Hong Kong likes to think of itself as a melting pot of Eastern and Western cultures. But tune in to publicly funded RTHK - mission: promote cultural diversity - and you'll probably hear a distinct lack of variety.
'I was told not to play any more Bob Dylan,' says former RTHK DJ Leung Dont, recalling an experience last April when he was hosting Radio 2's week-night cultural programme, Si Chiu Jok Dung (Urban Renaissance). 'The show's producer told me no one knows who Bob Dylan is.'
Leung had invited an indie musician onto his show to play Dylan songs on a guitar, but the producer deemed the music to be inappropriate.
'Another time, I was told not to play any music in English on my Saturday afternoon show by another producer because, he said, no one listens to foreign music.'
Leung then became embroiled in controversy when he played local indie band My Little Airport's song Donald Tsang Please Die on his show. A few days later, RTHK terminated his contract on the grounds that his performance was unsatisfactory.
International and alternative music are apparently unwelcome on Radio 2, the RTHK channel aimed primarily at young listeners. On a recent week night, only three of 36 songs played were non-Chinese: Any Which Way by the Scissor Sisters, The Last Words You Said by Sarah Brightman and Richard Marx, and Taylor Swift's Love Story. The other 33 songs were mainstream Canto- or Mando-pop, no different to what's played by the commercial stations.
