Stephen Chan’s Powers Resurrected; Danger for Virginia Lok’s Camp Ahead?
TVB’s General Manager of Broadcasting Affairs, Stephen Chan (陳志雲) has been successfully acquitted of his bribery and fraud charges. Stephen will make a mighty comeback to TVB, starting tomorrow. This might spell danger for TVB’s Production and Resource Director Virginia Lok (樂易玲), who had testified against Stephen in court. Virginia was, in fact, spotted with watery eyes while watching the news of Stephen’s acquittal yesterday. It was thus rumored that Virginia will leave her position this coming November.
The “beloved generals” under the “Virginia Lok camp,” Raymond Lam (林峯), Michael Tse (謝天華) and Linda Chung (鍾嘉欣) initially had high chances of winning the TV King and TV Queen award at the year-end TVB Anniversary Awards. But now that the tide has turned against their favor with Stephen’s return to power. The priority to win those TV King and Queen awards were given to those “Stephen Chan camp” members who had not waited for his return in vain and they include Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), Steven Ma (馬浚偉), Fala Chen (陳法拉) and Tavia Yeung (楊怡).
Following Stephen Chan’s majestic return to TVB, Stephen who had earlier seen his fair share of loyal subjects and traitors during his fall from power, was rumored to be launching operation vengeance upon his comeback. This re-ignited the heavily rumored power struggle between the “Stephen Chan camp” and the “Virginia Lok camp.” Virginia Lok had earlier submitted a testimony against Stephen Chan, citing him as “selling artists like clueless piglets that are to be slaughtered” (meaning allegedly selling artists to event organizers without their prior knowledge or consent and arranging them to be there without paying them or TVB for it).
When asked yesterday, Virginia denied that she had resigned in a bid to avoid Stephen, “How is that possible? No, I won’t. It was so tough to wait for such a perfect ending to this matter. Also, nothing has happened and our morale was revived instead so why would I want to resign? Hopefully there won’t be any more unhappy matters.” (Reporter: Did you contact Stephen?) “I did send a short text message to him. After knowing that he will return back to work this coming Monday, I didn’t disturb him anymore. I will talk to him when he returns “to work.” (Heard that Wong Hei (王喜) who was under Stephen Chan’s camp, was targeted earlier on?) “TVB has never changed our position towards Wong Hei. TVB is currently short of manpower. It was because he (Wong Hei) had to shoot a mainland drama and couldn’t fork out time. As long as the drama is suitable and he wishes to return, TVB will welcome him back at any time.”
Myolie Wu: “We Have Never Split Into Camps”
Raymond Lam was rumored to be one of Virginia Lok’s “beloved general.” There were also speculations that “Virginia Lok’s camp” has lost its status and could thus turn from winning anniversary awards to not winning any awards anytime now. In reply to this, Raymond responded, “There have always been such rumors. Awards are not the most important to me. The most important is to win recognition from the audience.”
Myolie Wu (胡杏兒) who re-captured the audience’s spotlight through her performance in Ghetto Justice <怒火街頭>, will be attending the TVB Anniversary Awards with her battle masterpiece, The Queen of All <萬凰之王>. Myolie expressed, “We have never split into camps. I’m not worried about the awards. The most important is to do your own job well.”
Wayne Lai who was rumored to have the chance to win the TV King award for the third consecutive time based on his capacity as a “Stephen Chan camp” member, replied, “I wish to clarify. Actually it was during the Rosy Business <巾幗梟雄> period that I had more performances and thus, had more work communications with Mr. Chan but we were not on familiar terms with each other. By saying that I’m under the ‘Stephen Chan camp’ is really thinking too highly of me. Furthermore, Forensic Heroes 3 <法證先鋒3> has yet to premiere, hence my confidence towards winning the TV King award is still 50-50. The TV King award involves many elements including the number of votes voted, which is according to public opinion. Of course, I obviously wish to become TV King for the third consecutive time and to make history. However, I also look highly upon Raymond Lam and Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎).” (Reporter: But they are all from the “Virginia Lok camp” who have lost power!) “It’s also not differentiated under that clearly lahs.”
