The Diary of a Miss Hong Kong Finalist - Production Special

teeveebee's highly successful The Diary of a Miss Hong Kong Finalist has finally ended with rave reviews and high ratings. The six figure sum that we paid Ms. Kelly Lam surely has paid off! But the audience's fascination with the series hasn't ended, so to everyone's delight, tonight teeveebee is holding a "Production Special" for this popular series that shows exactly how and why this series was made! Without ado, we present to everyone, the writer that made this series possible.......

First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for supporting Diary. I'm really happy that the series had so many readers!

The Idea
Diary sparked up from me being tired of seeing so much news on Miss Hong Kong each and every year when the pageant starts up again. Haha so then I was thinking it would be hilarious if Virtues of Harmony II did a spoof on the MHK as a storyline in which they add a new character or whatever that experiences the whole MHK scenario and story. So I tell Em about it and after awhile, the idea turned into a teeveebee idea. Then after further discussion with her and Bernie, I decided I would be the one to write it. Hence The Diary of a Miss Hong Kong Finalist was born! From the start it was suppose to be a satire on MHK and everything about it and I was hoping our main character (Kelly) could experience everything this year's contestants was undergoing and of course being a VOH fan I wanted to include elements of VOH in it. Hahaha.

Several readers were perplexed with the ending and felt it was illogical. Thus in this next portion of the special is a detailed overview of the entire storyline and all of the adventures that Kelly undergoes!

The Story
Kelly Lam Lo Yuk fell in love with Kam Yuet at first sight when she entered Ka Yan fashion company. Unknowing of Sek Mei's affection for him, she decides to pursue him and succeeds in becoming 'sisters' with Ah Mei and girlfriend of Ah Yuet. Kelly was very happy with Ah Yuet but she was very controlling of him and one day he was fed up with her actions and broke up with her. Kelly was furious and decided to ignore him. After the break-up, Ah Yuet was very down because although Kelly was very controlling, he missed her company. Ah Mei, seeing her long-time crush so depressed, goes to comfort him and one night while they are both drunk she confesses her love for him, thinking he's asleep. However, Ah Yuet is fully aware of Ah Mei's confession and begins to realize how much she loves him. Thus, he starts a relationship with her. When Kelly finds out, she's so mad that she slaps both Ah Yuet and Ah Mei before resigning from Ka Yan and moving to New York City.

Kelly was hoping to remake her life in the US, but after years of trying, she failed and was so desperate for fortune. When she was in Hong Kong she lived a good life, but in New York, she was a nobody and fate was against her in everything she did. It was at this point of desperation that Kelly decided to join Miss Hong Kong. She wanted to flee away from her poverty and achieve some fortune. Luckily for her, she was accepted and although she was no longer Ah Yuet's girlfriend, she had a good relationship with his auntie, Kam Sa Sa and this allowed her to stay with Kam Yat, Yuet's sister, when she went back to Hong Kong.

Kelly returned to Hong Kong full of confidence and wanting to renew her life. However, she's naiive and quickly becomes the laughingstock of the MHK pageant and gets many rumors daily. At this time, TVB was having difficulties with its long-running Virtues of Harmony because the cast was getting too popular and demanded too many breaks to do other projects that it was a hassle to keep the series going. But the ratings and profits made were too much for TVB to end it, even though the series had reached well over 2000 episodes. Ah Yat, who happens to be one of the extras on the show, tells the producer than she has friends who look identical to the current casts. And so, after much planning, TVB replaced all of the old casts ranging from Nancy Sit to Louis Yuen with the real Kam, Seks, Wongs, Lams, etc of Hong Kong. TVB was surprised at how remarkably similar Ah Yat's friends and family were to the old cast. And so the transition was made very quietly and the news wasn't leaked out to the press.

At this point, Kelly was extremely depressed because she felt immense embarassment. After much thought, she decided to end her life to get away from it all. Ironically, that day TVB was filming for VOH at the same building where Kelly decided to jump. The storyline in VOH told of Ah Lo (Kelly Lam Yuk Lo... the VOH character/replacement actress for Bondy Chiu) coming back to Hong Kong and meeting up with Ah Yuet because she was depressed. That night, she got him drugged, drunk, and raped him. The next morning Ah Lo was crying that he had raped her, but she promised not to tell Ah Mei. By fate, she got pregnant and at this point she went to Yuet's mother, Nim Chi, and told her, even though she didn't want to. She was outraged and demanded that Ah Yuet marry Ah Lo as to not bring shame to their family. Ah Mei discovers this news and is too heartbroken to carry on and she can't bare to live with the sight of Ah Yuet marrying Ah Lo, so she decides to commit suicide.

