Dubbese fu recuperates the dismissal of the ‘poorly dubbed’ English-language voice tracks in the
Hong Kong kung fu films that became globally popular and profitable starting in 1973 as a position
that improperly valorizes only the perfect lip synchronization version of the audiovisual contract.
Instead of one, there is a total of three possibilities with Italy representing a looser version and the
films of Hong Kong’s kung fu wave representing the imperfect version. The internationalization
strategy adopted by Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest identified the necessity of voice dubbings
into the target market’s language, which in the case of the United States, required English dubbings
since the goal was to become appealing to mainstream rather than art cinema audiences. The
history of English dubbing studios in Hong Kong, the key individuals who made it happen, and
the working conditions of the dubbing process are recreated to uncover how imperfect lip
synchronization became a new aesthetic norm.

From the works of Auguste Perret to Tadao Ando, current literature in the history of Modern Architecture often describe the choice of exposing concrete finishes as the architect’s intention to maintain ‘honesty’ in material expression and in doing so, responded to the dogmas of Modern Architecture. These literature largely focused on exposed in-situ concrete texture and painted the architect as the mastermind behind this aesthetic choice. This paper argues that cement-based building finishes, such as cement plaster and terrazzo, played an equally important role in defining the aesthetics of Modern Architecture. The diffusion of these cement finishes was a combined effort of industrialists, researchers, contractors, clients, and architects, and involved an uneven process of experimentations, local adaptations and transferal of techniques among different nations.

This paper attempts to establish this conceptual network and name some of the key actors. In 1936, the UK Building Research Board in London were tasked to research the appearance of exposed cement and concrete. A gigantic ‘Accelerated Weathering Machine’ was built to study the effect of weather on the cement and concrete finishes. An expedition team was sent to mainland Europe to study cement plastering techniques in other countries. The study concluded that the technique of cement plastering in Britain was far from satisfactory due to lack of skilled labour and specialised knowledge. Meanwhile, in the British colonial Hong Kong and Penang, cement plaster and terrazzo were used extensively in building projects throughout the 1930s. A specialised cement plaster called ‘Shanghai Plaster’ was popular in colonial Southeast Asia regions and was used in both private and public projects. Such ‘unevenness’ within the Empire demonstrated that the diffusion of modern construction techniques and knowledge were far more complex than an unilateral transfer from the coloniser’s ‘metropolis’ to the colonised ‘outposts’. Western architects and communities in the these regions often had to sought local or regional adaptations of Western building technologies, creating hybridised techniques that are specific to the colonial context.

Using lesser-known private building projects in British colonial Hong Kong and Penang between 1930s and 1950s, this paper seek to re-assemble the network of anonymous actors through which the modern techniques in exposed cement finishes were transferred. It argues that Modern Architecture in the region were not solely a result of Western cultural domination during the colonial era, but rather a process of intercultural and transnational exchanges and hybridisation through a network of less well-known, or even anonymous actors. Such a model is crucial in shaping a postcolonial understanding of the cultural processes in building design and construction.

How could the wider context of decolonization and a comparative approach help understand the end of British rule in Hong Kong, which was often considered an anomaly in colonialism? Using recently declassified British documents, this article examines how the Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils (UMELCO), a group of influential local leaders, participated in the Sino-British negotiations over Hong Kong’s future, as well as its broader significance. The negotiations were a seminal event defining Hong Kong’s developments since then. The article first shows that, despite the fond memories of some Hong Kong people, UMELCO’s hard line had limited influence on British policy. This does not mean, however, that their participation was insignificant. Comparing Hong Kong with similar cases like China’s Weihaiwei and India’s Pondicherry, the article argues that UMELCO belonged to the ‘loyalist’ elites, little explored in studies of decolonization or nationalist historiography, who preferred not independence but the alternatives. They defended colonial rule in an attempt to preserve their unique identity and economic prospects, especially when its alternative might have been worse. UMELCO’s influence was more limited than expected as London pressed the Governor Edward Youde to toe its lines more often than usual. This demonstrates that London successfully intervened at critical junctures in the late-colonial period rather than simply acquiesced to Hong Kong’s relative autonomy. Aiming to preserve the existing hierarchical system, UMELCO indirectly fueled the rise of the ‘Hong Konger’ identity and calls for democracy, which could weaken the system they valued. The way that their support for moderate reforms gave way to tougher demands has parallels in decolonizing movements elsewhere like India. Citing the concept of ‘imported state’, the article suggests that the colonial state was largely retained when Hong Kong became ‘postcolonial’ under a supposedly anti-colonial China, a phenomenon common in decolonization.

This paper aims to argue that Father Franco Mella, an Italian Catholic missionary in Hong Kong, is a forerunner of Hong Kong Christians who strive for a just society. First, Mella’s thoughts on liberation theology, rooted in the teachings of Vatican II and the thoughts of Lorenzo Milani and Maoism, are introduced. Second, how his practice serves as a living example of Mao’s struggle ethic and a preferential option for the poor is illustrated. Through the praxis of hunger strike, he transforms the violent ethics of revolution into a form of nonviolent resistance. To conclude, his fight against injustice is an exemplar of liberation theology for Hong Kong Christians in responding to injustice in the post-Umbrella Movement era.