Steven Ma Grateful to Stephen Chan for Fulfilling His Dreams
Fala Chen who has been labeled under the “Stephen Chan camp,” emphasized that she was not split into any camps. Asked whether she felt that her chances of winning the TV Queen award would increase significantly, Fala responded, “It is still one month away from the TVB Anniversary Awards. The TVB Anniversary show is not out yet hence it is still too soon to tell. Winning of awards does not depend on the higher management staff. It is reliant on the role and the ratings of the drama.”
Steven Ma, who was rumored to be under the “Stephen Chan camp,” professed that his work chemistry with Ms. Lok (Virginia) wasn’t as high. Steven continued, “I admit that during July last year when I sat down to discuss my TVB contract renewal with Ms. Lok, we didn’t rub off each other well and I was without any jobs for one whole month. After that, I was fortunate to receive Mr. Chan and Catherina Tsang’s (曾勵珍) assistance. Mr. Chan even promised to shoot Apprentice Chef <大廚出馬> and he did carry it out. In fact, Mr. Chan has helped me to fulfill many of my wishes.” (Reporter: Do you have the confidence to win an award?) “I do not know whether I belong to the ‘Stephen Chan camp’ but I have always adopted a ‘follow fate’ approach regarding the awards and anyway, my mentor is Catherine Jeh and not Mr. Chan.”
Steven Chan and Wong Hei swore to bring trouble-makers to justice
Sings karaoke to celebrate, uses songs to relate meanings
Stephen Chan who was cleared of all earlier bribery and fraud charges, will be returning to “office” with a newly proclaimed innocence on Monday. Stephen will continue to work for TVB as a general manager. (He had already been reinstated as at November last year) Although the matter has officially come to an end, it was rumored that another bloodshedding scene was about to occur. Stephen Chan’s majestic return to TVB has been supported by Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of TVB, Mona Fong (方逸華) and new TVB boss,”Shell King” Charles Chan (陳國強). However, Stephen’s probable direct confrontation with the principal prosecution witness of his corruption trial, TVB’s Group General Manager Mark Lee Po-on (李寶安), upon his return to TVB was billed as the “show” to look out for.
Wong Hei who had sheltered Stephen against all odds during Stephen’s corruption lawsuit, was insanely happy for his friend’s acquittal. Yesterday morning, Wong Hei uploaded four photos on Weibo, seeming like he was using the songs to relate the meaning. Singing to the sentence, “Hatred which is like the sea and raging in every possible way”, from the theme song of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber《倚天屠龍記》 and turning to sing another sentence, “Vowing to bring evil-doers to justice”, from the theme song of One Sword《一劍鎮神州》. It certainly leaves one wondering whether the extracted lyrics conveyed some special meaning and whether it was a form of warning for the internal strife that was approaching.
Ever since Stephen Chan was in trouble, Wong Hei did not bother about the rumors or cared one bit about the consequences of offending the senior management staff and accompanied Stephen to court hearings, throwing his implicit support behind Stephen with his actions. Wong Hei was even earlier rumored to have been requested to compensate and end his premature contract with TVB as a result. The day before yesterday, when the final hearing ended, upon knowing that Stephen has been acquitted, Wong Hei was even more emotional than Stephen himself. As it turned out, Wong Hei was supposed to be filming in the Mainland on that fateful day but specially requested for leave to return to support Stephen. Wong Hei also celebrated for Stephen that very night.
Raises cup to drink, karaoke song lyrics all carried a meaning
Wong Hei made a “live” report over Weibo, tweeting about the current happenings of their happy karaoke celebratory session. Although he looked alone and was holding up a wine glass in the photo, Wong Hei tweeted that he did a bad thing. Turned out that Wong Hei had made an exception from his Buddhism beliefs and drank wine. He even hilariously donned a plastic bag over his head and held the mike to sing at the same time. Wong Hei later captured a footage of the MV. The most intriguing part was the lyrics on the scene, “Transforming into a sword and vowing to rid the evil-doers” and “Feelings like the sky, wide like the ocean, hatred like the sea, raging in every possible way”.
