Li Yundi(from left), Lang Lang and Kimura Takuya
The Quality Migrant Admission Scheme has received 479 applications and processed 186 of them since it began accepting applications in June, announced the Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on 8 November.
Aiming at broadening Hong Kong's talent basis, the scheme has drawn the interest of mainland's top athletes and two outstanding musicians, according to the department.
The two musicians are reportedly pianists Li Yundi (李雲廸), who won the Warsaw International Chopin Competition in 2000 and Lang Lang (郎朗), who swept the first prize at the Fourth International Young Pianists Competition in Germany in 1993 at the age of 11.
Li and Lang admitted that they had lodged an application because they were fascinated by the vibrancy and freedom of Hong Kong and migrating to Hong Kong would enable them to travel more easily for overseas performances without giving up their identity as a Chinese national.
What they may not be well aware may be that the international city also houses a highly-developed community of paparazzi and aggressive reporters who are capable of exhausting the energy of any celebrities being targeted.
Bearing the nicknames of "Prince of Piano (鋼琴王子)" and "Kimura Takuya of the pianist world (音樂界木村拓哉)", Li has been the idol of many who are not so interested in music but a good looking artist. His private life will in no doubt be an object for reporters of all news beats of the local media.
Lang Lang, dubbed not as handsome, is not much better. Loving Hong Kong's east-meet-west and metropolitan culture, he once said "there are very 'cool' hair stylists" and he would visit a cool stylist in Tsim Sha Tsui each time he came to Hong Kong. How this young, wealthy (scheme applicants have to meet certain income limits) pianist spends his monies in brand shops will likely be an "investigative" tabloid story.
In Hong Kong, apart from show business stars, public officers and their family members and even boy and girl friends may be followed 24/7 by text and photo journalists, should a scandal happen or an issue become heated. But soon, these people may be free, albeit temporarily, from media surveillance with the arrival of new faces Li and Lang.
Perhaps, the recent court ruling on a private intrusion case may help prevent this undesirable scenario.
Earlier this month Eastern Court magistrate Colin Mackintosh sentenced an Indonesian maid sneaking into a hospital's intensive-care unit (ICU) and taking video pictures of ailing actress Lydia Shum (whose nickname is Fei Fei) to four weeks in jail.
However, the maid, employed by a deputy editor of Eastweek (東周刊) magazine, declined to tell who had instructed her to break into the ICU. She is believed to have been compensated for concealing the truth. Most Hong Kong domestic helpers are paid less than $4,000 a month. To plug the maid's mouth, say, with one year’s salary and send her back home, it would cost tens of thousands dollars, a good deal compared with the possible gain from a surge in circulation of Eastweek as a result of the publication of a photo of Fei Fei in ICU.
So, the verdict does have but little deterrent effect.
Hey, Li and Lang, enough warning has been given. Don't regret if you find Hong Kong is not a quiet place for you to polish the piano skill.
1 comment:
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