Heart of Greed- The review

The Story
The Tong family is famous in Seung Wan for selling abalone. They own 31 shops all over the district and possess 600 million dollars worth of inheritance. These 600 million dollars are a blessing, but they are also a misfortune. From the outside, the Tong family seems like a perfect family to live in, with lots of warmth, laughter and happiness. However, beneath the peaceful surface, the hearts of greed are stirring up lots of currents...

The whole story began because of one person, Susanna Kwan. For thirty years, she could not swallow the fact that she does not have a ‘real’ status in the Tong family. Hence, she keeps creating trouble for the Tong family, no matter how well her husband, Ha Yu treats her, no matter how many times the big wife, Lee Sze Kei forgives her, no matter how much money she already has…

In the Tong family, there are also four children, whose names represent: peace, relax, happiness and joy. Moses Chan is the eldest son, and also the most filial out of all. However, because he is an ‘illegitimate’ child, he faces a lot of problems when handling the family affairs, even though everything he does is for the family’s good. Bosco Wong is the second son. He is basically kind, but too impatient. He fell in love with a rich man’s wife Tavia Yeung, and that gave the family lots of problems. Chris Lai is the son of Susanna Kwan. He is a very innocent boy, but has a horrible mother. Because of that, he is trapped in the middle of two sides. Fala Chen is the youngest daughter, who behaves like a kid, but she is also very filial. These four children live up to their name, and bring lots of laughter to the family. Because of them, the older ones spend lots of time, effort and money, just so that they have a better future.

Meanwhile, Moses meets Linda Chung, and was willing to be her guardian angel. Moses, Linda, Raymond and Yoyo developed a very interesting love rectangle, even though it is a complete different story from the Tong family’s part.

Love Factors

Dai Kai- Lee Sze Kei
It is safe to say, Dai Kai is the most respected member of the Tong family, and she deserves this amount of respect. Without her around, the whole Tong family will fall apart. She is a wise mother, an understanding wife, and she has great ways to deal with the bad ones. Basically, everything she does is right, and every speech she gives is an inspiring one. Even later on, when she is down with the disease, Dai Kai didn’t stop caring for her family until her very last breath. This is indeed a powerful and very worth-remembering character, even though she only appears until episode 28.

Talking about performance, there are two words to describe LSK’s comeback performance: ‘SOLID’ and ‘AMAZING’. Gosh I really love watching her every single performance! I love it when she is firm, I love the way she lectures the different people, and I also love her emotional scenes. One line I remember the best is in episode 13, when she told Susanna, ‘This is not the court, I don’t need evidence to prove your guilt! My eyes are the evidence!’ I will never forget how she said that line! I was going to stand up and applaud! And that was probably how many other felt.

Dai Bao- Ha Yu
Compared to his wife, Ha Yu is a bit useless, because he is more gullible, and his heart is too soft. However, he is also a great father, who loves his family and his kids. You will love him the most before he dies, because of the interesting ways he fights with Susanna. One of his scenes you can NOT miss is at the end of episode 35, when he tells Susanna ‘I Love You’. Gosh I totally love that scene. Ha Yu’s performance is also very very solid from the beginning to the end.

Lei Yi- Michelle Yim
A loving and capable Aunt who takes good care of the family’s business, a very different Michelle from what you just saw in The Brink Of Law, but again, totally solid performance.


Sai Bao/ Dak Dak Dei- Moses Chan
No doubt, Moses is the ‘pillar’ character of the entire series, and I love his character. Moses is a great son, a great brother, and a great friend to have. He may seem dorky and old-fashioned, but he is the most mature and sensible one. I really love the way he protects his family and his younger siblings, and how he is always there for Linda.

Performance wise, I didn’t like Moses’ performance at the beginning, because I found it exaggerated, and confusing. But everything just gets better and better. Soon, I found myself loving his jokes, the way he speaks and acts, and even the way he cries. Yes Moses cries very well (though not very often) in this series. The tears just well up in his eyes, but there’s no sound, it’s very heartbreaking…

Improvement Factors

Seung Joi Sum- Linda Chung
Moving away from the Tong family, let's talk about Ms Linda Chung. Gosh she really did improve! If you don’t understand what improvement is, watch the first scene of episode 37. But actually it's not only that scene. You can really feel her improvements and increased confidence in this series. Plus, her dressing sense is awesome in this series. It is easy to like watching her, and falling in love with her name ‘Seung Joi Sum’.

Yan- Fala Chen
Youthful, energetic little sister, very lovely indeed! Fala did improve quite a lot in her acting and her cantonese.


