Raise your hands up for freedom! Yet another artist is leaving TVB : this time around, it's veteran actor Ha Yu (夏雨) – with his contract ending on April 30th, Ha Yu has decided not to renew, thereby becoming a free artist. After he regains his freedom, will he be joining CTI or NowTV? Or perhaps head up North (Mainland China) to dig for gold? He'll decide when the time comes.
Ha Yu started with TVB in the Chinese Folklore 《民間傳奇》era (1974 to 1977), left the company briefly to immigrate to Canada, then returned in 2000, where he has remained for the past 12 years. During this time, he soared to popularity with Heart of Greed 《溏心風暴》 and experienced record-breaking ratings the following year with Moonlight Resonance《家好月圓》 , for which he also took home the TV King award. His nickname in the past was 'bulging veins' (青筋現) [TN: a phrase meaning 'having a fiery temper' or 'getting upset easily'], but now, this 'old horse' is no longer constantly 'fired up.': "TVB is quite good to me and we've had a pleasant collaboration all these years, however the pay outside is at least two times that of what I'd get here and in some cases even higher – I'm pretty much leaving because of money."
At 66 years old, Ha Yu reiterated that he is NOT retiring just yet – he's merely changing environments in the hopes of earning more money so that his wife and children in Canada can have a more financially stable life: "I don't know how many more years I'll be able to work – since TVB is my 'maternal home', hopefully they give me the chance to go out and earn more money while I still can."
TVB's salary typically on the low side
At the end of March, our reporter had invited Ha Yu for an interview – since his series Daddy Good Deeds 《當旺爸爸》 was airing, it would have been good timing for promotion, however Ha Yu replied at that time: "Contact me in mid-April instead, as that would be a better time to talk."
As a result, we sat down for this interview after Daddy Good Deeds had already finished airing – since the ratings for the series were quite high, there was no more need for promotion, so the topic of 'leaving the nest' came up instead: "I've had a 'per series' contract with TVB all this time and actually still have one series left, but with the contract expiring at the end of April and less than 10 days left, it's too late to start another series."
According to Ha Yu's contract, even if the company is not able to start filming on the remaining series before it expires, they are still required to pay his salary. Since the company was at a disadvantage in this instance, Ha Yu wanted to handle the situation carefully, so he delayed the interview with us [Mingpao] until the middle of April (closer to his contract end date) – hopefully TVB won't be unhappy.
"I thought about it (contract renewal) for a long time – in fact, the company and I had several discussions about it and there were also talks about a raise, but the offer was not as desirable as outside. Therefore, I decided to return to being a free artist. Currently, I have not signed to any other company and there is nothing unpleasant about my collaboration with TVB – after collaborating with them for more than 30 years, I am leaving primarily because of money. For many years, TVB was the only major TV station in town and therefore ruled the industry – their pay has always been on the low side, but in the past, if you don't work for TVB, who else could you work for? There was no choice. This year though, with the addition of 3 more TV stations, there are more opportunities – in fact, the offers from all the other TV stations are way better than TVB, as all of them offer pay that is more than 100% greater, in some cases even more!"
It is rumored that Ha Yu might join NowTV to once again collaborate with Moonlight Resonance and Daddy Good Deeds producers Lau Ka Ho (劉家豪) and Mui Siu Ching (梅小青): "After Ka Ho and Siu Ching left, they did talk to me, but they've only been with their new job for a little over a week. Their overall direction is to collaborate with Mainland and tomorrow they will be going to visit Hunan Television and Zhejiang Television, however they won't be able to come up with a plan until they return – a lot of details are not yet known. Therefore, the rumor that they pulled me to join them when they left is false. I am returning to 'freelance' status first – if in the future there is an appropriate opportunity to collaborate with NowTV, I'm sure they will seek me out."
No desire to win TV King twice
CTI's Ricky Wong has been anxious to recruit new artists and has even been setting his sights on artists who are currently still contracted with TVB – with Ha Yu's confirmed decision to leave TVB, of course he will become a recruitment target: "Mr Wong already sought me out last year, but I did not sign with him. We had dinner together and I told him that since I'm still contracted with TVB, I definitely would not sign with him. He did follow up later on as well, but I insisted on waiting until end of April to discuss further – he also made me an offer, but I have not decided yet."
With his current situation, Ha Yu admits that he welcomes all offers to collaborate, but will be basing his decision on whichever company can pay the most: "I'm not young anymore and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to do this – plus it's hard to say whether I'll continue to lead series [at TVB] and I don't want to wait until I'm no longer needed to leave."
