Lyricist James Wong's legacy goes digital with the launch of website

There is no doubt quite a few pop fans envy Ng Chun-hung's job. As a sociologist studying popular culture in Hong Kong, Ng's research often puts him up close and personal with Canto-pop luminaries such as Sam Hui Koon-kit, a pioneering singer-songwriter who became the subject of a book by Ng.

Ng's latest project is on the legacy of the late lyricist James Wong Jim and traces the development of local identity and culture. The culmination of eight years' work is presented on James Wong Stories, a website that Ng launched last week.

Despite being derided for its crass commercialism and lack of depth, pop culture offers a good way to tap into the zeitgeist, Ng says.

"It captures the unvarnished feelings and thoughts of the masses in a particular age. If you want to know what people in the '50s were like, instead of asking history experts, you should find out what songs were the most popular then," he says.

Few were more acute observers of Canto-pop than Wong. A chain-smoking, hard-drinking character known as much for his foul mouth as his talent with words, Wong carved out a successful career in advertising while venturing into entertainment. Something of a polymath, he wrote newspaper columns and screenplays, appeared on screen as an actor and talk show host and behind it as an occasional movie director.

Most of all, he was an enormously prolific lyricist and collaborated with composer Joseph Koo Ka-fai to produce a slew of movie and television theme songs that became hits across Southeast Asia during the '70s and '80s. His extensive experience in the entertainment business also provided rich material for his thesis on the rise and fall of Canto-pop when he pursued a PhD at Chinese University in the late '90s.