Give-me-my-screen time! factors

Bosco Wong and Tavia Yeung
You will see the most of them when they were getting married and when Tavia was accused of having an affair. Besides that, Bosco and Tavia’s screen time is actually very little, even less than the ‘guest star’ Raymond Lam. I think even Chris Lai has more screen time than them. I think the producers should develop their story a bit more, especially because Tavia is such an awesome actress. Her crying scenes were totally awesome.

Sui Mak Mak- Yoyo Mung
Yoyo is Linda’s best friend, who is constantly in search of her true love but to no avail, only to fall for Alfred. For some reason I think Raymond and Yoyo's characters match much better, but they fall in love at the wrong time. If Raymond met Yoyo before Linda, then things will be perfect. Anyway, Yoyo’s role is actually very small. At times, you may even forget that she’s in this series!

Dislike factor

Sai Kai- Susanna Kwan

From the beginning to the end, Susanna NEVER stops creating trouble for everyone. It’s annoying, it’s tiring, and it really makes you hate her to the core. What I hate the most about her is how she twists facts to fit her own agenda. Perhaps, this will be the ‘most hated character of the year’. Anyway, Susanna gave an awesome performance, and also sang a marvelous themesong. Sometimes I feel really tired for her, because she has to yell so much!

Kau Fu Bo- Louis Yuen
Another greedy man who is also very annoying; he keeps switching from good to evil back and forth, it gets confusing.

Tavia’s family, especially the mother
This is a family which is SERIOUSLY hungry for money. Every time I see them, I feel like yelling at the screen, ‘If you want money, go earn it yourself!’ I don’t know what kind of upbringing is this, but I’m glad Tavia is different from them.

Linda’s brother
An utterly cheap man ugly inside out

The excessive blog scenes
In this series, Raymond and Linda like to blog a lot, and tell the audience about what they feel about their love life. Their blog entries are all pretty touching, but there is simply TOO MUCH. Some of them got to go! Also, the song ‘My Love Will Get You Home’ gets played way too many times. I like the song 'Vincent' much better.

The sloppy courtroom scenes
I think the courtroom scenes are too short and very substandard. It just makes the series seem a little lame towards the end. It’s like the court is a playground for these rich people…

Don't-blame-me factor
Alfred- Raymond Lam
In this series, Raymond plays Linda’s boyfriend, who bring her lots of sweetness, but also lots of tears. I didn’t really fancy Alfred’s character at first, because he was impatient, and not a very caring boyfriend. Like what he said about himself, ‘I never understood what it is like to be truly nice to someone.” Moreover, he cheated on Linda. That is why many people cannot forgive him. But maybe I can, because I can't help associating his sad family background to his playboy character. In fact you can't really call Alfred a playboy, he just wants to find someone who knows him better...

And surprisingly, after episode 29, things started to change. Alfred turned out much more devoted than I expected. It is true that when you don’t lose something, you won’t know how important it is to you. Losing Linda made Ray realise he loves her the most, and that changed him 180 degrees. For 7 episodes Raymond did everything he could to redeem himself, and this is when you will start to love him more and more. It’s a pity he never knew that Linda had already forgiven him, a big big pity…

Pity factor

Raymond Lam
If you have seen the themevideo it is not hard to guess that Raymond dies in this series. But it is also a great surprise that the producers chose to kill off this character. The most important reason why I pity Raymond is not because he died, but because he never got to know that Linda forgave him before he died. The thought is very de pressing… The ending of episode 36 and the beginning of episode 37 is really sad, makes you shed lots of tears… However, watching the rest of episode 37 gives you a strange feeling, because the aftermath of Ray’s death is a little weird, maybe that’s just what I feel…

Chris Lai
Foon Foon is such a good boy! Yet, he has such a horrible mother. Really pity him, to be trapped in the middle of two sides. Fortunately, he is able to tell right from wrong.

How come factor

The 2-in-1 story
If there has to be one bad thing about this series, it has to be this. The Tong family catfights, and the Moses, Linda, Raymond, Yoyo love rectangle are really NOT RELATED. Even though I enjoy BOTH stories A LOT, it is tiring and awkward to see the scenes jump randomly from one line to another. I think the love story should be filmed as a separate shorter series, and I’m serious. I really can’t accept the fact that these two stories are force-fit to such a large extent. I keep wishing Linda, Raymond and Yoyo could be more related to the Tong family. I just hope Raymond and Linda could fight more cases related to the Tong family. I just hope the courtroom scenes weren’t so lame…

What about the ending?
There are 3 words to describe the ending—rushed, unfair, surprising
Let’s talk about Susanna first. Boy I really think her ending is lame. For 39.5 episodes this woman gave the Tong family nothing but trouble, trouble and trouble. But in less than 10 minutes, she shed two drops of tears, repented, and the Tong family accepted her again? I also don’t understand why the producers keep pushing the blame to Linda’s brother, because Susanna was already evil to begin with. Basically, I think the producers were way too kind to her. Her ending was way too fast, and way too easy.

