LOOK carefully at the person opposite next time you grab a seat on the MTR. It is possible that that hairdresser, plumber or financial adviser has just decided what you will be watching on television tonight.
Opinions and feedback from the public play a huge part in helping the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA) decide what is morally acceptable for Hong Kong's television and film viewers. To monitor film and video distribution, the authority employs about 300 unpaid ''public advisers'' who spend a few hours every two weeks watching and censoring publicly distributed films.
''We don't ask that people have any specific qualifications to be a public adviser. We just ask that they are above 18, not a civil servant and that the appointment would not lead to a conflict of interests - for instance, we couldn't employ a film producer,'' said the assistant commissioner for entertainment, Ng Hon-wah.
There is no official training for the censors, nor is there any screening process to judge the prejudices of those who apply. According to Mr Ng, this ensures the public advisers properly reflect the wide range of views found in Hong Kong society.
''Personal opinions don't matter. I don't think it is appropriate to judge people by their political or moral ideas,'' Mr Ng said. ''In fact we appoint nearly everyone who applies to be a public adviser.'' Two or more public advisers and one of the authority's full-time censors watch every film screened at the organisation's headquarters in Wan Chai. They will cut, censor and grade it into one of three categories. The present three-tier system of film classification was introduced in 1988. About 40 per cent of the 1,000 films passed by the authority each year are deemed Category III - for adults only - and about 70 per cent of these have to be cut in some way before they are released for public viewing.
Themonitoring of what appears on television screens is also heavily dependent on the viewing public. The television arm of the authority responds to the complaints and opinions of viewers as well as its team of in-house monitors.
''We stopped previewing programmes a long time ago. Now we monitor what comes on air. The stations have both the codes of practice and the licence agreement to comply with,'' said L. N. Ip, head of the television section.