These two songs were sung by Adam Cheng (鄭少秋). The former song was from “One Sword” while the latter song was from “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber”. Both songs seemed to convey a special meaning and especially considering that they were sung by Wong Hei who abhor the evil-doer as a deadly foe, it was still uncertain whether he was singing out his inner thoughts at that point in time. The reporter had tried contacting Wong Hei yesterday but to no avail. It was known that Stephen had also returned to his residency late at night.
Virginia Lok denies leaving TVB
It was rumored that in a bid to avoid the battle, TVB’s Production and Resource Director Virginia Lok had prepared to leave TVB this coming November. Yesterday, in reply to this, Virginia responded, “Don’t be silly lahs! There’s no such thing.” Virginia professed that now is the time where there is a rainbow after the storm and morale is running high so everyone should give it their all and do an even better job. She hoped that there won’t be any more unfavorable rumors as everyone’s working together as one.
Maintains a collaborating work relationship with Wong Hei
Asked Virginia whether she’s trying to keep Wong Hei, Virginia expressed that Wong Hei was currently working in the Mainland. Even the last three episodes of Hong Kong Back Then《香港演義》was only completed when Wong Hei returned to Hong Kong after rejecting the jobs in the Mainland. Virginia continued to say, “I have always said that Wong Hei is TVB’s lead actor. The Burning Flame《烈火雄心》series that he acted in were extremely popular. He is a good actor. We will definitely invite him back if there is any role that suits him. Wong Hei’s situation is similar to Adam Cheng, Kenix Kwok (郭可盈) and Idy Chan (陳玉蓮) where we have maintained a close collaborating relationship with them. TVB needs many actors to conjure up different groups of acting performances.” Virginia also remarked that the entire matter regarding Wong Hei and TVB wasn’t as dramatic as perceived by the outside world. The matter had nothing to do with Stephen Chan. In actual fact, it was because Wong Hei had other external commitments and it also depends on whether he has a spare schedule.
The return of Stephen Chan marks liquidation for several artistes, Virginia Lok does not believe that there is a blacklisting list
With Stephen Chan’s falling back into position, it was believed that a storm was bound to be brewing. Some media reports speculated that Stephen would fight heavily for the artistry department thus not only was Virginia Lok’s position under threat, it was rumored that a bunch of actors and fadans were implicated and would be liquidated in a blacklisting move too. The blacklist apparently includes Virginia’s “most treasured artistes” such as Raymond Lam, Bosco Wong (黃宗澤), Michael Tse (謝天華) and Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎) . With two giants in a power struggle, it was indeed inevitable if the artistes were to be used as sacrificial items.
With regards to rumors that Stephen was planning to heavily contend for the artistry department, Virginia expressed her take on this matter through a phone interview, “Please don’t use such awful-sounding words. From the beginning to the end, Stephen is my boss. Earlier on, because the corruption case was still under investigation, we had to make special arrangements so I temporarily reported directly to Group General Manager Mark Lee Po-on. However, many things were done under the knowledge of Stephen as we often consulted him for pointers. I request everyone not to associate this rumor with him. Firstly, Stephen is not such a person. Now that the verdict has a perfect ending, everyone should recollect their fighting spirit and put their heart into doing their best.”
Virginia re-emphasized that there is no such thing as splitting into camps in TVB. As the company has plenty of artistes under their wing, it was not possible for one person to get along well with all the artistes. Virginia also said that irregardless of whether it was Catherina Tsang, Tommy Leung (梁家樹) or even Chan Hui Guang (陳輝光), she gets along well with them and has no problem talking to them thus she hoped that the media wouldn’t make things sound so scary.
Virginia expressed that she wasn’t the least worried that her position might be threatened. Then what about earlier rumors that she was planning to leave TVB? Virginia replied, “It wasn’t easy for things to be alright now hence we should do our jobs a little better.” Virginia also implied that she completely did not believe that there was such thing as a blacklisting list. She pointed out that those on the alleged blacklisting list were all TVB’s first line actors, TVB gives them jobs and hope that the dramas they shoot will become popular with the audience.
