Gallen Harbour

Credit: Baidu, Astro

Promise you love me, honor and keep me, for better or worse, in sickness and in health.

Chow Chi Yu (Myolie Wu) once adopted a stray dog, Tai Pa, but tragically it brought virus to her father’s kennel and all the dogs inside ended up dead. Since then, her older brother Chow Chi Jim (Lui Fong) and sister-in-law Shui Tin Lan (Margie Tsang) have no choice but to open a pet shop for a living. Later, Yu met Tai Pa’s little brother, Siu Pa, whom her boyfriend Ying Hoi Leung (Raymond Wong) suggested her to keep in an empty house next door.

Miu Chun (Gallen Lo)’s girlfriend Ka Ka (Tracy Ip) lost her life while saving her dog Tai Pa in a traffic accident. Chun was devastated and abandoned the dog while keeping Ka Ka’s beloved cat Cancan with him. When Chun moves into his new home, he discovers with dismay that Siu Pa has been secretly raised there by Yu - his new neighbor as well as his coworker at an advertising firm. Seeing each other day and night, the battle between the “cat” and the “dog” becomes never-ending.

Chun accidentally uncovers a secret between Yu and Leung. Yu turns to Chun for advice when she finds out that Leung has an affair with another woman. Yu and Chun gradually develop feelings toward each other yet do not know how to express themselves. Meanwhile, Man Chi Kei (Bernice Liu), the big boss’ daughter, suddenly pursues Chun. Chun finally realizes who his true love is.

But the timing is just not right.

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Links to clips:

• Sale Presentation
• Theme Video
• 1st PR Ad
• 2nd PR Ad
• 3rd PR Ad
• 4th PR Ad
• 5th PR Ad
• 6th PR Ad
• Astro Intro
• 19-min Preview

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TVB Weekly Scans: myoliewu.org (click on thumbnails to enlarge)

Ming Pao Weekly: Gallen Lo Frankly Admitted Divorce. His ex-wife: It’s a Form of Relief

Link: http://www.mingpaoweekly.com/

Scans: Baidu (click on thumbnails to enlarge)

07.05.2008

Free falling from cloud nine to rock bottom, I am now crushed! Gallen Harbour will be on hiatus from now until I figure out a way to convince myself that divorce is really so common, especially in show business. Meanwhile, you could visit TVB Index where Anime will continue to bring you the latest of TVB buzzes, among which you might find Gallen’s pieces. Anime, thanks!

So long!

07.12.2008

“If one’s dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again…”

Thank you all for your caring comments, here as well as elsewhere. The insights you shared have helped me a lot to get back onto my feet and start picking up a broken piece. Thank you!

The following translation of the above-mentioned article was generously provided by Rea from Mosiac. Please credit Rea if you wish to repost. Other related articles can be found here (thanks to Sehseh) and here (thanks to TkN for the link and to Dragon888 for the translation). Gallen has also poured his heart here in his latest blog entry. We can do nothing but respect Gallen and his family for their decision, and continue to support him in this difficult time the little way we know how.

Verbal Dialogue has always been the most ideal form of communication, but when the worst type of communication – arguments, is no longer present either, what will happen to the relationship between two people?

Recently, when news of Gallen Lo’s divorce from his wife of ten years, Fong Man Yee was released from the legal court, I almost didn’t believe it and contacted Gallen to confirm, and was in even more disbelief when he admitted it, saying: “Paper cannot cover fire, when that time comes, I will have to face the outside world. We were already separated for a year and just recently finished completing the divorce procedures. We talked for a long time before making the decision to divorce.” I didn’t think that Gallen would be willing to speak so candidly about his divorce over the phone.

As for Mrs. Lo (or rather the former Mrs. Lo), when asked by this magazine about the divorce, said: “Divorce was a type of resolution and after we made the decision, I felt relieved.”

Both parties insist that they remain friends, she also went on to say: “Our relationship as friends is more suitable for us, and I feel better about it.”

Fong Man Yee has been with Gallen for almost twenty-eight years from the time of their dating days to marriage, and to divorce. Almost heading to thirty years, communication should not be a problem for their relationship, yet that was precisely the problem in their marriage. Gallen states: “It was gradual. We often went an entire day without speaking to each other since we were both so busy. That is not what we wanted from our marriage and we felt like we’ve been living that kind of life for the past ten years. (There’s no third party?) Of course not, after a year of separation, we sat down together with peace of mind and talked for a long time before coming to the decision to divorce. It was only recently that we completed the divorce proceedings.”

It turns out that Gallen and his wife has been thinking about divorce since 2001, but at that time, they considered the fact that their son was only three years old, still very young, and they had hoped that their marriage could be saved, so they intentionally did not bother to begin divorce proceedings. Gallen says: “We did discussed it at that time, but the notion was eventually forgotten, not to mention I left TVB in 2003 and started finding more work overseas and spent a lot of time away from my family. To my family and I, it definitely had an impact. The time away also didn’t allow me to address the problem in my marriage.”

Never called her “My Wife”

Starting from 2003, Gallen has been trying to break into the mainland market, constantly filming five, six series during the time between 2003 and 2006. In the last two, three years, Gallen has only returned to Hong Kong two, three times to visit his family, so during school holidays, his wife would visit him on the mainland set with their son to take advantage of some family time, causing his relationship with his wife to experience “Clear Weather after Rain”. He says: “During this time, we both worked hard at salvaging our marriage and our relationship improved, but there were other exterior factors that came with trying to pursue my career in the mainland, and whenever I encountered obstacles or problems, I didn’t like to talk to my wife about it because I felt that it wouldn’t help matters anyway, but it turns out that she wanted to hear about it. She wanted to know how I was doing. Because we both didn’t bother to tell each other about what was going on in our lives, the chasm between us grew larger and larger, and then there was nothing left to talk about. Not to mention, I’ve always been an introvert, not wanting to speak much, and during these last few years in the mainland, I’ve been living on my own. Whenever I finished filming for the day, I usually returned to the hotel to rest, read a book or watch DVD, which fostered my habit of not talking. We could spend up to a day without speaking one word to each other. When we returned to Hong Kong, the silence continued. She would be cooking in the kitchen or taking care of our son, I would be in the living room reading the newspaper. I was even growing distant from my son. My wife and son could spend the whole day talking to each other, and I rarely participated in their conversations. Whenever I played with my son, she was never present. Even in this activity, we were separate. We were beginning to have our own individual lives.”

In addition to the lack of communication, the reason for their divorce could also lie in their individual lifestyle. He says: “I never called her ‘wife’ like our son would call her ‘mommy.’ Even in correspondence, I would use ‘Mr. Lo,’ not ‘husband.’ We don’t even argue. Arguments are also another form of communication. Without communication, without passion, should we really continue on? So we sat down together with peace of mind and harmony, hoping to resolve the problem, and in the end, we finally decided to live separately for a year before performing the divorce proceedings.”

Difficult to break the news to family

After deciding to divorce, the two actually felt more relaxed, Gallen states: “In the past, I felt that it was a requirement for my wife to take care of me. I never expressed my gratitude to anything that she did, but now I am able to express what’s deep in my heart. The feeling is different.”

But another issue arise after the decision to divorce and that was to tell both families about their decision. Gallen says: “Because my father has been experiencing some heart trouble, his health was not doing so well. I was concerned that he would not be able to accept it, so I didn’t dare to tell him. My wife advised me to control my emotions, that I cannot be too hasty, that I must speak calmly, because she understood what my personality is like whenever I felt impatient. She always said that it only takes me three seconds to go from zero to a hundred. Happily, my parents did understand our situation, but now there is another problem, and that was how to break the news to our son. I had to tell him before it is printed on the tabloids.”

Caring about son’s well-being

When talking about his son, Gallen states lightheartedly: “Everyone knows I deeply love and care about my son. Whenever I encounter the paparazzi when I go out, I would ask that his picture not be taken. It never occurred to me that I would be the one to hurt him. Even though I want to be able to live with him, he will live with his mother, but I am still in charge of his well-being and needs. Living with his mother and having her care will be better for him, not to mention I will not be able to take care him as well as I should because I am always away filming. Before our divorce, whenever I spent time with my son, I always felt so torn. On one hand, I wanted to spend as much time as I could with him, but always felt sad because I was going to miss it. I hope that he’ll someday understand where his father is coming from.”

When Gallen was interviewed, he still referred to his wife as ‘Tai Tai (wife).’ It seems like the current state of their relationship is not bad. As for what’s going to happen to their material assets, Gallen has in the past year sold the house he purchased in 2003 and purchased another property nearby. The distribution of their material assets is now being decided by legal means. Gallen says: “We still have a mortgage on the house, and selling it was the most logical step. As for putting my wife’s name on the lease, it is only logical because my wife has always been responsible for it. My wife has always taken care of our assets for many years. I didn’t look too much into it because money is only an object. I only hope that my wife and son can live happily. She is a good daughter in law, mother, and wife. It is just that our fate as husband and wife has ended.”

Ex-wife…still friends

From the looks of it, Gallen and his wife can still maintain a friendly relationship, so when we expressed our desire to interview ‘Mrs. Lo,’ Gallen immediately said: “Sure, she knows you as well. I’ll get her on the phone for you.” Ten minutes later, Mrs. Lo really did come to the phone. About their divorce, she says: “I’m not part of the entertainment industry, so I don’t want to say much. After our divorce, my relationship with Gallen is very good. I just want him to take care of his health, don’t drink too much. When we meet again, it will be as friends. Our relationship as friends is actually more comfortable. Divorce was a form of resolution for us.”

After divorce, Gallen resumes his solitary lifestyle and filming overseas, but he also said: “I also want to film another 40 episode series with TVB, so I can meet with the Hong Kong audience again. Before he ended our conversation, he said: “Even though times have changed and divorce is not such a big issue anymore, but I will always remain my son’s father. I hope that this event will not affect my son and that they will not become fodder for reporters’ gossip. I am very grateful for the help of my friends during this time, their support is very important to me.”

Please credit Rea if you wish to repost.

Source: Sing Tao, Sina

Gallen Lo returned to TVB last August (2007) to join “When a Dog loves a Cat” (WADLAC, formerly referred to as “When Dogs Love Cats”, WDLC). Treating this as a special reunion, TVB has deliberated additional advertisements on top of its regular promotional program. One particular ad bearing the message “Gallen Lo Returns in July” was produced to kick off the momentum. TVB’s spoke-person admits this program is tailor-made for Gallen.

Gallen left his “nest”, TVB, in 2003 with a 10-episode debt from his contract with the company. He then returned “home” in August of 2007 to film “WADLAC” with Margie Tsang, Myolie Wu and Lu Fong. Upon completion of the series last October, many questions have been asked regarding the Gallen-TVB relationship. It is now learned that the two sides have maintained very good relations “because his love has always been TVB” . The once widely-rumored potential cooperation plan with rival ATV was, after all, a false alarm. In reality, Gallen has had talks with TVB regarding future contract.

Drastic Change in Series Promotional Program

TVB, in turn, treats the homecoming of its once “Yat Gor” (First Brother) very seriously. In addition to the regular promotion program, “WADLAC” has special ad being designed in a much different fashion to capture the audience’s attention. Abandoning clips from the promoted series itself, this ad utilizes clips from earlier well-loved Gallen’s dramas such as “ATE”, “Old Time Buddy”, and “Mr. Diana” and couples them with a catchy message “Gallen Returns” at the end.

Will Not Upset Co-stars

TVB’s spoke person, when being asked, admitted that this was a deliberating arrangement. He also added “We saw that the TVB-Gallen reunion has been a “feel-good” factor for a while. As the drama will be broadcast starting July 21st, leading gradually to that date will be a series of promotional ads. Gallen’s individual segments will be aired this first week (of July) and then followed by regular ones.” (Will this trigger some jealousy among his co-stars?) “I don’t believe so. First, the actor here is Gallen Lo. Moreover, his personal relationships (with his co-stars) are always very good. We won’t have to worry about this aspect.”

When Gallen learned that TVB had arranged for his individual promotional ads, he spoke frankly that he was very happy about the good relationship they share. He also confirmed that there were talks regarding the new TVB series.

This is not a news article. Please do not repost elsewhere.

Gallen Lo recorded one of his days as an artiste, starting from 6:30 am

This article dated back to… just before the 1988 Summer Olympics in Korea. It was a good 20 years ago. Of course, there wasn’t anything like TVB Artistes Blogs back then, but the concept of a blog - a collection of open journal entries - was, evidently, already in place. Here is one journal entry Gallen Lo had on New Jade, narrating one of his day from early morning till midnight during a very early phase of his career as an actor. He was then known to friends, colleagues and fans by the nick name Sai Di - his character’s in “The Seasons” (TVB 1987). Sai Di, or Little Brother, told his story in a very simple, sincere and honest manner, almost to the point of being naive.

I hope you will enjoy learning a little more about Gallen by reading on. My special thanks to Megan for sharing the precious original scan and for re-keying the article, and to “Mouse” Carmen Yip for the meticulous translation. Please do not repost elsewhere.

Original Article by New Jade

Chinese Keyed In by Megan

English Translation by Carmen Yip

Is an artiste’s life colorful?

What does he usually notice ? What is his most frequent encounter in public? Is filming really interesting and challenging? Please read about one particular day in Gallen Lo’s ‘Diary’ - working from day to night with no negligence allowed - and you shall know the answers. It is one thing to be busy, but what more important is to stay happy…

It was dawn when I opened my eyes. The hands of alarm clock showed 6.30, and the ringing of it was as slow as my movements to get out of bed. I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. Ah! That was ugly! I must wash it as clean as I can. Since young I have been afraid of dirty faces, having a radiant look is very important! If I take the MTR to work, it sure is full of people. How discomforting it would be if someone saw my dirty face from such a distance!

Stir-fried noodles with bean sprouts

Brush! Brush! Wash! Wash! Um! Now I looked decent enough, at least in better spirits.

Humming Love is in the Past (The sub-theme for “The Seasons”), I stepped lightly towards the dinner table. Mommy had placed my favorite breakfast there – Porridge, stir-fried noodles, and the awful bean sprouts in the noodles!

I turned my head and shouted towards the kitchen: “Thanks Mommy!” There was no reply, as Mommy has disappeared to do her own stuffs.

After I filled my stomach, it was time to iron the clothes. Ironing is one of my most important “homework” in the morning! Which suit should it be for today? Oh yeah, the white western suit, the blue shirt, with the matching blue trousers. That should be enough to lift my spirits. Ok! It was done, let’s hang it and place it in the protective cover, not forgetting the shoes for appearing in the serial. I checked everything again, all in! I just love everything to be in order.

OK, I would now don on a casual T-shirt and jeans with a jacket and take a taxi to Lai King MTR station. On the way there I clung onto my nicely ironed suit, they must not be crumpled!

In the cabin, a group of teenage girls were talking about me, greeting: “Good morning, Sai Di!” The old Gallen would have just blushed from embarrassment; however the present me is more experienced, so I nodded and smiled graciously. A guy besides them raised his two fingers into a V-shaped and wished me victory!

So happy! So warm! I said goodbye to them when I alighted as a form of acknowledging their friendliness. This group of students is friendly and has confidence in me! Isn’t this a nice start for then day?

TVB’s bus was already waiting at the stop, within minutes we reached Broadcast Drive. Exactly at ten, I entered the studio, and the make-up artist who had helped Lam Ka Wah to treat his acne went over and looked at my face with concern, “Lo Ka Leung! I told you to prepare the cooling soup with Da Sheng Di, watercress and pig tendon, have you tried that?” “Thanks. I tried a few times, and my acnes lessened, but there are a lot of promotional activities this couple of days. I need to prepare for the stage performance and have not had enough sleep, that’s why they emerged again.” I replied with an apologetic tone in response to the make-up artist’s concern.

The latter said: “It’s OK, I’ll help you cover them up.” Within moments it was done, and I was indeed satisfied with the flawless job.

Being Too Refined?

At 10 I bumped into Leung Si-Ho from “City Stories”, he asked me, “Are you used to joining The Seasons?”

“Not bad! The people are all very friendly!” After that we parted and went on with our own stuffs.

Frankly speaking, outsiders often comment that people in the entertainment circle are practical and always fighting with each others. However I beg to differ! I think they are very friendly and very nice to me! Take for instance, Tse Ming Gor. When I sang in EYT (Enjoy Yourself Tonight) last time, he commented that I was too quiet and not proactive enough. So he advised me that though it is good to be refined, one should be proactive in the entertainment industry to enable a smooth development. He even encouraged me and said that I have the right conditions. I was so touched!

At 10.30 a.m., I was done with my makeup and preparations, awaiting for the filming! Normally I would have it done half an hour before, as I am someone who would rather be early than late. If I am late, others would have to wait for me, how can that be? This is my duty.

Now if I have extra time, I can relax and there is no pressure. I can even look over the script again!

Today’s scene was about the departure of Sai Di’s uncle, Sheh Tse Ming. He was going abroad to work but his wife wouldn’t go with him so he was feeling lonely. I took pity on them so as in the script, I must fetch him his food and say, “Be ready to go after your food!”, feeling unwilling to let him go. Sai Di’s feeling in the series was akin to mine in reality. Tse Ming Gor is a straightforward and kind-hearted person. This time he is ‘leaving’ TVB, and everybody went to bid farewell earlier. It’s such a pity that I could not go as I had to be involved in the album promotion, I felt so sad!

The other actors had arrived. Once the director shouted “Start!”, everybody did not NG and soon this episode was done with. Don’t think that we had an easy time filming; actually we rehearsed a lot of times before this!

It was lunch time and time for “Drawing the line” game! I hoped I would not sponge on them again! This game goes like this: at first Bik Jie (Tang Bik Wan) will foot the bill every time like everyone’s mom and treats us like her children, after that Chu Suk (Chu Shui Tong) will take turn to pay, we really feel bad about it. I don’t remember who thought of this – to decide everyone’s contribution using the lineation method. Whoever has 5 dollars and 10 dollars shall not need to contribute anything! It’s fun and everybody can contribute!

The Shadowy Producer

Bik Jie is really a veteran who deserves lots of respect. She doesn’t put on airs and is so friendly that everybody calls her the shadowy producer. In actual fact many of the ideas and lines were designed by her! She especially shows concern for me; I remember that once during the EYT meeting, the director introduced me to her and I felt that she was so gentle. I heard her words, “Director, he’s good and suitable for the role of Sai Di.” At that time I was so nervous about acting with a group of veterans so I felt quite overwelmed. She seemed to have seen through me, so she told me, “Everyone starts from a newbie, relax! Once you relax the acting becomes natural.” Hearing her words, I felt relieved and encouraged, and I finally knew where to put my limbs in place. Since then, Bik Jie would take note of my performance every time and gives me constant reminders of when to relax and when to put in more feelings. I have really learned a lot.

Sometimes I feel that I don’t know if it’s acting or reality, as she is always considerate and thoughtful like a mother. When she passes by the shop, she would get some drinks for us if there isn’t any; sometimes she would buy cakes and lemon teas, making us feel that there is no difference between the scenes in the scripts and reality. We feel the warmth in our hearts, and working becomes so fun!

That might explain why I have a smoother time filming “The Seasons”; my acting skill has even improved a bit, and I myself has become more confident. Of course it is still insufficient, but as the saying goes “A good start is equivalent to halfway to success!”

Representing Hong Kong

I must reach the record company by six! Many performances shall follow! I have discussed it with my manager. At the end of July, I would go to Singapore to promote my new album “The Seasons”, and during mid August I would participate in the opening ceremony of Guang Zhou’s Tian He Stadium! Many famous singers from China shall be participating, and I heard that this stadium was built in preparation for the Olympics; it’s quite a big one, with a seating capacity of 50,000 people. The Beijing representative will be Wu Xiao Yun, who just went to the Tokyo Music Festival; Guang Zhou’s representative will be Cheng Lin; Taiwan’s representative will be Fei Xiang; while I am the only singer representing Hong Kong. I must do my best and not disgrace Hongkong-ers! So I’ll need to work harder for my dance lessons. Yesterday the instructor said that my dancing is still stiff and I need improvement. Today I have come to the recording studio; with the big mirror, I can practise my steps until I’m satisfied with them.

Woa, how time flies! Three hours passed by just like that. I must discuss the stage dressing with my manager! Fortunately Mrs. Lo was waiting for me. She had ordered a Land Commander suit from the US for the song Armistice Area in Outer Space. The suit and badge are all real, and I guess they must be expensive. She also let me try on another purplish blue western suit for singing The Seasons, it possesses stage style and is tailored made. Of course I’m satisfied with it.

Look at my black coat with stylist hat in Greenhorns! Isn’t it cool?

Erm! With Mrs. Lo around to handle things, everything seems to be quite high class, sometimes I can’t help but think of myself as a lucky chap. There aren’t many newbies who are as lucky to have such a considerate and doting manager. As the saying goes “The teacher brings you in but the outcome depends on yourself”, I would need to put in much more effort! I must make every effort to succeed; I can’t be proud and can’t slack off. The trend is ever-changing; people who are conservative and complacent will be eliminated. Mrs. Lo mentioned that the new album is the first one in Hong Kong to use postcard for the lyrics. The designer, Janson To had participated in the “Japan Art Design Competition”. The market response was good; it was creative. So naturally I had a good time.

Everything has been quite completed and fruitful today! Lying on my bed, I recalled something which someone yesterday had asked, “Sai Di, you could sing?” That’s funny! Many do not know that I actually started out singing, and have moved away from being a singer into an actor. It’s quite alright no matter what. I have spent another happy and fulfilling day!

Good night, and see you tomorrow!

Updates:

• 11/15/2008:  Sharon Chan will replace Bernice Liu
• 10/16/2008:  Bernice Liu, Toby Leung and Kenneth Ma will join the cast
• 10/12/2008:  Joe Ma will join the cast as Anita’s boyfriend
• 09/10/2008:  Nancy Sit might join the cast as Ray Lui’s mother
  
• 08/19/2008: Anita Yuen will join the cast. She will play Gallen’s love interest
  
• 08/01/2008: Kenix Kwok will join the cast.
• 07/31/2008: No drama on Kwok Brothers
  
• 07/05/2008: Jamie Chik and Ray Lui might also join the cast.
• 06/30/2008: It is now confirmed that Gallen will be back to film for TVB.
  

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Unconfirmed! Please read at your own risk!

A new TVB series, said to be 40-episode long and by TVB’s executive producer Leung Ka Shu, might start filming as early as this coming November.

Gallen Lo is expected to join the series “if nothing changes”. He was said to have disclosed the information during his latest interview with a Singapore magazine.

There are speculations as for who the leading lady, or ladies, would be. Recently, Kenix Kwok has expressed her intention to come back to TVB in an interview. Jessica Hsuan was earlier rumored to be part of “A Pillow Case of Mystery II” - the sequel with Bobby Au-yeung, replacing Kenix Kwok.

Both actresses recently mentioned Gallen’s name when being asked whom they would like to cooperate with again. In a fan-gathering event earlier this year, Jessica disclosed that there had been talks about a project involving Gallen. According to Jessica, their schedules did not work out at the time.

If Kenix Kwok returns to TVB for “A Pillow Case of Mystery II”, Jessica’s schedule might be opened up.

Kenix and Gallen worked together in the epic 105-epi drama “At the Threshold of an Era” (TVB 1999-2000), where she played two characters, both romantically linked to Gallen’s. Jessica and Gallen have worked together on numerous projects, most notably “Cold Blood Warm Heart” (TVB 1996) and “Golden Faith” (TVB 2002).

::: Mimosa :::