TVB Olympic Team

The Tokyo Summer Olympics are finally upon us! If TVB had its own Olympic team, who would be on it?

Swimming 

Alex Fong: Alex famously represented Hong Kong in swimming at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He once held nine Hong Kong swimming records and his 200 m backstroke and 400 m individual medley records were only recently broken. In 2019, he set a new swimming record for fastest swim around Hong Kong Island (45 km).

Dickson Yu: Dickson was a member of the Hong Kong swimming team in high school and represented Hong Kong abroad in youth competitions, including at the 2004 Queensland Open & Age State Championship and 2005 Australian Youth Olympic Festival. He retired in 2013 after not qualifying for the Asian Games. Dickson specialized in the butterfly style. 

Susan Tse: Susan was a formidable swimmer back in the day and excelled in the backstroke. She was already swimming in competitions by the time she was 3 years old. At age 6, she was the youngest swimmer at the Hong Kong cross harbour swim. By age 12, she already had an instructor license. Susan achieved her best finish (5th) in the 1968 cross harbour swim.

Tennis

Cindy Lee: Cindy was a professional tennis player. At the highest level, she played at the Federation Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup), one of the top international tournaments for women’s tennis. Cindy is also an accomplished golfer, claiming multiple awards in charity tournaments. Athletics is in her DNA, as her mother and cousin were on the Hong Kong bowling team, her father and sister were avid tennis players, and another cousin was an Asian Games bronze medalist in swimming.

Golf

Stephanie Ho: Stephanie started golfing when she was 6 and by age 10, she was part of the Hong Kong national golf team. In 2010, she represented Hong Kong at the Asian Games. She retired from competition to focus on her music career, but in 2018, she dusted off her clubs to rejoin the national team. Stephanie said she hopes to make it to the Asian Games again. 

Table Tennis

Ruco Chan: Ruco was recruited into a sports institute at the age of 13 and made it onto the Hong Kong youth table tennis team at age 15. At that time, he was the youngest table tennis player to represent Hong Kong in competition. He competed at the 1994 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships. He quit after his coach left the team. 

Triathlon

Tony Chui: Tony, who plays “Andy” in Come Home Love: Lo and Behold, is a former triathlete. He represented Hong Kong in three World Triathlon Championships and in five consecutive Asian Triathlon Championships from 1992 to 1996. His best result was a silver medal in the team event and 7th overall finish individually. Tony was an all-round athlete, participating in soccer, track and field and swimming competitions as well. In 2019, Tony proved he still had in it him by representing Hong Kong at masters (age 35+) track and field competitions in Singapore and Asia.  

Rhythmic Gymnastics

Tania Chan: Tania was a member of Hong Kong rhythmic gymnastics team. Tania started learning rhythmic gymnastics at age 7 and fell in love with the sport because of its elegant movements. She represented Hong Kong in many competitions and specialized in using a ball in her performances. Tania was a 2018 Miss Hong Kong contestant and won an audience favourite award for her rhythmic gymnastics talent performance.

Sharlene Wong: Sharlene was also a member of the Hong Kong rhythmic gymnastics team and a national level athlete. She was awarded that recognition in 2009 when she placed first in the ribbon competition and fourth overall in the National Youth Competition. She retired in 2012 when she realized her body was not flexible enough anymore. Sharlene appeared on TVB even before joining the industry. She performed as a rhythmic gymnast at the TVB Anniversary Gala in 2014 alongside actresses from Never Dance Alone. She is now a host of Kids, Think Big.

Track and Field

Tiffany Tang Yi Ching: Tiffany is a rising star in high jump. She has won in intercollegiate and Hong Kong wide competitions and represented Hong Kong at the 2015 China National Youth Games. She recently recorded a personal best of 1.77 m. Tiffany had a short stint as a host of Young and Restless, but left TVB last year to focus on training for the Asian Athletics Championships. 

Fencing

Last but not least, one of TVB's very own will be competing at the Tokyo Olympics!

Lawrence Ng Lok Wang: Lawrence is a former TVB child actor who has appeared in over 30 dramas. As a kid, Lawrence became interested in fencing because he thought the uniforms looked cool. Using the foil as his weapon, he is a five-time medalist in the Asian Fencing Championships and finished in fifth place at the 2016 Junior World Fencing Championships. He served as the fencing director for the fencing scenes in OMG, Your Honour before leaving TVB to become a full-time athlete. Last year, Lawrence and the Hong Kong team won bronze at the Fencing World Cup tournament in Cairo to secure a spot at the Tokyo Olympics. Look for Lawrence in the men's team foil competition at the Olympics. 