Members from the “Virginia Lok camp”: Do your jobs well
Myolie Wu who was viewed as a member of the “Virginia Lok camp” was busy filming TVB’s new drama, The Endless Exchange of Enjoyment《換樂無窮》. Myolie expressed that there has never been a splitting into any camps. As she was an artiste, her main task was to do her jobs well hence she was never worried about being liquidated. Whereas Linda Chung replied that she doesn’t believe the rumor as she has joined TVB for seven years now and work has always been assigned by her company. She will just work hard in doing her best and that both Stephen Chan and Virginia Lok were very good to her.
Roger Kwok will ask after Stephen Chan if he meets him
Roger Kwok (郭晉安) who currently had no filming on hand, grew to learn of the developments in the Stephen Chan’s case through the news. About Stephen Chan’s acquittal from all the charges, Roger expressed that of course he hoped that Stephen would be alright. Will he console and ask after Stephen then? Roger replied, “If I happen to see him then of course I will but I won’t specially go and console and ask after him.” Mentioned about the rumors that Stephen’s comeback signify his return to power and that he will get rid of rebels, Roger professed that he has always did his job well hence he wasn’t worried. On the other hand, Raymond Lam responded to the acquittal of Stephen Chan, “Happy, congratulations to Mr Chan!” (Reporter: There were rumors that Stephen was planning to liquidate the artistes under the “Virginia Lok camp”?) “I won’t comment about this.”
In other news, Nancy Sit (薛家燕) was not worried that Stephen’s return to his position might cause a major “shake up” in TVB. Nancy Sit instead hoped that Stephen would continue to develop talents and let TVB become more and more excellent.
Source: Oriental Daily, Mingpao
This article was translated by Ah K, a Contributing Writer at JayneStars.com.
this power struggle in tvb is more entertaining than tvb series hehe
Of course it is. TVB is a laughing stock in Asia, AGAIN.
I just wanna ask one question;
before the trial was he ever a threat to 620? 620 did her own thing, he did his own.
This would become a very interesting tv series lol!
This could have been TVB production series “ICAC Investigators 2011″… with the Stephen Chan trial saga, the outcome of this is SHOCKINGLY, ICAC loose so BADLY in this case. Similar situation back in 2003 if anybody remembers that, it is also involves EEG &TVB personals.
Hi All,
I included new stuff onto the article like the alleged blacklisting list!
And wow I think they make Stephen Chan sound like Voldemort from the Harry Potter trilogy!
Thanks for translating the article! I think you deserve an award at this year’s tvb awards much more than an other artist so far
@SDS:
Lol, thank you for your compliment and your appreciation! But don’t want any award lahs, later reporters come up and pester me all day long about who do I think highly of lehs! Heh heh just joking! 😛
TVB circus….
Stephen Chan, I’ll give him a second chance if he can stop his illegal side jobs things in his TVB job post if he still has.
620 needs to be fired, pronto.
TVB needs ethics and unions!
I don’t think hk believes in unions, nor does china. Unions are such a socialist sorta thing isn’t it? Tvb needs better series. all this in fighting still hasn’t lead to anything…
No, Hong Kong does believes unions
I just wonders if TVB can dramatize the whole alledgly corruption. That would be awesome. But has to make it quick, if not the hotness of the news died down.
Wong Hei with his mysterious lines from the lyrics… >.< I'm following him and he's flooding my weibo. Lol
He’s like a 泼妇骂街…lol
Doesn’t Stephen follow the Buddhist thinking? I don’t think he’ll seek revenge on those that left him.
Stephen is a Christian.
Wong Hei is a devout Buddhist. Probably because all the praying etc done by WH for SC misleaded you….
Stephen is actually a Catholic. But, I guess he gone off the path midway? He thank God after he was acquitted.
He has also been more active in religious stuff during his down period. I read some article that said his view has changed after the scandal.
I also don’t think he’ll seek revenge. Both Buddhism and Christianity do not encourage revenge but advocate letting go (Buddhism) and forgiveness (Christianity).
