Among the very few celebrities I admire is late Hong Kong actor Kenneth Tsang.
I recently re-watched a TVB drama series that first aired in 1990, called “Blood of Good and Evil.” In this series, the protagonist is torn between loyalty and love for his surrogate father, a gang leader involved in money laundering and other criminal activities, and his biological father, a cop reputed for his dutifulness and moral righteousness. In the end, he reconciles with his biological father, from whom he has been estranged for many years, whereas the gang leader commits suicide.Â
I enjoyed more time I did last time, and it was a couple of years since I last re-watched it. I did not pay attention to what made the series so popular and critically acclaimed: the relatively straightforward plotline, very real and likeable characters, and intricacies of their emotions portrayed. Whereas the son is obviously and understandably grateful to the gangster-father, he is tortured by his new-found love for his cop-father, from whom he has been separated for over two decades, and who has been hounding the gangster relentlessly. Who loves the young protagonist more? His gangster father or his biological father? The scene in which the biological saves the protagonist by donating blood to him is telling. The cop-father would not hesitate to sacrifice for his son at the cost of his own well-being; the gangster hardly shows the slightest gratitude: he is consumed by jealousy and fear–that he would lose his adopted son to his enemy.
The plot takes us from the U.K. to Hong Kong, where most of the actions are based, back to the U.K. in the very last episode. The first three episodes set in London are very crucial, let alone enjoyable to someone like me. It is a big-budget production that features numerous reputed and popular actors as well as a few newcomers at the time, including the actress who played the protagonist’s younger sister and who delivered a fine performance but for whatever reason never appeared in any more dramas after this one. There are a few mistakes (errors, or “goofs” as Americans would call them) due to oversight. For instance, the gangster-dad’s mistress finds her missing earring at home, which means that she has not lost it at her boutique (or on her way back home). However, the earlier scenes show her wearing both earrings at her boutique. Another example is found where the female protagonist uses her red marker to highlight the date when the moon eclipse takes place. The subsequent episode, in which she refers to her calendar again, shows a different date highlighted. The audience did not seem to care back then, partly because unless they taped the episodes and replayed parts of them, they would not be able to verify the mistakes made. With YouTube, these mistakes become very glaring to the observant viewers.
***
Most, if not all, actors delivered excellent performances. Law Lok-lam, who has remained active, energetic, and respected now in his 70s, played the cop-father. Tsang Kong (Kenneth Tsang), who passed away in 2022, portrayed the gangster-father. There was so much screen chemistry among Deric Wan (the protagonist) and these two. Tsang is convincing in his performances, especially in the numerous scenes in the ending episodes where he shows his utter disappointment and rage at his son’s shifting loyalty and his desperation regarding what he deems to be the ultimate betrayal by someone to whom he has been so devoted. Yet this should not detract from the fact that he aimed to make his adopted son follow in his footsteps and take over his criminal empire.
Kenneth Tsang was such an underrated actor in the film and tv industry. His superb acting shines in both major and minor roles. I suspect that many younger viewers have taken his acting for granted, thinking that such acting is to be expected from someone of his age and with years of experience. Therefore, his fans must have been pleased when he was given the HK film academy’s best support actor award a few years before he passed. However, to those of us familiar with the versatile roles he played in both Asian and Hollywood productions, including his portrayal of the North Korean General Moon (and the father of the chief villain) in James Bond movie Die Another Day (2022), his accomplishments can be deemed to far surpass many of those multiple award winners in the city.
One can attribute Tsang’s perfect English, as shown in the Bond movie, to his background. After finishing high school in Wah Yan Kowloon, a very good high school in Hong Kong, he did a further year of high school and four years of college in the United States (at UC Berkeley) before working as a architect and then an actor. Some said, even after his passing, that he was a “cocky” person and not easy to work with. Yet can you blame a Hong Kong actor of such a background in his generation for being slightly cocky, assuming that it was true? We never heard of him bragging about his family background. Neither did we hear of people complained of his unprofessionalism. One wonders if his cockiness might have revealed itself in part due to his dissatisfaction with the lack of professionalism in some of his fellow actors. If his “cockiness” was the only negative thing that can be said about him, he was a respectable person after all.
In the years before Tsang passed, when the city was becoming increasingly turbulent, he did not show his political orientation. While people of his generation and younger are busy appeasing the authorities, we never saw him doing any of that. In fact, in an earlier interview in Wah Yan school magazine, he criticized Chinese-style education of failing to cultivate the critical thinking ability in students.
I admitted that I became teary-eyed when I heard of Tsang’s passing. It was not because I am a fan of his: I am not. His recent interviews reminded me so much of my late father: they suffered similar ailments. Moreover, Tsang died alone in a hotel room after his return from overseas travel. Many who shared my sentiments, I surmise, pictured an old uncle suffering and dying in isolation due to a draconian quarantine mandate that purported to safeguard the health and well-being of all. They had to console themselves, amid tears, that this dear uncle did live a long life–a life well lived.
***
You can’t imagine the number of cocky, classless, and mediocre (despite being well-educated) people I have encountered and unfortunately have to deal with occasionally. I wish I had been able to work with Uncle Tsang (which would have been impossible as I never worked the show business and do not even know people who worked closely with him). I hope I will still have the opportunity to work with genuinely classy people in coming years.