Prior to Joe Ma's entry into showbiz, he was a police officer and has been in G4 (VIP Protection Unit) before. He protected several political figures including former governor, Chinese high official, and even Prince Charles and Princess Diana. This year is Queen Elizabeth's 60th anniversary on the throne and since Hong Kong used to be under British rule, the people of HK have a special feeling for royal family of England. Joe feels honored to have protected the Prince and Princess before! Joe had been with TVB for 18 years and gain recognition from Triumph in the Skies. He said it was all based on luck, even if it he's promoted to a Siu Sang, he still got no awards!
JOE: I was a police officer before I entered showbiz. At the time, I wanted to help my family out and thought police was a stabled job. Also, I was very passionate back then and wanted to contribute to society. After spending two years at the police training school, I graduated and became an uniform officer. I remember my first time on beat with a colleague and wrote the ticket wrong. That time, I thought being in the police was like what you see in those cop and robber movies, but I didn't encounter any big cases, it was quite peaceful.
The most frightening time was when I was chasing after a thief. Actually I'm considered athletic, but when you have to run in an uniform and carry a police duty belt, it is a different story. I really think the police uniform is set up all wrong, and we had to run in leather shoes while holding onto our cap too. The entire uniform is like over 10 pounds, it's basically impossible to catch the thief, so stupid! A year later, I switched to being an officer responsible for handling disturbances and demonstrations, but then after another year, I switched to being a police without the uniform. I still had to carry a gun, but never used it. People say it's a good thing. I used handcuffs before to detain the criminal though, but then I didn't feel it was challenging enough, so I applied into G4. At the time I was only 20 years old.
Protected Prince Charles and Princess Diana
G4 is primarily responsible for protecting political figures. I've protected Prince Charles and Princess Diana before, as well as former Singapore prime minister (Lee Kuan Yew), former Chinese high official and the former governor. I really think I'm lucky, since I could be on the same elevator as the royal family. Prince Charles is a gentleman, who gave me a strong feeling of nobility. Princess Diana is very nice and friendly. One time she was shopping in Central and asked me to carry her bags, but I said I cannot do that. She was very understanding and carried her own bags.
After 3 or 4 years in G4, I changed jobs and became a model. I was in the police force before, so I had and ideal body figure for a model. Then I encountered a TVB person and they told me its a good company. At the time, my salary as a police was HK$12,000, and at TVB it was only HK$9000, but there will be other income when your an artist, so I decided to sign a contract with them.
When I first entered TVB, they were preparing to shoot a Wynners' series The Chord to Victory and said I was going to be Kenny Bee or Anthony Chan, but that never happened. Wallace Chung took the role. My first official series was Heroes From Shaolin, I was a really annoying villain. Actually I never learned acting before, but what I remember most was one time we were shooting at a Buddhist monastery, I didn't know anything. Luckily Eddie Cheung and the other artists led me into character! The first few years at TVB, all of my roles were villains. I asked the producer why I'm the only one playing these roles? He said I'm tall and good as the antagonist.
18 Years with TVB, Didn't Get a Single TVB Award
I was in the industry for 7 years before I finally got to participate in 2000's The Threshold of an Era. Although I was still a villain, at least I got a supporting role. I was no longer in the third or fifth line. At least when I go out, there were reporters who wanted to interview me. That time, I still remember I had scenes opposite of Liza Wang, she is a very serious and a prepared person. She's always advising me and said that artists should always be aware of surroundings, even if I'm not working. I thought Ah Jeh (Liza) was very professional. She's definitely my idol and mentor!
Then I was given a role in Triumph in the Skies. It was my first time I got a taste of being popular. Later, when I was helping Flora Chan shoot an MV in Stanley, there were suddenly 30-40 students chasing after me. It turns out they just wanted to take pictures and get my autograph. TITS was such a success, but I didn't even get one My Favorite Character award at TVB. At the time of the anniversary awards, only 10 episodes aired and my scenes didn't come until after 20 something episodes. The next anniversary was already too far, so sometimes it's about luck. Actually Revolving Doors of Vengeance was a pretty popular hit too, but I still didn't get any awards. I've been with TVB for 18 years and didn't get a single award, even I think that is one of my regrets!
Source: Oriental Daily
Translated by: aZnangel @ AsianEU Forum