Kelly (Lo Yuk... the MHK contestant) is mistaken for Kelly (Yuk Lo... the VOH character/replacement actress) because the two look remarkably alike. Kelly sees Ah Mei up on the rooftop but doesn't know that she has become an actress and thinks that she is planning on dying as well. Ironically, all of Kelly's dialogues and actions are exactly as how the script for that day's episode was. The episode, though dramatic in story and concept, was a spoof on TVB's Hard Fate sequence. After Kelly "kills" Ah Mei, she decides to jump, but Ah Yuet catches her feet before she falls. However, he's weak in health and almost falls until Ah Nin grabs hold of his feet, but the fall is already too steep so he loses balance. Thus a long chain of people is hanging at the side of the building as each try to prevent the other from falling. The director calls "CUT" and is very satisfied. A big trampoline is at the bottom and Ah Yuet lets go of Kelly. She lands safely and is brought to the hospital because apparantely she had fainted from the rush of the scene. The rest of the jumps off one by one and everyone is safe and happy.

At the hospital, Kelly (Lo Yuk... MHK) realizes she is mistaken from Kelly (Yuk Lo... VOH) and so she decides to play along with it. When she reads the newspaper, she realizes that the real Kelly (Yuk Lo... VOH had been hit by a cream van and was mistake for her (Lo Yuk... MHK). It turns out that that day Ah Lo (Kelly... VOH) was so nervous and in a rush to get to the filming that she was hit by the van! Thus the two were fatefully switched lives. Kelly (MHK) lies and says she doesn't remember anything to avoid going back to her life of rags and begins to live in the life of Ah Lo (Kelly... VOH)......

The Character
Kelly pretty much is like the characterization of Bondy Chiu's Lam Yuk Lo in VOH. I tried to make her the worst MHK contestant ever and point out her selfish reasons for joining the pageant. The reason why she's named Lam Lo Yuk is because Em had pointed out to me that "lo yuk" sounds like "revealing flesh" hence I thought that was unique and decided to go along with it. That's why several readers pondered why she's not Lam Yuk Lo but is Lam Lo Yuk!

The Change
Entries #1-6 was very funny and related 100% to MHK. But starting with Entry #7, the story turned a 360° and started to become a different story and MHK had less and less to do with it. Why? At first I was very driven to writing MHK Diary and had lots of ideas. But I kept pushing it aside because there's just too many MHK news each day that I couldn't keep up. Plus I got lazy and had other agendas. Hence I decided to end the story and turn it into something else. Because I wasn't pleased that the Cutie Mui/Michael Tse/Bondy Chiu love triangle was not carried out in VOH II I decided that I would continue it in this story. And thus I did.

The Logic
Several people find the "twist" of the ending too outrageous and stretching it too much. Why didn't the press notice the two looked so similar? In the story, there are actually 3 people who look alike: Bondy Chiu, Lam Yuk Lo, and of course our main character Kelly. I was going to put that our main character looked like Bondy at the beginning, but I decided not to. I'll admit that it's not very logical that the press didn't realize who Kelly looked like, but hey, it's a spoof on TVB and we all know their series lack logic most of the time hahahaha. So just go along with the story and enjoy the "twist." Testing the "twist" with entries #1-6, it's logical. Kelly was so depressed after being teased and ridiculed so much that she wanted to die and entries #1-6 did include the Ah Mei/Ah Yuet storyline. Hence it's logical in that aspect.

The Quality
From my point of view, Diary was pretty satisfactory. But it failed to achieve what it was set out to do, which was to have a character follow the MHK dream and adventure. However, I'm happy with the way the storyline developed and ended. My favorite entry is #6 because it's so funny and I had a lot of fun writing that one. My least favorite is #7 because it's very boring and draggy. I personally liked the bonus transcript and #8 because I find the storyline and writing in those chapters good. They're funny, but in a dark way and the drama aspect is pretty good.