In 2005, Ha Yu won the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance in the series My Family《甜孫爺爺》—being the fiery-tempered person he was at the time, he felt that he should have been male lead, so he was not too happy with a 'supporting actor' award. In 2007, for Heart of Greed, his name was listed after that of Moses Chan (陳豪) and Raymond Lam (林峯) on the promotional poster, which resulted in him complaining about the company [TVB] not respecting experienced veteran artists; in the end, it was the veteran artists – 'Dai Kai' (Louise Lee), 'Sai Kai' (Susanna Kwan), and 'Bau Bau' (Ha Yu) – who shot to popularity because of the series. Finally, things had changed and 'parent' level artists were elevated to a higher status.
"I feel that myself as well as Louise [Lee], Michelle [Yim], etc. all contributed greatly to the success [of the series]." That year, Ha Yu desperately wanted to win the TV King award but in the end, lost to 'Dak Dak Dei' Moses Chan. In 2008, with his role as 'Joe Bau' in Moonlight Resonance, Ha Yu finally won the TV King award and with that, his fiery temper subsided.
"What is there to fight over now? I received what I should have received already [TV King award], so I have no desire to receive it again – it's the truth! With so many artists at TVB and quite a few amongst them in lead roles, it could take years rotating through everyone. I'm already happy that my many years of hard work was finally being recognized. To get the award, it requires so many things to be 'aligned' – good script, good cast and crew, good production, good promotion, good ratings, etc. – it's harder than reaching the sky! And for this to happen again in order to win it twice is even harder! Plus, even though I've been at TVB for 30-40 years – longer than most of their 'biological' sons, the fact of the matter is that I'm not 'biological' – so it's best to go out and earn some money first! Seeing how healthy and active Chow Chung (周驄) and Wu Fung (胡楓) are still, I should be able to work for another 10 years at least – though when it comes to our health, it's hard to say. Since I still have the energy and ability right now to push ahead, I want to seize the opportunity."
Ha Yu expressed that TVB should be understanding of his mentality at this point in his career: "They even told me that it's impossible for them to give me the same amount of money as outside and even if I go to the Mainland, I will only earn a certain amount."
Lost money with real estate in Canada
The year that Ha Yu won TV King, Ms. Lok [head of production and resources Virginia Lok] had expressed interest in signing him and Michelle Yim to full management contracts. They discussed it a few times, however in the end it was left up in the air – as a result, neither of them signed.
Later on, an acquaintance from the Mainland wanted to offer Ha Yu a job opportunity – he asked the acquaintance to contact TVB to arrange it, however the response that the person ended up getting was 'he [Ha Yu] has no room in his schedule.' Actually, the artists department never even contacted Ha Yu to ask him whether he was available or not – based on this action, Ha Yu knew full well in his heart what was going on; to his understanding, the same situation occurred at least 2 to 3 times more: "I cannot blame the company – as a business organization, it makes sense that they would take care of their own artists first; it's not surprising at all."
Ha Yu expressed that he has a few opportunities coming up: from May to July, he might host a variety program for a rival TV station or he might film a series in Mainland China (depending on whether the production team wants to utilize HK or Mainland artists) – he has not committed to either opportunity out of consideration for TVB's feelings, as he didn't want them to think that he had signed with another company while still contracted with them.
In August, he will be filming a series in Singapore for 2 months: "Last year, I filmed a small production in Singapore and it became the highest rated series of the year, so they invited me back to film the sequel – the pay is twice that of TVB's."
Ha Yu is not shy about admitting that he is taking money into consideration – it was rumored earlier that he had lost 60% of his assets during the Asian Financial Crisis: "It actually wasn't that bad – I lost a little in investments and in real estate, but it wasn't as reported. I'm not one to take huge risks, so I will never be rich but I also will never have big losses either."
There were recent reports that he had invested in real estate that yielded huge profits, however Ha Yu explained that in actuality, he was financing the property through a mortgage and actually only broke even: "In 2000, when our whole family decided to return to HK, we sold our house in Canada for a price below the market value – now the property is worth a lot more than that!"
Not long after the family returned to HK, Ha Yu's wife felt that it was better for the children to get an education in Canada instead, so she returned to Canada with their 3 children while Ha Yu stayed behind to work in HK. Though he has made some money over the years via investments and real estate, Ha Yu expressed that with the constant traveling between HK and Canada, the financial burden is actually quite huge.