This article examines two state documents that signpost the colonial history of Hong Kong: the Treaty of Nanking (1842) ushered in the era of British control while the Sino-British Joint Declaration (1984) spelled the end of British colonial rule and inaugurated the handover process that concluded in 1997. Exploring these documents beyond a textual analysis of their content, this article extends the investigation to include the materiality of the original documents the two states exchanged. Signed 142 years apart, these documents showcase not only the two governments’ agreement over Hong Kong but also, more importantly, the challenges in resolving differences in the culture of documents and the problematic arrival at a common platform as “international standards” emerged. More than just a resolution of archaic confusions in interstate relationships, the changing protocols reflect the conflicts between two great powers. Shifting the focus from the content of the text to the materiality of the documents, this article highlights the state-to-state negotiation over the culture of documents that conventional textual exegesis often overlooks, and underscores the enduring legacy of the 19th-century encounter that continues to haunt Sino-British relations and Hong Kong today.

Cathay Pacific’s shifting shareholder base underscores the dynamic interactions between the state and the market in an ever-changing geopolitical landscape. Focusing on its later transformation from a British airline, this article explores how Cathay Pacific refashioned its shareholding to respond to the shifting political climate of Hong Kong. In the protracted process through which Britain yielded jurisdictional power of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China, Cathay Pacific responded preemptively, first by enhancing its local profile, and then by appealing to economic nationalism of the sovereign state poised to take charge. The privately owned airline fashioned its corporate nationality in a bid to negotiate with political forces that affected its business development. The case of Cathay Pacific demonstrates how, in the absence of warfare, companies still need to mitigate political risks in a fluid geopolitical setting. By modifying its shareholding, Cathay Pacific crafted its corporate nationality, which proved instrumental in allaying political risks and managing business relationship with the state. The airline’s strategy attests to its dexterity as well as the pliability of the notion of “corporate nationality,” winning management the “license to operate”—legitimacy and state sponsorship—during a period of swift geopolitical shifts.

This paper examines the dynamics between cultural ideals and political powers enacted in women’s cross-dressing performance in Cantonese opera, a regional operatic form that has been shared by Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong and Guangdong in mainland China since the early twentieth century. Despite their popularity in Hong Kong, cross-dressing actresses are sometimes viewed as “fake men” or only substitutes for male actors. Contextualizing this stigma within Hong Kong’s colonial history and the cultural inferiority complex deeply rooted among Hongkongers, I investigate how the discourse of gender authenticity intersects with that of the cultural authenticity of Chineseness. This paper shows that the female cross-dressing body in Cantonese opera is not an appropriation of privileged masculinity or Chineseness. Rather, it is a performative means for problematizing orthodox and peripheral Chineseness.

In protests, music and sound often play a cardinal role in unifying individuals via social performances in which they voice out mutual political demands. During the 79-day Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong in the autumn of 2014, many forms of music and sound that are expected in local protests were heard, including slogan-chanting, booing, and the collective singing of Cantopop songs. However, performances of “Happy Birthday to You” and other “inappropriate” songs—that is, “nonsensical” events—were heard as well. These sonic events first occurred unexpectedly and ironically in the demonstration sites, but were nonetheless grasped and performed as a political act, functioning as nonviolent weapons used to “attack” political opponents. These nonsensical musical acts soon began to make sense or sound meaningful as protesters recontextualized the lighthearted nature of these songs to particular situations in the protest and adapted this paradoxical experience into the idea of 無 厘 頭 mouleitau, a cultural phenomenon that appears in Hong Kong films and other media platforms to represent a sense of localism. Drawing from insights in musicology, sound studies and critical theory, this article adopts an interdisciplinary approach to study the role of these unexpected sounds in the Umbrella Movement. In particular, this article explores how and why nonsensical musical acts were appropriated and put to political use in the protest space.

This essay explores the queer literary modernism of Hong Kong and Singapore since the 1990s to
make several interventions. While the two cities have been studied as exemplars of postcolonial
state formation in which finance capitalism contributes to the rise of modernity, their queer
modernism in the literary and cultural spheres has largely escaped comparative studies. To
address this blind spot, I examine two literary texts of gay male urbanism, namely Bryan Yip’s
2003 Hong Kong queer novel, Suddenly Single and Johann S. Lee’s 1992 coming-of-age queer
Singaporean novel, Peculiar Chris, as cases of “queer vernacularism.” Specifically, Yip and Lee’s
queer vernacular modernism—especially their references to Hong Kong and Singaporean popular
culture, urban space, and soundscapes of modernity—altogether exceeds the familiar boundary
of queer transnationalism and actualizes other modes of minor transnational desire. This essay
concludes with a brief analysis of Yonfan’s 1995 Hong Kong film Bugis Street, which visualizes the
bygone past of Singapore’s 1950–1970s sexual utopia and transgender imaginary.

This article reframes China's Reform era by highlighting China's expanding ties to global capitalism through Hong Kong in the 1970s. It demonstrates that the British colony was a hub of commercial activities that were reconnecting the People's Republic of China (PRC) with the global economy before 1978, from renewed Sino-US trade and the importation of foreign technology to compensation trade ventures and the distribution of international publications. These activities and warming Sino-US relations convinced elite Hong Kong executives that substantial economic reforms were coming to the PRC. As a result, throughout the 1970s, the multinational corporate community connected with Hong Kong's American Chamber of Commerce actively prepared for future opportunities by studying the PRC's economic and legal systems and cultivating both PRC and US officials. The article concludes by showing how these pre-1978 activities molded China's post-1978 efforts to pursue export-driven development.