Book review: Culture, Politics and Television in Hong Kong

Ma, Eric Kit-wai (1999) Culture, Politics and Television in Hong Kong Routledge, 242pp, ISBN 0-415-17998-x Reviewed by John HerbertThis book is a fascinating insight into the way Hong Kong works in media terms and the mind of Hong Kong pre- and post-handover. It has an excellent historical development of television in Hong Kong since the 1960s. It has highly relevant case studies drawn from television programmes to show the mind of the present and past (and to some extent the future) Hong Konger. It is a work of scholarship, most certainly, and this sometimes gives it an air of difficulty and occasional impenetrability which will probably appeal to media scientists the world over. But that is a small price to pay for the more general reader to learn some important truths about Hong Kong media and its people.