Over 1 million HKD in living expenses per year
As the primary breadwinner in his family, Ha Yu admits that the financial pressure definitely exists. He has 2 sons and 1 daughter – his eldest son is 22 years old and studying arts in his 3rd year of college, his second son is 20 years old and also a college student, his youngest daughter is 14 years old: "We created educational funds for each them to use for their schooling once they reached 20 years old."
His eldest son likes singing and has aspirations to join the entertainment industry – in fact, he won first place at a singing contest in Canada not too long ago: "I did explain to him that nowadays, it's very hard to make a living as a singer, as 9 out of 10 albums lose money -- artists such as Kevin Cheng and Bowie Lam started out as singers, but it wasn't until they entered TVB and became popular that they returned to singing. I explained to him the difficulties of this industry and how unstable it can be, as you never know when you'll encounter the right opportunity – it could take 3 years, 5 years, or even 10 years. I wanted to make sure he's prepared."
Many younger generation born after the 80s and 90s are used to 'enjoying life' and so are not always aware of the difficulties in making a living: "The burden on my shoulders is quite large, as the living expenses are high – others may not be aware, but having to take care of family in Canada, HK, as well as my children's educations, the expenses are as high as 1 million HKD each year. Therefore, I need to work hard to make more money."
Ha Yu admits that leaving TVB was not an easy decision to make – after all, TVB is the place where he grew up and also made a name for himself. Even though he is already 66 years old, he is grateful that his health is still good, he's still alert, and his memory is good: "Of course, there are the 'small illnesses' that come with old age, such as high blood pressure and occasional arthritis, so at this moment in my career, I wouldn't be able to film kung fu series."
Hopes to film a series in the Mainland
Since returning to TVB in 2000, Ha Yu has gained much fame and popularity, however he states: "Actually, I don't make much money just relying on TVB's salary. After I won TV King, there were more opportunities to travel and perform on stage, which is what brought in more money."
Luckily, in recent years, the entertainment industry has become more 'old-age' driven, resulting in experienced veteran artists having higher market value. Watching the HK Film Awards and seeing veteran artists such as Deanie Ip, Lo Hoi Pang, So Hung Suen winning awards, it's quite encouraging: "Listening to Deanie's acceptance speech, she said that she is already 60 years old and never imagined she would get the chance to go up on that stage – it was very moving to hear."
Though Mainland China is considered by many as a 'gold mine' for artists, Ha Yu states that due to his age, he's not necessarily the first choice of most Mainland producers: "There are limitations that they can only utilize 5 HK artists in a production, so of course they are going to choose siu sangs and fa dans first. There are fewer opportunities for artists of my age – plus I'm quite picky when it comes to choosing roles – in the past, there have been offers to do cameos in a few episodes, but I declined. At TVB, I was still doing lead roles, plus it's not like we are in dire need of money, so there's no need to lower my standards."
After becoming a free artist again, Ha Yu hopes to have the opportunity to film a Mainland series: "One reason is because I came from Mainland and second is because I can use my own voice to speak Mandarin – I've hosted TV shows before in Taiwan and when I first started out in HK working for RTV [Rediffusion Television], I performed various skits in Mandarin. There's no language barrier for me."
When he says he 'came from Mainland', Ha Yu is referring to the time back in 1962 when, at the age of 17, he stole across the border from Guangzhou (China) to HK, making the difficult trek through Shenzhen and climbing mountains as well as deserted areas. He started off doing hard labor at a construction site, then later joined the Shaw brothers acting classes, entered RTV, then jumped ship to TVB – at the blink of an eye, it has already been 50 years.
After leaving TVB, if he gets the opportunity to film a Mainland series, Ha Yu wouldn't consider it as merely 'digging gold' in the Mainland – for him, it's akin to returning to his village home.
'Rain House' (雨房)
Ha Yu uses an iPhone 4S and his wallpaper is a picture of himself and his daughter – whenever he can, he tries to keep up with the latest technology, including learning how to use apps and taking pictures with special effects to upload on Weibo. He says that Niki Chow and Michelle Yim helped him open his Weibo account and currently he has over 10,000 followers – he learned how to use the computer to accept scripts over 10 years ago, as he didn't want to fall too far behind with technology trends.
He also has a creative mind – hanging on the door of his house in Sai Kung, a wooden engraved sign reads 'Yu Fang' [TN: literally translated as 'Rain House']: "It's just for fun actually. I had come up with 2 names – 'Yu Fang' (雨房) and 'Ha Lau' (夏樓) – but ended up using only 'Yu Fang'. The sign was a gift from my fans in the Mainland."
Source: Mingpao Weekly, Issue 2267
Translated by: llwy12 @ AsianFanatics
