Safe Guards

Cast:

Steven Ma - Sheung Chi
Elaine Yiu - Lik Cheung-fung
Wayne Lai - Sheung Chung
Wong Chi Yin - Sheung Hau
Lai Lok Yi - Sheung Yee
Ko Fung - Sheung Ching-tong
Cheung Tsi-kwong - 3rd Uncle (youngest brother of Ching-tong)

Foreword:
This serial garnered one of the top ratings in 2006, peaking at 43 points during its last episode. It was also Steven Ma's first TVB serial after a 3-year hiatus since 2003. A stellar production which doesn't boast an eye-catching cast, with an engaging storyline.

Storyline:

The renowned Wui Yau Safety Services has been managed by the respectable Sheung family for 3 generations. Albeit appearing to be a lucrative and prospering business, it has been actually suffering losses constantly. The Sheung family consists of the Chief Sheung Ching-tong,and his 4 different-natured sons. The eldest son Sheung Chung is reckless, hot-headed and greedy by nature, allowing his wife's brother and gang of safe guards to scrap money incessantly from the business. The second son Sheung Hau is a loyal,yet power-driven person,turning from good to bad during half of the series. To the contrary, the adopted third son Sheung Chi is a good-natured and docile person,however due to his status as an adopted son he is being restricted and ostracized by many things around him. The fourth son Sheung Yee has been studying abroad, being a good-natured person just like Chi.

Due to Ching-tong getting on in years, Chung and Hau have been yearning to take over the business. However when Ching-tong stated that the business will be handed over to Chi in his will after his death, the family begins to fall apart as Chi's newly-introduced policies to reform the decadent business causes constant disputes as Hau, after being chased out of the family due to his severe folly instigates the guards to turn against the Sheung Family. Fortunately, female guard Cheung-fong has been standing by Chi all the time. Soon Yee returns from overseas and discovers that the Imperial Court is planning to build railways all over the country and that began the demise of convoying services. Hence Chi, Chung and Yee thought of reforming Wui Yau into a shipping service and after braving through all difficulties, everything falls into place as they receive the ship patent and the flag of Wui Yau,once seen everywhere on the road, is now flaunting proudly on the seas.

Characters :

Sheung Chi - A docile, intelligent, good-natured and a martial arts adept. Although being the adopted son of the family, he's also the most competent one out of the four. Standing by the family's side during times of difficulty, Ching-tong has grown to love him and his mother finally erases all her bias and treats him as one of her own. Being a tough person at the same time, taking each bullet thrown at him like a real man, that's what he is.

Lik Cheung-fung - Started off as a timid girl who aspires to be a female safe guard at Wui Yau,albeit having no martial arts background. Standing by Chi at all times,they soon get married and aids Chi and the Sheung family in regaining their prosperity.

Sheung Chung - A hot-headed, avaricious person who is at constant loggerheads with Hau and Chi. However, soon after, through taming by his father and Chi, he turns from bad to good and is determined to become a more useful person.

Sheung Hau - In contrast to Chung, he was the loyal brother of Chi, often sticking by him and helping him in making the decisions. However after a moment of folly of committing adultery with Chi's aide Fo Yeung-hang's wife, he absconds and turns against the Sheung family along with his 1st Uncle, who is Ching-tong's elder brother.

Sheung Yee - A well-learned refined young man of calibre studying abroad. After coming back from overseas, he suggests and helps Chi with the water transporting service.

Sheung Ching-tong - The chief and 2nd generation of Wui Yau. Being an open-minded and impartial person by nature, he willingly hands over the business to Chi and dies halfway through the serial with a written will that affects the whole family's fate in the last few episodes.

3rd Uncle - He's the younger brother of Ching-tong. In contrast to his elder brother and second brother Ching-tong, he's an idle, laidback yet apt person with lots of plans filled in his mind to save the family in times of trouble.

Cast Performances:

Steven Ma (Sheung Chi) - First serial after a 3-year hiatus! What can I say? He kept his standard and has learned how to act with a particularly loud voice that involves a lot of hollering to the other guards in the serial. Really good but not earth-shackling delivering from Steven as I felt Wayne outshined him, however, great for a comeback. 4/5

Elaine Yiu(Cheung-fung) - I hated her character and acting so much in the first half of the series before she was married to Chi! I believe you will have the same sentiments as me as she was doing basically nothing but crying most of the time! For instance when she learned that she had killed Suen Ying, she just kept crying,crying and crying until I just practically said shut up to the TV. LOL. But anyway, she turned for the better after she was married to Chi, taking on a much more understanding and calm persona. Much more space for improvement though. 3/5

Wayne Lai(Sheung Chung) - He's my favourite character out of this serial! His acting was so outstanding that he outshined Steven basically. Every emotion, every action of Sheung Chung he performed to perfection. Please TVB, cast him in leading roles, he definitely has the ability to pull it off. 5/5

Wong Chi Yin(Sheung Hau) - He was ok, probably delivering one of the weaker performances. He was supposed to be evil, yet he was not expressing his angst nor his malevolence throroughly. Overall, he was ok, not good or great in any way, but bearable. 3.5/5

Lai Lok Yi(Sheung Yee) - Um. This character appeared tooooo late in the serial (later in episode 21 I think) and there's no space for his character development, aside from offering the idea of water transporting to Chi and contributing to the Sheung's regain of prosperity. Chris was ok, just average, maybe due to the fact that he had less screentime. 3.5/5

Ko Fung(Sheung Ching-tong) - He's one of my favourite veteran supporting actors, along with Paul Chun and Benz Hsu. As usual, he delivers an effortless performance and I really empathized with his character, when basically so many people angered him and never apologized. Love this character for his impartiality of handing the business over to an outsider (Chi) for his capability. 4/5

Cheung Tsi-kwong (3rd Uncle) - He was good, but not great here. Portrayed the character adequately, and his look really suited the persona and temperament of the wise 3rd Uncle. Passable. 3.5/5

Other Random Facts....

- During the scenes where they transport the goods along terrains,the safe guards would shout "Hop Ng" constantly. It actually refers to identifying themselves as guards and telling the bandits in the territory to treat them as friends and allow them access.

- Convoying services began their demise when railways were beginning to be built and modernization began in China. Soon into the late 19th century, trains and steam ships took land convoying.

- In the serial, they mentioned the long-haired bandits, whom they referred to as the Taiping Rebels. In history, it was a factual event when in 1854, the Taiping Revolt happened in China during the Xianfeng reign.

- Being a safe guard was an extremely dangerous job, yet a lucrative occupation. Due to the fact that the chances of getting ambushed and killed by bandits while transporting the goods are high, the salary for guards was often lucrative as a guard receives a basic salary and extra commission is given for each assignment completed.

Conclusion:

Definitely a serial worth watching. Constant surprises and twists in the convoluted plot almost every episode are bound to make you glued to the TV and it definitely deserved the high viewership rate in HK. It also introduces the less-known convoying trade in ancient China to broaden our horizons; a good story with a worthy cast.