This Land Is Mine

Foreword
This drama spells a golden cast that you will not get to see again. It
shows the rare appearances of Wong Hung Sau and Chan Yuk Lin in a
modern drama. Chan Yuk Lin worked Tong Chun Yip in here before ‘Demi
Gods, Semi Devils’ and ‘The Wild Bunch’. It is also the first time
Chung Yan acts as a couple with Fung Bo Bo. It is about villagers in
Ho village in New Terriorities.

Story/Introduction on characters

1. Cheung Tin Pui - Yam Tak Wah
Tin Pui is a delivery man in Shing’s fertilizer shop after completing
his secondary education. See Ngar is still a student when she falls
for Tin Pui. He is smart, hardworking and righteous. Even after she is
raped, his love for her had never changed.

Every successful man has a woman behind his back. The case is not the
same as here as Tin Pui is always living in See Ngar’s shadow. The gap
between them is wide even though he continues his studies. That spells
conflicts when she tends to neglect him due to her career at times.

2. Ho Mun Tat - Lau Chung Yan
He is very capable and also resourceful. He can be very power hungry
in his career. He is the manager in a car sales company. He is also
the Youth Association’s secretary. He strongly believes that New
Territorials can be developed and often persuades Shing to sell the
land. Not just in earning money but also fame.

He has good foresight but he is poor in managing personal
relationships. That is why he comes across as aloof to the rest.
However, he has done nothing wrong and never hurts others. Many have
thought that he licks Chiu’s boots to get Lai Kwan’s hand but he is
successful due to his own abilities.

3. Ho Shing – Kwan Hoi San
He is held in high regard as he owns a big piece of land. He leases it
out to different tenants and also owns a fertilizer shop. This man can
be contradictory. He accepts new ideas that Mun Tat tells him but is
still very traditional. He regards sons more important than daughters
so he pins all his hopes on Mun Tat.

Shing has never liked his daughter to be with a small employee. Thus
he keeps ruining their chances to be together. That causes their
relationship to be strained. He hasn’t wanted her rape issue to be
blown out of proportion and it could have been settled quietly if See
Ngar marries King Sang. But she insists of suing King Sang that leaves
him no choice. He approves of See Ngar’s marriage to Tin Pui later as
he is afraid that no one else will want to marry See Ngar after her
rape incident.

4. Yeung Lai Kwan - Fung Bo Bo
She is the third daughter of Chiu who helps in his business. She is
pretty, active and also a sore loser. Chiu also eyes on this piece of
land so she is determined to get it for him. She befriends Mun Tat
through a charity dinner. Thus, both become competitors in love and
career as they don’t see eye to eye with each other. She later marries
him and both become a loving couple. Still, she has a hard time
communicating with his family as they find her too modern while she
finds them too traditional.

All along, I’ve seen Bo Bo acting as a mother. This is the first time
to see her acting so young. She is very elegant and charismatic.
Definitely convincing as a rich woman.

5. Ho See Ngar - Wong Hung Sau
Her mother marries Shing after Mun Tat’s mother’s death. She is close
to Mun Tat although they are half-siblings. Shing never considers her
important so she is very quiet. She looks strong but she is actually
weak. She is very active in school. Only her classmates get to see the
talkative side of her. She is actively involved in the dance society.
Through dancing on stage, she is also interested in clothes designing.
She becomes a clothes designer after she leaves school. Although the
rape incident leaves a deep scar on her, she is able to tide through
the ordeal and later marries Tin Pui.

6. Chow Yin Chau – Chan Yuk Lin
She is the second daughter of the family. Determined to break through
tradition, she becomes a reporter and is a successful one. Her parents
do not believe in providing her too much education. She earns her mass
communication degree through a scholarship.

However, she begins to question her job when she has to cover See
Ngar’s rape case. Facing opposition as the villagers think of it as a
scandal and she should not wash dirty linen in public, she still
continues following the story. Even though she is close to See Ngar,
she has the responsibility to tell the truth. Although she has the
chance to go to Brazil, she forgoes the chance as she believes in
fighting to preserve the natural look of her village.

7. Chow Mun Sang - Lam Chi Cheung
He is King Sang’s younger brother. Although educated overseas, he has
strong rooting towards his hometown. That is why he still returns to
stay here after his graduation, wishing to do more for it. He is an
engineer but he loves the countryside. He often comes up with new
ideas to help the villagers work better in their crop harvests.

He is never close to King Sang as he finds his temper unbearable. He
is trapped between old and new values. He finds it hard to relate to
the elders on old traditional rules which he thinks should be
abolished. He opposes to his family’s dealing with King Sang’s case
but has no say over it. He is very apologetic towards the Hos.
Luckily, this has not ruined his brotherhood with Mun Tat.

