The Golden Era of Chinese and Hong Kong Dramas

Assalamualaikum and hello everyone! Just thinking I should post something on this blog once a week. This is a musing I wrote when I randomly thought about all the Chinese dramas I watched growing up. 

So nostalgic!     

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The advent of Korean Wave had led to the infiltration of its dramas, culture, language, just almost everything into countries around the world. But before their dramas and movies made their way into Malaysia, we were once besotted by various Chinese and Hong Kong dramas playing on the TV from the early 90s’ to early 00’s. Those were the golden era of TVB and ATV.

       “I couldn’t watch Zhi Wei getting tortured by Rong Mo Mo,” my friend lamented dramatically. We were then 10 years old, living in an era where the television was our primary source of entertainment.

      “I was so mad, I felt like jumping into the TV and punch her in the face,” I replied with gusto.

        Huan Zhu Ge Ge, or popularly known as ‘My Fair Princess’, had taken the world by storm in the late 90s’. It was first aired in the Cantonese dub at NTV7 in 1999.  Even at a young age, I managed to differentiate between the two dubs, Mandarin and Cantonese, although I do not speak in either dialect. The story of how the spunky Xiao Yan Zhi met the demure Zhi Wei, and making their way to the Forbidden City, with romance and adventures along the way, still enticed me to this day.

      Then there were the Wuxias turned into heart-pounding dramas like State of Divinity, Legend of Condor Heroes and Storm Riders, where the whole family would sit in front of the TV, our mouths agape as we marvelled over the Kung Fu moves and the ability to fly and fight on water. I wished that I had learned Kung Fu then. I really wanted to fly.

      My earliest memory of religiously watching Chinese Dramas every afternoon began in 1997, where both my mom and I were glued to ‘The Good Old Days’ every afternoon. The series is so good that even the previews managed to stop me from my task as I craved to know more about the next episodes.

    From then on, I watched every single drama the TV had to offer. I eventually became an ardent fan of Jessica Hsuan, who acted in Golden Faith, Square Pegs, Witness to a Prosecution, the list is endless! Not to forget Dicky Cheung who played comedic characters in Fong Sai Yuk and Journey to the West. Also, I think I still have a crush on Kwong Wah who played the suave saxophonist in ‘I Have a Date with Spring’.

    A friend had commented on my interest towards Chinese dramas by saying “You’re a Malay, why are you watching too many Chinese dramas?” to which I replied “What’s wrong with that?”

    Chinese dramas exert its positive effects in many ways. One example would be that it unites people from different races and religions in Malaysia, just like how P.Ramlee’s movies did. I clearly remember becoming friends with Rachel and Parvathee, bonded by our loves towards My Fair Princess. We would spend our breaks in between classes, writing fan fictions for each of us to read and comment on, and gushed over Alec Su at that young age. We were just eleven!

    Also, through watching the period dramas, I also inadvertently learned about the history and culture of China, where different dynasties were depicted. The Qing dynasty setting in My Fair Princess featured women in elaborate headdress and clogs, while the men each sporting a queue. The Tang, Song and Ming dynasties have its people dressing in similar styles. The Yuan Dynasty was under the governance of Mongol kings Kublai Khan and Genghis Khan, after the fall of the Song Dynasty. A King’s love towards his General’s lover had led to the downfall of the mighty Ming Empire.

       When Korean dramas began to make its waves over Malaysia, the TV channels had slowly stopped showing Chinese and Hong Kong dramas. That was when this glorious era had waned, making ways to Winter Sonata and Autumn in My Heart.

     The era of watching Chinese dramas had ended for me as well. However, whenever the mood struck, I would play the soundtracks, reminiscing the carefree days where all I cared about was to go home to watch the next episode of Triumph in the Skies with my family, and where my classmates would excitedly chatter about the previous episode of Armed Reaction, anticipating the next one today.

Ah, the good old days!