Hong Kong had long been a British colony. Western cultural influences started early and seeped into people’s daily life as early as the 1920s.
Cultural influences from the West took an upward turn in the 1950s, firstly through films. During the time when Wong Jum-sum grew up, the number of Western films on show every year was never less than 200. The West was also prominent in radio broadcast. Thanks to the work of progressive radio show hosts like Aileen Woods and Uncle Ray, a whole generation came to be exposed to all styles and genres of Western pop music. They helped to nurture a world where one could embrace simultaneously the diverse sound and sentiments of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Benny Goodman. A new collective outlook was thus embodied in the skin and bone of the baby boomer generation.
Local popular culture has this tendency to absorb the new, especially from the esteemed West. It did that fervently since the 1950s, when many American tunes were adapted for local use. That shows the general superiority of Western pop in terms of talents and production - a state of affairs nicely captured in the lyrics of a song for the film Annie Get your Gun – ‘anything you can do, I can do better’.
If you have doubt, just listen to a song selected for this section – Woodpecker Song, sung by Gracie Fields, and compare it with the local adapted version Kitchen Song, sung by Chou Chung and Lui Hung. After this, you will understand why many people feel the modernization of Chinese culture has a long road ahead.
