TSS_02-03p240415.e3-c.ps, page 1 @ Normalize

blic Health
Pu
Friday
■ Text : Anvil Ong
24 April 2015
• Personal Development & Interpersonal Relationships • Hong Kong Today • Modern China • Globalisation • Energy Technology & the Environment
5W1H
When
Between June 2014 and March 2015.
Where
Who
What
Hong Kong was found to rank 17th in sleep quality.
Why
Hongkongers get six hours and 39 minutes of quality
sleep a day on average.
How
The study tracked the sleep quality of 941,329 people
aged 18 to 55 in 47 countries during the period.
Globally.
A global survey about sleep quality by smartphone app
Sleep Cycle.
THE STANDARD EDITORIAL
What Adam effect? It’s TVB’s nice bet
T
causing them to lose money.
HE Ting Hai (丁蟹) – or Adam Cheng (秋
官) – effect is the topic du jour these days.
But will it hurt TVB? Not at all. On the
contrary, it is a blessing. In the entertainment
industry, the only nightmare is when nobody
talks about you.
Holding ground on Monday morning,
the stock markets then started falling, before
closing down nearly 600 points.
Is the Ting Hai effect irresistibly real?
The word ‘Hai’ meaning crab is local
imagery. In preparing the seasonal delicacy of
hairy crabs, the crustaceans named for their
furry claws are bound and steamed before
being served.
Therefore, investors failing to escape in
a falling market are figuratively bound and
steamed like crabs.
Asia Television (ATV, 亞洲電視有限公司)
is also broadcasting old stuff starring Cheng.
However, has there been any talk about ATV
apart from the fiasco involving its licence? It is
win, place and show for TVB.
Ting Hai is a fictitious character played by actor
Adam Cheng Siu-chow (鄭少秋) in the decadesold TV drama The Greed of Man (大時代), using the
market as the backdrop. Coincidentally, the local stock
market would drop suddenly whenever a film starring
Cheng was released.
It may be argued the influence is embedded
psychologically in local people’s minds, subconsciously
affecting them whenever Cheng appears.
This is a far-fetched theory. While the 1992 drama
may be well known in Hong Kong, I wonder how
many young people have seen it. Mainlanders and
foreigners may not have heard about it until recently.
It would be foolish to blame Ting Hai for market
corrections.
Vocabulary
First, the cost is zero. The drama is retrieved
from the dusty storeroom. Broadcasting it
at midnight poses no risk for prime-time
advertising.
TVB chairman Charles Chan is a fan of Adam Cheng in drama The Greed of Man.
Nevertheless, TVB deserves a little praise for acting
quickly to leverage on the fictitious Ting Hai effect to
maximise the network’s marketing effects at the lowest
possible cost.
Insider knowledge has it that the impromptu
decision to resurrect the old TV drama again was made
by chairman Charles Chan Kwok-keung (陳國強). It
would not surprise me if this was the case.
A seasoned investor, Chan is dubbed the King of
Shells (殼王) because of his reputation for building a
fortune through acquisitions.
Second, it has spawned discussion – both critical and
gossipy – on the internet. Even Financial Secretary (財
政司司長) John Tsang Chun-wah (曾俊華) invoked
the Ting Hai effect to remind investors to exercise
caution in the volatile stock market.
So, even though central banker Zhou Xiaochuan (周
小川) lost out to Ting Hai in the first round, he should
not be bothered by the crab as Beijing (北京) still has
the upper hand in guiding the bull.
No matter whose idea it was, the timing was perfect,
with the airing placing TVB (電視廣播有限公司) at
the epicentre of the juiciest topic in town.
Investors would probably curse TVB for bringing
Ting Hai out from its cosy habitat in the film archives,
irresistibly (adv) 無法抵抗地
hairy crab (n phr) 大閘蟹
figuratively (adv) 比喻地
subconsciously (adv) 潛意識地
21 April, 2015
acquisition (n) 收購
volatile (adj) 劇烈波動的