During the prime time of TVB's evening news, Sir Run Run Shaw's face, with its iconic seriousness and majesty, appeared on the screens of thousands of households across Hong Kong.
Although he acted so nonchalant in front of Fang Yihua, he still had to maintain a strong attitude to the outside world.
Personality is personality, making money is making money, but it is very important to do a good job in external face-saving work to maintain the image of TVB and oneself.
Therefore, Run Run Shaw announced on TV in a completely sad and sincere manner that TVB would donate a huge amount of money to charity, and once again repeatedly emphasized to the outside world TVB's emphasis on artist training and its contribution to Hong Kong's cultural undertakings.
At the same time, it also briefly explained that TVB's cost control and the huge amount of resources and funds invested in the training of both employees and artists. These investments in them and the growth and fame they gain as a result are essentially the more rare and precious rewards they receive.
The wording of the press release was rigorous, avoiding the main point and characterizing Jin Yong's "manifesto" as "malicious speculation" and "irresponsible attack", while focusing on promoting Sir Run Run Shaw's philanthropic deeds of donating teaching buildings and libraries on the mainland over the years.
The next day, several newspapers closely related to TVB immediately followed up and reported Sir Run Run Shaw's charitable deeds in a series of articles, with the words full of praise.
There are also several tabloids with ambiguous stances that have published articles by so-called "independent commentators" in the financial or entertainment sections.
These articles avoided core issues such as TVB's salary system and artist contracts, and instead pointed the finger at Jin Yong himself, questioning his motives for writing the critical article.
It has to be said that TVB’s clarifications and counterattacks are quite effective.
In other words, in this era, people actually just follow the crowd. Whoever controls the media and the right to speak has countless ways to change the public's perceptions and opinions.
This was not only the case in Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s, but also in mainland China later, and it remained like this until the advent of the Internet.
Therefore, when those articles specifically criticizing the intentions of Jin Yong's manifesto were published, they immediately caused quite a stir and attracted a lot of attention.
There's no way around it. Master Jin Yong has his own traffic and popularity in Hong Kong Island, not to mention that some people actually dare to accuse and scold Jin Yong. It's hard for people not to join in the fun!
"Ming Pao prides itself on its literary character, and Mr. Louis Cha is a master of martial arts.
However, the words in this manifesto are harsh and directly target Sir Run Run Shaw personally and the foundation of TVB, which makes his motives questionable.
Is it true, as rumored, that Mr. Cha’s move was instructed by a rising media tycoon?
Has the Ming Pao reputation, once a golden signboard, become a mouthpiece for capital manipulation? If so, we are truly unworthy of the trust placed in us by our readers, and even more unworthy of the heroic figures in Mr. Cha's writings!
"If the integrity of a scholar is tainted by money, that integrity becomes a hollow shell. Sir Run Run Shaw was a wealthy man, but his philanthropic work extended across Hong Kong, Kowloon, and the mainland, benefiting countless students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This was a genuine contribution to society."
On the other hand, Mr. Cha's article, while fiercely critical, lacks constructiveness, and inevitably smacks of accepting bribes and speaking for others. What a shame, what a shame for the reputation of being a 'great hero'!
These groundless and confusing remarks were like ink thrown at Jin Yong, trying to stigmatize him.
The article indicates that Jin Yong accepted benefits to speak out. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that he must have accepted benefits from Kobayashi Tenbosai.
In the tea restaurants on the streets and alleys, the citizens who were already fond of talking about the feuds between wealthy families and the ethics of literati naturally shifted their discussion slightly.
As a result, the credibility of Jin Yong's originally powerful and resonant manifesto has been cast a shadow of "profit-driven" in the minds of some people.
On the top floor of the Ming Pao Building, the lights in Louis Cha's office were on until late at night.
Outside the window, the neon lights of Central are still as bright as ever, but they cannot dispel the slightly heavy atmosphere in the room.
When editor-in-chief Wang Yang pushed the door open, he saw Louis Cha standing quietly in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window with his back to the door, his figure casting a slightly lonely reflection on the glass.
In his hand, he was holding a newspaper that contained an article attacking him, and his brows were furrowed.
It has always been Mr. Cha who criticized others in the newspapers. Who would have thought that after thirty years of ups and downs, Mr. Cha would also become the protagonist of the criticism!
"Mr. Cha, it's getting late. Are you still thinking about those comments today? Well, the day before yesterday... the day before yesterday, perhaps we shouldn't have agreed to Gao Qiaohao's article criticizing TVB. Now, they've given us an excuse to turn the tables."
When Wang Yang saw these newspaper articles today, he felt annoyed.
In his opinion, Cha Sheng was courting trouble!
It is really not worth it to have his reputation tarnished for the sake of a chance to meet the author Huang Yi.
Louis Cha turned around slowly, but his face did not show the anger or frustration that Wang Yang had expected. Instead, there was a kind of calmness that was almost cold and hard.
He placed the newspaper gently on the large mahogany desk and pointed at the shitty articles that slandered him for taking money.
"Ayang, you said we shouldn't have published that manifesto? What sentence in that article isn't true? TVB's contracts are harsh, and Sir Run Run Shaw's 'Shaw Brothers' empire was built on the blood and sweat of countless grassroots filmmakers. This is a foregone conclusion!
Should we turn a blind eye to injustices that are obvious to all just because we fear criticism? Then what kind of intellectual am I, Cha Liangyong?
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