I don’t think Stephen has ever given up on his Christian faith. In May he was photographed with other tvb artistes including Steven Ma and Sharon Chan attending a bible study chaired by Pastor Enoch Lam. “Even though in the past Chan would find people to do feng shui, but after his problems started, he has turned to Christ.”
I too don’t think he’ll seek revenge. He does not come across as a vindictive, small man.
Ermmm so now he believes in voodoo dolls and pins and stuff? Kidding! What revenge can he seek? Push 620 into the pool of sharks or something?
“The priority to win those TV King and Queen awards were given to those “Stephen Chan camp” members who had not waited for his return in vain and they include Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), Steven Ma (馬浚偉), Fala Chen (陳法拉) and Tavia Yeung (楊怡).”
When Stephen was first charged with corruption, Steven Ma kinda drew line with him while Tavia’s testimony was quite damning to Stephen. Why would they have priority to win now?
“Raymond Lam was rumored to be one of Virginia Lok’s “beloved general.” There were also speculations that “Virginia Lok’s camp” has lost its status and could thus turn from winning anniversary awards to not winning any awards anytime now.”
Artists in Virginia’s camp has never have any problem winning awards and getting lead roles in series even when Stephen was still in power before the corruption case. Why would they lost status and chance now? Stephen might be higher in position that Virginia, but, he’s not that powerful.
Well would Linda really be in trouble, Linda Chung is good friends with Wong Hei. Would he not back her up?
i think with regards to steven, he did not clearly draw a line, i remember reading it somewhere, steven said it is all media manipulation but perhaps, steven ma loyal fan, clamine know better where to quote the sources
The artists themselves have their own price. TVB back them up but it doesn’t mean everything. The promotions, the help will push them up but they can stay in this high situation or not, it’s their own jobs.
I doubt that 620’s party will have any affection. SC is smart enough to understand what is the biggest profit of the company. His fighting vs 620 is true, but the underground relationship of them is really wat, we all dunno :P.
However, it’s a good series to start with. TVB should crown SC best actor this year :D.
Fox, perhaps now we have the candidates for “Best Actor” and “Best Actress” *cough* hehe
Maybe make a movie version of this scandal. Who should be 620 and who should be SC?
I said, 620 and SC deserved the awards than anyone else. Their acting are too good to be true.
@Funn
Eric Tsang did a pretty good job as 620 at last year’s TVB anniversary show. But I don’t know who to pair him up with…
BTW, do you think TVB can control someone like Johnnie To or Cheng Xiao Dong or Wong Pak Ming, etc. to pull their ppl to become lead in these ppl’s movie? It has some credit to the artists themselves. TVB’s promotions are just a part.
“Virginia Lok had earlier submitted a testimony against Stephen Chan, citing him as “selling artists like clueless piglets that are to be slaughtered” (meaning allegedly selling artists to event organizers without their prior knowledge or consent and arranging them to be there without paying them or TVB for it).”
“With regards to rumors that Stephen was planning to heavily contend for the artistry department, Virginia expressed her take on this matter through a phone interview, “Please don’t use such awful-sounding words. From the beginning to the end, Stephen is my boss.”
“I request everyone not to associate this rumor with him. Firstly, Stephen is not such a person.”
Wow, someone changes her words and face faster than a Beijing magical face-mask-changing expert.
Here we call the office relationship :P.
lunchtime at cafeteria will be frosty
@Funn Lim:
LOL! Maybe they have their own cronies of artistes to eat lunch with them.
“Virginia expressed that she wasn’t the least worried that her position might be threatened. Then what about earlier rumors that she was planning to leave TVB? Virginia replied, “It wasn’t easy for things to be alright now hence we should do our jobs a little better.” Virginia also implied that she completely did not believe that there was such thing as a blacklisting list. She pointed out that those on the alleged blacklisting list were all TVB’s first line actors, TVB gives them jobs and hope that the dramas they shoot will become popular with the audience.”
As my sis says, total b.s. TVB will make whoever they want popular, even if just in name and not real popularity. If anyone deserves a boot, 620 does by the way how poorly she handled recent scandals and the slow agonising death of good storytelling and acting. Bring back the good scriptwriters! Or have they all moved on to greener pastures?