Overview - Law dis-Order

As the founder of the leading Chinese-backed law firm in Hong Kong, Lau Dan has served as the committee chair for many terms. Although he has promised managing partner Liu Kai-chi that he will step down, he invited the profit-oriented Alex Fong to join the firm to counterbalance the power-hungry Liu Kai-chi. Liu Kai-chi has cemented his power at the firm throughout the years. He expects his top associates, Raymond Cho and Mandy Wong, to easily handle Florence Kwok and Matthew Ho from Alex's camp, until a car accident throws off his calculations. Meanwhile, Alex takes advantage and receives a lucrative deal from Lau Dan, officially being promoted to senior partner. Alex re-encounters Ali Lee, who is also a lawyer. Ali has a special status within the firm. From her initial disdain towards Alex to admiration of him, the two of them establish a mentor and friend relationship. This forces Liu Kai-chi, a ticking time bomb, to show his hand to Lau Dan. As each camp struggles for power, a toothless tiger who has been hibernating for many years prepares to get revenge...

Law dis-Order Promo Clips

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Overview - Limelight Years

Liza Wang, the pop queen of her generation, has been through two marriages and has a son and two daughters. After recovering from a serious illness, she realizes that she is lonely behind the limelight. Reflecting on her life, she musters up the courage to travel to Taiwan to repair the relationship with her eldest daughter. In Taiwan, she meets the photographer Damian Lau, who is there to fulfill his late wife Michelle Yim's wish of returning home. When the ordinary meets the extraordinary, they develop a mutually supportive bond. Liza is inspired by Damian to hold a farewell concert for her family and friends. Despite the cold response from her younger daughter, Eliza Sam, Liza actively prepares for her concert. She hires a new assistant (Linda Chung) and creative director (Alex Fong). The two young people often quarrel because of a prior feud, but slowly develop feelings for each other during the process of preparing for the concert. Just as Alex is putting together a special issue for Liza, he learns about a scandal that she has hid for many years. At the same time, Linda discovers Liza's past connection with her uncle, while Damian suddenly experiences hallucinations... Dealt with blow after blow, how does a seasoned veteran like Liza handle this?


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Limelight Years Promo Clips

Overview - Limelight Years

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Extended Trailer

Review

Producer: Marco Law

Genre: Medical, crime

Cast: Alex Fong, Tavia Yeung, Yoyo Mung, Ben Wong, Edwin Siu, Ram Chiang

Plot:

Rape, murder, murder, murder. A typical crime investigation series, but with psychiatrists solving the cases instead of police, forensics or lawyers. This is a bloodier continuation of A Great Way to Care. The theme this time is “sane criminals pretending to be insane".

Review:

Watching A Great Way to Care 2 made me go back to watch the prequel and I must say the original was better. First thing to mention is how there was a bunch of reused actors, although that doesn't necessarily affect the entertainment value of the series. Recycled actors aside, there were a lot of similar cases, such as the religious cult, the schizophrenic (which has now been severely overused in police dramas), and the vigilante. The most important reason is because the original had a lot more focus on psychology. The sequel feels like a normal police investigation series. The first series had Alex Fong predicting the criminal’s next move or trying to elicit the truth from a suspect via psychological analysis. Here, Alex or the police solve cases by noticing clues that others have missed. In most cases, it was actually quite apparent that the criminal wasn't a psycho.

Comparing Tavia and Kate as the female leads in the first and second series, Tavia certainly had the more interesting character to work with. She was very impressive as the undercover prostitute and equally good as a crazy killer who took justice into her own hands. Alex Fong as male lead wasn't much different from the last series. At times, I find him to be a little slow-reacting, although maybe his character calls for that. I enjoyed his casual scenes with Yoyo Mung. Yoyo, though technically co-female lead, serves only as Alex’s love interest, and for the “daring” sperm donation request. I think she is at her best when she plays this type of loud-spoken independent character. Yoyo looks more compatible with Alex than Kate.

