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Phila Siu

Hong Kong triad societies aren’t known for internal pro-democracy struggles, or ‘one-man-one-vote’ election systems.

But that is what director Herman Yau Lai-to depicts in The Mobfathers, a film about two candidates battling it out to be the new supreme gang leader.

The film is more than just about the inside dealings of the triad society. And Yau wanted to use it to drive Hongkongers to understand more about the city they live in, including its politics.
“I believe that those of you who watched this film here often read the news,” Yau said after a screening organised by the Civic Party yesterday at a cinema in Causeway Bay.
“But some people really don’t know anything.
“Some people don’t even know that Leung Chun-ying is the chief executive. I have met such people. They thought Tung Chee-hwa is still the chief executive. Sometimes you thought that because you know certain things, other people should be aware of those things too.”
Yau started working on the movie in 2012 to drive more nonchalant Hongkongers to understand more about what is happening in the city.
The way the supreme triad leader is elected mirrors how the chief executive election works in Hong Kong.


In the film, a nomination committee comprising only a few gang veterans picks two less senior gangsters – portrayed by well-known actors Chapman To Man-tat and Gregory Wong Chung-yiu – to run in an election for the top triad post. Only a handful of triad leaders have a vote to choose between the two.
When To’s character thinks he is about to lose the election, he proposes every triad member should have a vote to pick their supreme leader.
Yau said he was inspired to make the movie by the tussle for power in the chief executive election in 2012. Asked if he was concerned about any consequences for producing this movie that has rich political colours, he said: “I don’t know where to start. Let’s just say that this is not a movie that smart people would produce.”


Using triad politics to view Hong Kong’s electoral system: Herman Yau Lai-to’s new film The Mobfathers high in political undertones

The audience at the special screening. Photo: Jonathan Wong

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The Mobfathers aims to make locals take a closer look at their city’s government


Using triad politics to view Hong Kong’s electoral system: Herman Yau Lai-to’s new film The Mobfathers high in political undertones

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Mobfathers aims to make locals take a closer look at their city’s government

The Mobfathers aims to make locals take a closer look at their city’s government