Tussauds is unveiling an Obama wax figure this afternoon at The Peak. However, we discovered that some of the most excited people are American-born local stars who are definitely down with the Democrat president-elect.
As a father of three, New York-raised actor Michael Wong Man-tak was most struck by the Illinois senator's two daughters during Mr Obama's acceptance speech on the night of November 4.
'When I saw Barack coming out onto the stage with his wife and children, I thought it was one of the most beautiful things,' Mr Wong said. 'And especially having these two black American children living in the White House. You know how people talk about America being a free nation, a free society and so on. When I saw the reaction on the people's faces, they looked so emotional, thinking, 'oh, he is the first black president'. My reaction was, why did it take so long? Why after all these years, there is only one black president? If we call ourselves a free nation, why did it still take forever to change?'
Mr Wong, an Obama supporter, hopes the new president will reverse some of the Republican policies of Mr Bush.
'There is still a lot of control in information and politics, so hopefully people will be allowed to practise democracy better. Look at the economic situation in the country right now ... I want to see true democracy in [the US] without [politicians] being swayed by outside forces.'
Few American expats were more proactive and vocal in their support for Mr Obama than actor Daniel Wu Yin-cho. The star organised fund-raisers, rallied support and generally wore his politics on his fashionable sleeves during the campaign. No surprise, then, tonight he'll be whooping it up.