Why, oh why, does every sequel need to have a love triangle? Edwin Siu is arguably the real male focus of the show with plenty of screen-t. While I liked his witty, self-assured buck-toothed character, it was a drag to go through his love indecision. It was not helped by the fact that his partners were awful to watch. Aimee Chan still has very wooden expression and unexpressive speech, whether it is love scenes with Edwin or emotional scenes with her brother. Her Cantonese seems to be improving though. Or maybe it’s because Christine Kuo was worse. I can usually tolerate bad accents, but I honesty could not make out a lot of what she said. The Edwin-Aimee-Christine line took up too much screen-time that other relationships didn't get proper development. Namely, I wanted to see more of Tavia and Ben Wong because their relationship is actually important to her decisions in the end.

Other characters: Ben Wong actually had a huge personality change from the first series where he was extremely hot-tempered. This time, there is less spark in his character and performance. Ram Chiang doesn't have much to do in terms of solving cases and his relationship with Leanne Li was unnecessary because nothing happened in the end. Oscar Leung, Power Chan and Eric Li are mostly just sidekicks, but Oscar and Power manage to grab some attention with little habits. I liked Henry Lee’s character after he got friendly with the other doctors, especially that nosy look he has when trying to find out gossip.

In terms of case characters: Matthew Ko was not convincing as the religious cult leader and he smirks at all the wrong times. Pierre Ngo was a better cult leader in the original. Hugo Wong really let loose as a wild “Zeus”. Otto Chan did an admirable job as Aimee’s autistic brother; the way he communicates seems very real. The little scene in the end with his girlfriend was cute. Lee Yee Man tried too hard to look evil with the deathly stare.

All in all, the cases aren't the most unique or memorable, but it’s enough to keep the series moving at a good pace. Sequels rarely live up to original expectations, but at least this one didn't completely fall flat.

Rating: 4/5. Worth the time. 

Related posts:
Overview and Preview of Cases
Theme Song "Enclosure" by Edwin Siu

Reincarnations in A Great Way to Care 2

A Great Way to Care 2 - Preview of Cases

Case #1 - Nightclub Undercover
Tavia Yeung goes undercover at a nightclub to search for evidence against a criminal organization. It is extremely dangerous and Tavia is suffers repeated attacks as revenge.




Case #2 - Religious Cult
Matthew Ko is the leader of a religious cult that uses Professor Law Lok Lam's "Doomsday Theory" as their teachings. Coincidentally, Law Lok Lam is now missing and several followers have been murdered, leaving everyone to feel unsettled.




Case #3 - The Riddle of Zeus
An explicit video of Hugo Wong (nicknamed "Zeus") claiming he can help his sexual partner restore spiritual purity and a video of an allegedly possessed person has gone viral online. Aimee Chan publicly comments that she is disturbed by Hugo's actions. Aimee's brother, Otto Chan, can accurately foresee and draw out what Hugo will do next. When Hugo is attacked, Otto, who has autism, is impacted as well.




Case #4 - Doctor Fraud
Wealthy heir Dia Yiu Ming habitually runs afoul of the law. His lawyers use mental illness as his defense. Forensic psychiatrists Edwin Siu and Oscar Leung are heavily slandered in the process. With a distaste for the rich, they deliberately alter their psychiatric assessment. The typically honest Ram Chiang is dragged into the case and he, too, lies for self-interest.




Case #5 - Utility Knife Murder
The police have determined that Ronald Law is involved in an utility-knife serial murder case, but cannot find any evidence. Alex Fong suggests to Tavia that she should investigate Ronald's girlfriend, Lee Yee Man. This leads Tavia into a trap where she is captured for bloodletting.



See Overview - A Great Way to Care 2

Official Poster for A Great Way to Care 2

Comment: The poster looks nice, but I don't get the analogies. They're all on a beach? And why the bent-up clocks?

There's been some lackluster dramas lately and this one looks to be a welcoming change. I hope this series turns out as good as the trailers make it sound. I really want to see if Tavia can convince me that she is Best Actress material with such an interesting role. 

Overview - A Great Way to Care II

Overview - A Great Way to Care II

After the death of his wife, Alex Fong joins the Department of Forensic Psychiatric. He works with his colleague Yoyo Mung to diagnosis and treat patients. In one case, they uncover crimes involving a religious cult and become acquainted with CID sergeant Tavia Yeung. The two departments begin to have a close working relationship. Tavia will often ask for Alex’s help in many complicated cases. Yoyo also looks to Alex for comfort from her relationship problems. In addition, with the support of good friends/colleagues Ram Chiang and Edwin Siu, Alex busily re-establishes his new life. Suddenly, a horrific serial murder case creates troubling waves and Alex discovers that Tavia is somehow implicated in the case…

See Preview of Cases

Character Map: