President of Hong Kong Drama Federation Refutes Authorities Reasons For Funding Cut

“By making this decision, the council is telling people that there Is a line,” said the President of the Drama Federation. “It doesn’t matter. We won’t beg.”

Fung Luk-Tak, president of Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies, demanded that the Arts Development Council withdraw its false allegations at a press conference on Jan. 19, 2024. Cai Wenxin/The Epoch Times

Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies refuted the arts funding body’s allegation after it cut funding for the group, Hongkongers posted support for the drama societies on social media.

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In June 2023, after the Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies hosted the 31st Hong Kong Drama Awards presentation ceremony, the Arts Development Council, the city’s arts funding body, alleged that the ceremony damaged the Council’s reputation and pulled the last installment of HK$441,700 ($56,460) funding to the federation.

The council held that there was a “new theme” for the ceremony. Instead of inviting veterans of the industry, the federation invited journalist Bao Choy Yuk-ling and political cartoonist Wong Kei-kwan, who goes by the pen name Zunzi, to be the award presenters. The two hosts included puns about “red bridges” and “red lines” in their scripts, which “implied a hidden meaning.” These tactics were alleged to “attract public and media attention” and “create social discourse.”