What about the other evil ones? Okay I don’t care about Tavia’s family or Linda’s brother, but what about Louis Yuen? He is part of the Tong family, and I’m quite sure he is better-natured than Susanna. Did the producers forget about him?

Then finally, it’s the Linda and Moses thing. I was surprised that Linda and Moses ended up together, but I’m okay with that, because it’s good to move on and find your own happiness. I just found it too sudden. Why did Moses have to buy a ring? Why did Moses have to say ‘Marry me?’ We watched 39.9 episodes of Linda and Moses being good friends. It’s hard to stomach 0.1 episode of them being ENGAGED.

Favourite scenes:
Episode 13: Who is the human, who is the ghost
Lee Sze Kei gave one of the most powerful lectures. She said two golden lines. The first line was, ‘this is my home, not the courtroom, I don’t need evidence , my eyes are the evidence!’ The second line was ‘who is the human, who is the ghost, I can tell!’ These are the two lines i'll never forget

Episode 16: Bosco and Tavia’s wedding
There was a lot of trouble during Bosco and Tavia’s wedding day. That made Bosco mad, it also made Tavia cry. I really love watching Tavia cry, and watching how Lee Sze Kei solves all the problems. The best part is of course, when the family performs. The whole scene was really grand, and really touching. Basically, don’t miss episode 16.

Episode 21: Chasing Susanna out
During the last two episodes, you will be very puzzled why did Lee Sze Kei forsake her own family. At the end of episode 21, you will understand why.

Episode 35: I will not give you a single cent!
This is the scene where Ha Yu comes out of the hospital and chased the villains out of the house. Ha Yu told Susanna he will not give her a single cent. I love the way he says that. I love the way he finally wakes up and protects his children. Another awesome scene.

Episode 36/37: Please forgive me
Let me warn you first, Raymond’s death scene was really sad! We all know, Raymond’s biggest wish was to get Linda’s forgiveness. But at the phone booth in his last breath he did not say a single word about that. He talked to Linda like it was a normal conversation. Linda had no idea she was going to lose him, but Raymond’s eyes were tearing. The way Raymond said ‘Bye bye’ was so emotional! After that, the police called Linda. Linda was shocked. She said ‘I just talked to him on the phone how can it be him?’ She was in denial until the doctors pushed him out. Linda screamed and cried until your heart shatters. But the saddest part is when Linda pieced the broken pieces of the seashell, and found the words ‘please forgive me’ engraved on it. That is Raymond’s biggest wish, but it was never fulfilled until he died…

Episode 38: Ha Yu’s death scene
Even at his deathbed, Ha Yu managed to trick Susanna. It was a cool death scene. I really hate Susanna, who didn’t even allow her husband to leave in peace! What kind of woman is that!

Episode 38: Chris Lai stands up for himself
Chris Lai tells the reporters that yes he has a very good mother, and he started telling many stories. It was then you slowly realize it wasn’t Susanna he was talking about, but Lei Sze Kei. That was cool ~.~ The scene ended with a powerful slap. O.o I really don’t think Susanna should slap him, because every single word he said was right!

Worth Watching?
You CANNOT miss this series. If you miss this series, you might as well not watch any series this year. Yes there are flaws. But if you skip this series because of those flaws, you are missing out a lot…

HOG going to say good bye, Alfred going to say goodbye...

This is what tv drama like to do to you. Let the character do some wrong. Then, make him do everything to redeem himself. And before you finally decide to forgive him, they take him away from you. His tears, her tears and my tears are going to torture everyone inside out. Aw mann I can't wait to watch episode 36 and 37 of HOG, but I also can't bear to see alfred die!

Going to miss it

HOG portrayed really well the kinship b/w the family and the different roles each member plays. I've really never enjoyed a drama so intensely for a long time. So of course I'm going to miss it, A LOT. It has also been some time since i was SO drawn into a love story. It was really moving

the two-story factor

one major drawback of the series is that it is like two different series force-fit into one. Two different groups of people from two different worlds on the same screen, the only pathetic link being Moses Chan and the courtroom scenes towards the end. However, having said this, I have to say that it is two EXCELLENT stories. The most intensive family drama, and the most emotional love story. Yes, they don't go, but if u enjoy them separately, it is a brilliant enjoyment

5 more episode of HOG, 1 more episode of ray, I'll treasure it well!!