The Interaction
I would really appreciate it if all the readers could post a comment on their overall thoughts of Diary (rating, fave/worst entries, thoughts, etc) or email all thoughts at MetalAZNWarrior@hotmail.com! I would really be happy to hear what everyone thinks.

The Comedy
Most of the humor is spoofs/teases at other series, news, people, etc. If you're not very up-to-date on TVB/series or follow Em's news then you might miss most of the jokes.

I hope everyone enjoyed reading this "Production Special"! Again, Diary is my first and last series for teeveebee, hahaha, so I hope you guys enjoyed my writing! I'm apologize that the series didn't go as I had planned, but I still think it's good. So hopefully you guys liked reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Again, any thoughts/comments are welcomed!

The Diary of a Miss Hong Kong Finalist - Entry #08 (Grand Finale)

July 8, 2004

Dear Diary,

Kelly Lam Lo Yuk has died! She's been dead since July 1, 2004. Ah Yuk died horribly by getting hit by the same van twice. No, the van wasn't white like usual, this time it was cream! Ah Yuk bled to death without a single soul to help her as the van ran off. Ever since her death, Ah Yuk has been awarded a memorial from Miss Hong Kong as a contestant who gave it her all but fate was cruel and took her away before she could compete. "Perhaps she might have won..." they said. But then again, everyone says nice things about dead people. Everyone in Hong Kong has been talking about Ah Yuk these days and she's scoring headlines after headlines each day in the presses. She's so popular with the news that she has overshadowed their interest with Deep Ng's drug problems. Em doesn't even bother to translate Ah Yuk's news anymore at her TVBspace News Roundup! In fact, she skips it and doesn't even bother to glance at it despite many people requesting for Ah Yuk's news on her tagboard. Just goes to show you how overly promoted she is now. Too bad Ah Yuk only lived to endure the bad fame and never got to bathe in this good fame and light.

The person who's writing to you now is a new, reborn Kelly Lam Yuk Lo. After that incident with Ah Mei, I woke up in the hospital and a crowd of people were silenting watching me and crying. I heard whispers asking "Is Ah Lo dead? What are we going to do? We can't go on without her. If she goes, we go cause she can't ever be replaced." I blinked my eyes and everyone was delighted to see that I had awoken that they cried tears of bliss. "Thank goodness Ah Lo is awake!" I stared blankly at them, "Who are you guys?" The crowd was horrified and speculated that I had lost my memories and wondered if I could be as good as I was before.

I picked up a magazine and was shocked at the cover. The death of #19 Kelly Lo Yuk brings her a special award and picture of "my" funeral?! Over to the side was a picture of myself with Ah Mei on top of the roof and another picture of a long chain of people dangling from the side of the same building. The preview read TVB has filmed the first dangerous scene without any extras, stunt doubles, and NGs! I was so confused. A girl asked me, "Ah Lo, are you starting to remember?"

"I... I remember this rooftop with Ah Mei and I remember seeing Ah Yuet holding onto my leg and after that..."

The girl smiled, "At least you still remember some stuff. Do you know that your performance that day was so real that there was no NGs? The director was shocked that you didn't request for a stunt double and he was more shocked how realistically and perfectly everything was shot. Do you remember who you are? Where you're from?"

I shook my head, making everyone disappointed. They continued to talk whether I could be replaced. I asked the girl, "Who am I? If you tell me I might remember."

"You're the TVB actress Kelly Lam Yuk Lo from the hit "Virtues of Harmony." You entered TVB after Kam Yat introduced you and her entire family and friends into playing the characters on the TV show since the original cast had gotten too popular and busy that they didn't want to play anymore. Especially that Bondy Chiu Hok Yee, the girl you replaced. I personally think you are a much better Ah Lo than her."

It was at that moment that I realized they mistaken me for Kelly Lam Yuk Lo, who I resemble identically! "So, is Ah Mei dead?"

"You mean Sek Mei? No, don't worry about that. The car had been messed around with to ensure that she would get the least injuries from it. Besides, she was wearing protection. She's in the room next door with a few scratches and cuts, but she's all right."

"So everything that happened that day on the roof was filmed?"