8. Chow King Sang – Ng Man Tatt
He is Mun Sang’s elder brother. He is a good for nothing and often
creates trouble for his family. He loves wine too much and often gets
drunk. He is nearly hit by cars on certain occasions. His family
spoils him rotten as the first son. See Ngar sends him home when he is
drunk but he rapes her instead. His family engages a top lawyer (Yip
Tuck Han) to help him off the hook although all evidence is against
him. He becomes more arrogant after that and keeps harping on it so
Tin Pui often fights with him.

9. Ng Hung Yuen – Tong Chun Yip
He is Yin Chau’s boyfriend and is a senior reporter. Both of them know
each other through work. He finds her working too hard and admires her
talents. He is supportive to suggest her to migrate to Brazil with him
to advance their careers. After knowing her intention to stay, he also
remains to give her support. He knows her too well what she likes and
is willing to assist her. Through the strength of the media, he is
able to help her to let others know about this small town.

10. Yeung Chiu – Cheng Yau Kok
He is a rich businessman who secures many property deals. He wants to
expand his business in the New Terriorities. Thus he approaches Mun
Tat and Shing to talk about purchasing their land to build houses.
This leads to lots of opposition from the rest as the land is their
livelihood as it provides jobs for them.

11. Chow Yin Ling – Fu Yuk Lan
She is the youngest daughter who is innocent and indulges in pleasure.
She gets the most attention as the youngest so all give in to her. Yin
Chau is very firm with her and she obeys her. Some even joke that Yin
Chau is more like a mother to her instead.

12. Chow Tai Kat – Yu Ming
He is a traditional man like Shing and is disappointed to have 3
daughters. Seeing that Yin Chau has a strong character like him, he
brings her up like a son. She has never let him down and he is pleased
with her success.

13. Madam Cheung – Wong Man Loi
Tin Pui is an orphan since young and this grandaunt brings him up. She
feels injustice for him whenever Shing ill-treats him. She has worried
that the social status of both families don’t match and also disagrees
of him courting See Ngar at first.

14. Chow Yin Yee – Chan Kak Yee
She is the eldest daughter. Her parents brainwash her to be as
traditional as them. Yin Chau disagrees with her over many matters but
this has not ruined their sibling ties. She admires Yin Chau’s guts
but is never as frank and brave as her.

15. Mrs Ho – Lee Heung Kum
She finds it hard to be a stepmother. Mun Tat is simply too polite to
her, treating her like an outsider. She is a doting mother but she
feels that reputation is most important. After See Ngar’s rape event,
she can even suggest that she marries King Sang, thinking that there
is no other way out. But See Ngar is adamant not to seal her fate like
this to pursue her own happiness.

Favourite character
Yin Chau, she is the modern female role that all will want to follow.
Besides being pretty, systematic and independent, she knows what she
wants or needs.

Most hated character
King Sang, who will like him to be jobless at this age to keep asking
for money from his family to spend? He also never admits his mistake.
I look down on this spineless fellow.

Song
The song was by Sandra. It was an excellent song that depicts of
change of times. I heard her singing live at the two Fai Wong concerts
that I attended in 1998 and 2000 when she came to Singapore. She was
so ‘in’ for her age – to dye her hair in different colours and wearing
very fanciful clothes. Her powerful voice is very captivating. It must
be a big challenge for her as she admits that she doesn’t recognise
Chinese words and learn through dictation. Although she isn’t a Hong
konger, her dictation is flawless!

Conclusion

This drama offers many surprises. The first highlight of this drama is
acting race between Hung Sau and Yuk Lin. One is weak initially while
the other is strong all along, which is a sharp contrast. Although it
is kind of odd to see them in a modern drama, they do their best and
shine here. It is so different from the usual weak roles from their
periodic roles when they keep on running to their heroes for help.

The second highlight will be Chung Yan and Bo Bo. This is their first
time acting together and they create so many sparks. Both are
excellent artistes – no doubt their roles are unlikable as they are
too concerned over monetary issues. But this is how a typical working
class will think and do. They are not totally wrong to go for their
own benefits. It is enjoyable to see how they snap at each other.
Their exchanges totally leave me speechless as they never seem to run
out of words to get back their pride.

The third will be Lam Chi Cheung in such a long drama. He does it so
well although it is a supporting role. No wonder he becomes the lead
actor in ‘Love Forever’ later. Lengthy dramas put a big challenge to
someone’s patience but you will see that TVB is an excellent story-
teller those days.

I never know that selling a piece of land can involve some many
factors and people. There are too many things to consider. Even the
landlord might not have the final say when the whole village oppose to
the sale of it. The trial for the rape case is an eye-catching segment
– it shows how criminals are let off despite having concrete evidence
(the clothes are brought to court.) as the accused can get a brilliant
lawyer to convince the jury.

I must apologise that my memory of the drama is very vague as it is
too lengthy. I only recalled 10% of it. Most details are provided by
my cousin which might not even necessary be right. But you will be
guaranteed that this drama offers fine acting as the cast is of top-
notch.

Sukting’s ratings :

On acting : ***1/2 (Scale of 5)

On story : ***1/2 (Scale of 5)

On song : **** (Scale of 5)