HOG- The new RY chemistry!

Just like to share an emotional kissing scene between ray and yoyo in episode 27.

Basically, Ray and Yoyo finally started their 'affair'. Basically, Ray's love for Linda is dying, but, he does not want to be a jerk. So he asks Yoyo out and wanted to break up with her.

Yoyo then starts to say many things. She told Ray this is not her first time being the third party. She said, 'every time he comes, I would wish he could stay abit longer, I would wish he wouldn't leave'. She admits that it's miserable, and the tears started to well up in her eyes.


The scene continues...


Yoyo: Actually I also feel very happy. This time, I went to Taiwan again. Once I got down the plane, I went back to the disco. Even though this time round you're not around, and there is no earthquake, but when I'm dancing alone, I remember being with you the last time, and that makes me happy.


Actually we have no idea when will there be another earthquake. When will the sky fall apart, no one has any idea. We will not know what our future will be like. The things we don't know, why don't we not care about it? Isn't it enough for us to know that we're serious about each other?

"Hmm?" The way Yoyo said "hmm?" was so emotional, so 'cai leung'...
The expression on Ray's face was priceless. He finally gave in to the temptation. The passion and the remorse all in one face. I can't capture the right image, you've got to watch that scene urself. It's just a split seecond, i loved that expression.
the scene ends with a very short but emotional kiss. I wish it could be a little longer, but it was enough to make me touched.

Actually, you can't help it if love has died, just have to deal with it well. Of course what Ray and Yoyo are doing is not sth which impresses anyone, but I can really feel their chemistry, very moving, two lonely hearts...

Heart of greed themevideo- major discovery

Having watched the themevideo at least 10 times by now, something caught my eye when I was watching it today. Look at the picture above, look at what's in the red circle. Awww :( It's so hard to believe, because Alfred (Raymond) looks very much ALIVE now. It's so hard to believe that he is going to died young. That is sad!

Anyway, did I say how much I'm loving HOG now? It's really an awesome series. All the family scenes, watching those villains who create all the problems, those good ones who do everything to pull the family back together, the whole process is an awesome one. It can make u cry and laugh and mad at the same time. Way to go! I think I'm addicted...

Heart Of Greed- first 3 episodes- little thoughts

Recently, I have watched the first 3 episodes of HOG, and true enough, I am not disappointed at all. I admit, I am (very) irritated with Moses' acting. Does his character really have act like that? I'm not so sure (more like 'no'). I also admit, some of the newcomers aren't doing so well (like Fala Chen). But it doesn't matter, I can wait for her to improve. The most important thing is, everyone else is doing awesome, plus, the story had a great beginning (the first 3 episodes at least).

Episode 1 is basically an introduction and nothing much happened. I think the flashback beginning suits the series really well, because it gives the audience anticipation, of what the story will brew into...


Moses' ringtone in episode 1: "Your mum wants you! Your dad wants you! Your granny wants you! Your grandpa wants you! Your kid wants you..." So funny...

In episode 2, you get to see the "4 beauties". All 4 of them are so pretty, it's making me a little jealous. >< Fala Chen- youthful, lively
Linda Chung- She's the good girl type, perfect girlfriend material
Leanne Li (is that her name)- model material totally
Yoyo Mung- She gave me the deepest impression. I think Yoyo has a lot of character and charisma in this series especially


Episode 3 is by far the most interesting episode out of the 3 I have watched. The whole vacation incident is a little 'warm-up' for more problems the Tong family is going to face. Who is the one to blame? Here is my little analysis...

1) Lee Sze KeiBlame her? Of course not! She is the most forgiving and understanding wife

2) Susanna Kwan
Blame her? Many people will say yes. She has some amount of jealousy hiding deep under her heart, and it is slowly oozing out. You cannot imagine what will become of it one day. I can see where all the jealousy and uncontentment is coming from, so I'm not going to hate her (for now). But just be contented with what you have will make everything a lot simpler. But as you know, this series is called 'Heart Of Greed'....
3) Ha Yue. Blame him? I would say yes. Blame him for lying to his big wife in the first place, blame him for being so insensitive to Susanna Kwan, it really made her mad...
4) Moses Chan. Blame him? Yes, for being so stupid...
5) The other kids. Blame them? Yes. They are neither loyal to their father or their mother, only want to get their benefits. But it's okay, they'll all grow up...