The girl nods. After that day, I found myself in the whirlwind life of celebrity Lam Yuk Lo. I kept making more money and filming more episodes and my popularity rose after my "realistic" and "natural" scene on the rooftop. Perhaps it's not exactly 'my' life, it's Ah Lo, but she's dead. Maybe it's fate that we traded lives. Everyday I have something to look forward to now and everyday I have a reason to live.

As long as there's life, there's hope and one should live for himself or herself. I discovered that I can live without being married or dating. It's true that money doesn't buy happiness, but it makes sadness a lot easier to bare, that's for sure!

Because I had "lost my memory" no one suspects that I'm not the real Ah Lo because after all, I give such a natural performance and I look and act exactly like her. I visited "Ah Yuk"'s grave today and I cried. I felt so bad for stealing her life, but what could I do? I couldn't possibly say that I was Ah Yuk could I? Especially after all the deals, money, and fame that I got. Sometimes I think back and wonder if it was all destined that I took over Ah Lo's life... is this the life God had wanted me to take over?

Am I the murderer who indirectly killed Ah Lo? But then again, I had nothing to do with the van driver. Should I confess to everyone that I'm not really Ah Lo? I guess time will tell whether or not this life is for me and whether God has decided this or not. Miss Hong Kong is still going on and the battle is heating up. I wonder who is going to win, but I'm glad that I don't have to deal with it anymore.

Cheers to my reincarnation, Diary!

Forever your best friend,

Kelly

The Diary of a Miss Hong Kong Finalist - Bonus Transcript

[Kelly goes around Hong Kong searching for tall buildings, but fails to find the perfect one]

Kelly: God, are you messing with me again? Finally when I discover the perfect solution to my problems, I can't even execute the plan! Maybe fate doesn't want me to go through with it. Perhaps it's not wise to listen to a TV series, let alone a TVB drama. But... I've faced so much ridicule and rumors and paparazzi that life isn't worth living anymore. I can't believe I went from a nobody to a somebody but the problem is that this 'somebody' is just a laughingstock of the town. Perhaps this makes Jessica Simpson happy, but I sure don't want to live in this fame anymore!

[Kelly continues to walk and finally discovers the building where Hard Fate was filmed at]

Security: Miss, where are you going?

[Kelly stares at him blankly]

Security: Oh! I recognize you! Please, go straight up ahead. They're waiting for you.

Kelly: Thanks

[Kelly smiles sweetly and climbs up the stairs]

Kelly: Even the security guard recognizes me as the disgraceful Miss Hong Kong finalist. He probably knows I'm going to jump to my death to avoid all this shame so he doesn't want to make it hard for me.

[Kelly opens the door to the rooftop and takes a deep breath of the air and looks around her]

Kelly: It's such a gorgeous day outside today. The sky is such a deep blue, the sun is shimmering brightly in my teary eyes, and the clouds are so white and fluffy. I feel like I'm in heaven. Well I'm going to be there in a few moments, so I guess this is God's prelude for me. But wait, am I sure I'm going to go to heaven?! Sure I lied a few times, stole a few times, but what the heck, my heart is still pure enough that the Death Busters would target me with their Daimon and look for a Talisman in me! Sure I may not hold one of the three Talismans that form the Holy Grail, but heck, my pure heart still shines, so for sure it'll lead my way up to heaven!

[Kelly balls up her fists and takes a deep breath and walks towards the ledge of the rooftop. Abruptly, she spots another girl near her at the ledge]

Kelly: That girl looks familiar.

[Kelly steps closer and recognizes the face filled with tears]

Kelly: Sek Mei!

[Girl turns around and wipes her face]

Mei: A-Ah Lo, so you came after all.

Kelly: Of course I came! Sek Mei, you always like to fight with me on everything don't you? First you stole my job, then you stole my boyfriend, now you want to steal my last glory?! Why can't you go find another building?!

Mei: Ah Lo, what are you talking about? If you hadn't entered Ka Yan, Ah Yuet and me would have dated eventually. It's not my fault that you were the third person and stole him from me. Now he's just back where he belongs.

