Abstract
This essay looks into the decolonizing history of public service television in Hong Kong, both before and after the handover in 1997. Making visible the origins of the television unit of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), which was directly linked to the 1967 riots—an unprecedented challenge to the legitimacy of British colonial rule, I accentuate the significance of Hong Kong television in a commonwealth, noncommercial television network. Furthermore, by analyzing the contexts and textual features of selected television programs such as Bridge (1978) and Headliner (1989–2020), I theorize the notion of “decolonial vernaculars” to highlight the reflections and critiques of the authorities in television history, their use of vernacular languages and cultural forms, as well as their articulation of grassroots struggles.
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Notes
- 1.
One typical example of the state-sponsored discourse on decolonization can be found in this online article published by state-owned media Ta Kung Pao, http://www.takungpao.com/opinion/233119/2021/0521/587711.html.
- 2.
- 3.
An example is Report on the Study of Public Service Broadcasting for Hong Kong, Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting, October 2006. https://www.legco.gov.hk/yr05-06/english/panels/itb/papers/itb-rpt061009-e.pdf.
- 4.
The charter of RTHK can be found at https://www.rthk.hk/aboutus?lang=en.
- 5.
The episode is available on the RTHK Web site, https://podcast.rthk.hk/podcast/item.php?pid=801&eid=51309&lang=en-US.
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Tan, J. (2022). Decolonizing Hong Kong Television: Decolonial Vernaculars and the History of RTHK. In: Liu, W., Chien, J., Chung, C., Tse, E. (eds) Reorienting Hong Kong’s Resistance. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4659-1_10
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