Conclusion: Who is to blame? Everyone is to blame? or no one is to blame...

Moral of the story: A man should never marry 2 wives.

Heart Of Greed themevideo

Very nice themevideo. Made a few captures

A very close-knitted family, 4 very cute kids...

Not so harmonious after all?

Bring the memory back: The most memorable silence 2

In this scene, Kevin and Niki were having a cold war. From Kevin's POV, he is very hopeful, he thinks everything between he and Niki can be solved. From Niki's POV, she has many insecurities and struggles inside which no one can understand. That night, she took out her violin, and began playing a song.... many many times...

This is Kevin, waiting at the restaurant, looking hopeful...
This is Niki, taking out her violin, looking a little uncertain
She starts playing the song for the first time
Meanwhile, you realise Kevin is still waiting at the restaurant, the wait is getting a little long... This is when you realise Niki will not be turning up at all
The second time Niki played the song, she played it a little faster, meanwhile, Kevin was starting to feel hopeless... Niki then plays it even faster, with many extra notes. This is when you really start to feel her confusion, frustration and sorrow...
Kevin is finally leaving the place, Niki still doesn't want to stop playing...
The sixth time Niki plays the song, the string breaks. Niki finally wakes up. The song is over, the date is over, but both hearts are still aching...

Why do I love this scene:
This scene has no dialogues at all. The expressions, the music, the body language of the characters tell you everything you need to know and everything you need to feel, especially Niki's side. Kevin's pain of waiting, Niki's pain of keeping someone waiting, the whole idea is packaged so well in this scene. Not a single dialogue, but I still love this scene

I am finally back... for a while

It's been more than a MONTH since I last blogged. Really sorry for my lack of appearance. Yes yes, I disappeared for all the reasons you were thinking of. I was lazy, I was busy, I was distracted...

The Brink Of Law (thoughts):
TBOL is an awesome series I definitely recommend. But I am really ashamed to say that I did not finish the series. Basically this is how it works. My family rented the discs. Everytime you rent a series, you can keep it for 3 weeks. However, during those 3 weeks, I was so busy that I could only watch the series up to episode 14. After that, we had to return the discs. It is okay, I will finish up this series, some day...

Currently watching?
LITCOL and APCOM on satellite TV. Yes. I am lagging. BADLY. But I realised TV is the best and most reliable means of connecting me and TVB.

What is up!
HEART OF GREED. It looks awesome. I'll probably not watch it until my june holidays come. But still, I'm going to promote this series a little.

What do I look forward to the most?
Heart of Greed is a grand production. Looking at the whole cast, if i list out everything there is to look forward to, this post will never end. So, I'll HIGHLIGHT what I think is the best part of HOG...

1) Susanna Kwan. Do you realise, in all the trailers, you hear her voice at least 50% of the time? Watching the trailer, listening to the themesong, I know that she is going to be one person who stands out the most in the entire series.

2) Raymond Lam+Linda Chung. Let's talk about Raymond first. From a guest star to a supporting character to a major supporting character (Raymond's face actually appears before Bosco in the themevideo, even though Bosco was suppose to play the leading character), these changes happen for a reason--- Ray's performance stand out too much. ^-^ His character sounds really interesting, I still can't figure out whether he is good or bad. Now let's talk about Linda Chung. I don't like her in forensic heroes. That was the last series I saw her in. But looking at the themevideo, her improvements look promising. Plus, Linda looks STUNNING in HOG. Stunning, seriously stunning. Lastly, let's talk about Raymond+Linda. Their scenes look awesomely sweet. They really look like the perfect fit. The best parts of the themevideo are all their parts. I can't wait to watch their love story, hear their duet. Please do not disappoint me.

an old picture, a really sweet kiss
another hot kiss
Ray. He looks so upset/distraught in the entire themevideo...
Raymond and Yoyo. A new pairing. An affair you will not root for. They still look good together.
oo why so emotional?
my three favourite shots of linda in the themevideo. Anyway, I think I can guess what is happening in the third shot, memories...

3) Tavia Yeung. I think Tavia is an awesome actress who shines in any character she plays. This time, she plays rich wife, who has a very mature and charming and sometimes aggresive air. I really look forward to watching her performance. There was one part in the themevideo, she gave Bosco a tight slap. That was an awesome slap. The tears she shed are also awesome. All the way Tavia!!!

Tavia Yeung, her powerful tears and powerful slap

9th of April, 9.30pm, Jade Channel, Don't miss it~

credits: all my pictures from metal's blog: http://www.virtuesofharmony.net/blog/