[Kelly slaps Mei]

Kelly: Sek Mei! Do you know that if it wasn't for you I could still be happily living with Ah Yuet and leading a happy life? Because of you stepping into our relationship, I had to move to New York to start over because I couldn't forget Ah Yuet and seeing you two together made my blood boil. It's not my fault that you were too shy to admit your feelings before I entered Ka Yan. Then after you got Ah Yuet you spread bad lies about me to everyone and you framed me into getting fired. I couldn't get a job. Even in New York I couldn't make it! It's all your fault. So when I came back here to Hong Kong I thought I could start anew once more. But now you show up again and ruin everything! Why can't you leave me alone for once? You have Ah Yuet! What more do you want, my life?!

[Mei slaps Kelly and Kelly flashes evil eyes at Mei]

Mei: Ah Lo, that slap was for the many times you slapped me before. I have Ah Yuet?! If you hadn't stolen him after you got back to Hong Kong, I could still be at home happily with him! But no, you stole him, brainwashed him, and you're even cheap enough to rape him! So you go to Auntie Chi and tell her you're pregnant with Ah Yuet's baby. So now she's making him marry you as to not disgrace the Kams' family name. You're so cheap! I respect and remember our sisterly relationship from so long ago that's why I still call you Ah Lo!

Kelly: What the heck?! My name is Lam Lo Yuk, I don't see how calling my middle name is respecting me, Ah Mei! Now I know why I've been having so much trouble here in Hong Kong, it's all because of you isn't it?! You're such a life-ruiner pig-headed Ah Mei! You wear glasses and act all sweet and nice, but deep down you're an evil girl.

Mei: Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it? With this cell phone in my hand I'll call Ah Yuet and everyone and tell them all of your bad secrets!

Kelly: Give me that phone! I won't let you ruin me even more!

[Kelly chases Mei on the rooftop in an attempt to snatch back the phone. Finally Kelly pins Mei down near the ledge of the rooftop]

Kelly: Give me that phone!

Mei: Never!

[Kelly and Mei struggle and the phone flies across to another part of the roof and Mei slips while holding onto Kelly's hand as she hangs on the building]

Mei: Ah Lo, please don't let go! Please. We used to be good sisters, remember? I promise I won't tell anyone your secrets! Please Ah Lo, I don't want to die! No, don't ever let go!

[Tears well up in Mei's eyes and falls down her cheeks as she panics. Mei feels Kelly's hold lightening and her eyes intense and bulge as Kelly smiles]

Mei: You can have Ah Yuet! Please I'll go away for good. I won't step into your life again!

[Kelly holds onto Mei's hand tighter]

Kelly: Ah Mei, of course I won't ever let go! You and I...

[Kelly feels something small and furry with a tail sniffing around her foot and looks behind and discovers a rat! She screams and lets go of Ah Mei's hand. Ah Mei falls and lands on top of a car. Kelly hears a loud crash and glass smashing. She looks down and sees Ah Mei's dead body on top of the car and the shock faces of a crowd of people. Kelly looks across the building and sees a man with a big birthmark on his face. Tears well up and fall from her eyes]

Kelly: Oh my god! What have I done?! I just killed Ah Mei! I'm not only the worst MHK finalist ever but now I'm a murderer! I just commited a crime. I'm a criminal! God...! Why? Why is my life so difficult? Just when I thought I could remake myself, I'm back to square one. When I first applied to join MHK I thought this would be the easiest solution to fame and fortune. I thought Miss Hong Kong could get me out of everything, but it's only made it worst. I thought even if I don't win I could still get a job at TVB as an extra and work aside Amy Ang. But it seems I don't even have that glory now. I'll never make it anywhere. I guess I entered MHK without a pure heart and dedication. I was selfish and greedy and just wanted to run away from everything. And so everything has turned against me. I should blame myself. I'll end up in jail and turn lesbian for sure now and the gossips of the press earlier about me and Ah Yat would become validated. I...

[Kelly falls to her feet, huddles into a ball, and cries]

Kelly: There was one thing I had made up my mind to do when I stepped up onto this rooftop in the first place. Before I saw Ah Mei, before I got jealous at her trying to steal my death spot and glorious day. I was going to.....

[Kelly takes a deep breath and begins to jump when she hears footsteps. She feels someone grabbing her foot and looks up at a familar shadow of a man]

Kelly: A-Ah Yuet...?

[Kelly falls]