@Funn Lim:
“Bring back the good scriptwriters! Or have they all moved on to greener pastures?”
Probably flock over to Mainland China where they are better appreciated there or the rival station now TV where revenge is always the sweetest? 😛
Cheng Wan Biu came back.
620 might be annoying and biased, but her relationship, we can’t underestimate her. To fire her, TVB will have a big loss.
Cheng Wah Biu is touted as TVB’s best scriptwriter in recent years. While I respect him, some of his dramas are a bit too dramatic for my taste; in particular those “family” dramas.
@Masaharu,
Agreed. 🙂
I’m not a fan of Cheung Wah Biu.
Ah K, this article is very well written without any “broken” English. Well done.
Geez I thought I’d live to see the day without both SC and 620. Now we’re back to the TVB power struggle drama… come on, TVB, can’t you be less predictable than your series?!
It’s TVB in 2000-2002 time.
Not so fast: The Hong Kong government is to appeal in Stephen Chan case
“The government has decided to appeal against part of the verdict in the corruption case involving the TVB general manager, Stephen Chan, and a co-defendant, Edthancy Tseng. The District Court last week acquitted the two men, along with TVB marketing chief Wilson Chan, on all five charges against them.
The Department of Justice said it made the decision to appeal after a detailed study of the judgement.
The media executive was arrested by the ICAC last year, partly on suspicion that he had taken an outside job that paid him $112,000 without TVB’s knowledge. He was charged with accepting a bribe as an agent of TVB.
But the court acquitted him of the charge. The judge said Mr Chan was only invited to take the job because of his popularity, and it had absolutely nothing to do with his position as TVB’s general manager. Edthancy Tseng, who was Mr Chan’s personal assistant, was also acquitted of bribery and of offering an advantage.
But the Department of Justice is arguing that the judge mis-stated the law and wrongly applied it to the facts of the case. The government will also be appealing against the court decision to award costs to Mr Chan and Mr Tseng.”
Source: http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/20110906/news_20110906_56_782494.htm
What are the chances that Hong Kong government loose this case, again?
what’s the point? any new evidence? the hk government is going to lose again so why just save the taxpayer money?
from what i have heard the hk government is totally incompetent giving away 6000hkd to its citizens for no obvious reasons.
They just make a fool out of themselves losing the case so badly.
O/T: HK$6000.00 = about US$770.00 ; is it worth to go back to Hong Kong and get the money since I am sort of Hong Kong citizen……….. maybe not.
just get the money when you are visiting hk no need to hurry the money will be there for you compounded with interest rate.
don’t the government have other more crucial cases at hand than a small potato corruption case of a tvb exec?
Wish I could go back to HK, except I have to do insurance work thanks to Global Warming Hurricane Irene… needs to fix the house, tree branch wreck my backyard and parts of house… plus college and work.
The HK government is really getting so pathetic in the past couple of months. 🙁
good luck with the insurance work.
the insurance companies must be hurt pretty bad by irene and the weak economy in us.
I read an article (not finish yet since it’s about law details and kinda boring) that said even if ICAC appeal, Mr.Chan won’t be convicted or won’t be thrown to jail.
I always thought once a person is found not guilty, he/she cannot be convicted of the same crime again. But, if he/she is found guilty, she/he can appeal.
Can any lawyer here clarify?
“double jeopardy” is the term. maybe he is charged for not exactly the same crime. you know how lawyers can twist the techical aspect of things.
No, can. If there is new evidence, he still can be called again.
The prosecution can appeal against the acquittal which is what they’re doing. They’re not recharging him with another law with the same set of facts.
So, if the appeal in successful. Does this mean Stephen Chan will be convicted?
Yes
Found the article I read. Even if appeal accepted it still won’t overturn the judge earlier verdict.
http://news.sina.com.hk/news/2/1/1/2428112/1.html
I say get rid of both of them! A company like that shouldn’t have two big egos who decides on the fate of others’ professional lives based on their own favoritism. Im sure it would be better for morale if everyone worked for the same boss and didn’t have to concern themselves with working for one and pissing off the other.
Then TVB will be useless L 😀 L