The Greed of Man
Encyclopedia
The Greed of Man is a TV drama series broadcast by TVB
Television Broadcasts Limited
Television Broadcasts Limited, commonly known as TVB, is the second over-the-air commercial television station in Hong Kong. It commenced broadcasting on 19 November 1967...

 in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 in 1992. The story, spanning three decades from the 1970s to the 1990s in Hong Kong and Taiwan
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

, addresses various social and financial phenomena of the times, from violence in triad criminal organizations to corruption in the Hong Kong stock exchange
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Hong Kong. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and fifth largest in the world...

. It featured a top roster cast, including veteran TVB actors Adam Cheng
Adam Cheng
Adam Cheng Siu-chow is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer.-Career:Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB Wuxia drama series based on the works of Louis Cha and Gu Long, such as The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and Chor Lau Heung...

 and Damian Lau
Damian Lau
Damian Lau Chung-yan is a Hong Kong film and television actor, executive producer and film director. Lau has starred in many television drama series of various genres, produced by Hong Kong's TVB and ATV.-Early career:...

. The series is also well remembered for a Hong Kong stock market cultural phenomenon called the "Ting Hai effect".

1960-1970s

Ting Hai and Fong Chun-sun were childhood friends. Ting is a stubborn, uneducated and pathologically self-righteous brute who imagines himself to be a living Kong-woo
Jianghu
The jianghu is the milieu, environment, or sub-community, often fictional, in which many Chinese wuxia stories are set.In modern Chinese culture, jianghu is commonly accepted as an alternative universe coexisting with the actual historical one in which the context of the wuxia genre was set...

hero, while Fong is an honest, cultured and refined leader of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Hong Kong. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and fifth largest in the world...

. Fong is pressured by some of the most powerful and corrupt bureaucrats in Hong Kong to control the stock market. Immigration officers, police chiefs and government officials all attempted to cash in. Fong manipulated the market such that no one could touch him. Stock guru Yip Tin described the event as a battle to seize control of the "Mandate of Heaven
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. It is similar to the European concept of the divine right of kings, in that both sought to legitimaze rule from divine approval; however, unlike the divine right of kings, the Mandate of...

".

Fong develops strong feelings for Ting's girlfriend Lo Wei-ling, and becomes Ting's rival for her affection. In a fit of fury over Lo's disaffection, Ting cripples
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...

 Fong, and later, during an ill-advised attempt at reconciliation, kills him. Without Fong's moderating influence, the 1973 stock market crash forces many people into extreme poverty. Stock manipulation was one justification for the creation of the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)
Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong)
The Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong was established by Governor Murray MacLehose on 15 February 1974, when Hong Kong was under British rule. Its main aim was to clean up endemic corruption in the many departments of the Hong Kong Government through law enforcement,...

 in February 1974.

1980s

Ting Hai flees to Taiwan
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

, where his unabated violent behavior lands him a 14 year prison sentence. Back in Hong Kong, Ting's four sons manage to build a powerful triad crime family in their father's absence. The four brothers blame the Fong family for separating them from their father, and they harass them unrelentingly. The eldest son, Ting How-hai, replays his father's relationship with Lo Wei-ling on one of the Fong sisters, and is driven to violence when she rejects him. All of Fong Chun-sun's three daughters are brutally killed, while Fong's only son, Fong Chin-bok, manages to survive and escape to Taiwan. With help from his two girlfriends, Fong strikes a fortune by gambling on the stock market (not by investing, but via an indirect gambling method) and returns to Hong Kong to avenge his family. At the same time, the Ting family's wealth and power have increased to incredible proportions via the stock market due to sheer luck in a bear market.

1990s

The final showdown between the Tings and Fongs is inspired by the backdrop of the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

 in 1991. Fong Chin-bok's investment company faces the Ting family in a winner-take-all, last-man-standing stock market epic battle. To raise the stakes, the Tings are financed by criminal syndicates. Fong wins the support of three of Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...

s, who want to return the favour as they built their fledging financial empires with help from Fong's father back in the 1960s. The stock market rises and falls correspondingly with news of U.S. troops
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...

 entering or withdrawing from the war. Eventually, the Tings make the wrong bet and their entire fortune is wiped out, compounded by ending up in billions of dollars in debt. Ting Hai forces his sons to commit suicide by jumping off from the top of the stock exchange building, before following suit, but he survives and spends the rest of his life in prison.

Ting Hai effect

The series, which centers on the bustling stock market during the early 1990s, has been studied by international stock broker
Stock broker
A stock broker or stockbroker is a regulated professional broker who buys and sells shares and other securities through market makers or Agency Only Firms on behalf of investors...

s for its peculiar effect on the global stock market trend. A phenomenon is observed, that whenever a TV series starring Adam Cheng
Adam Cheng
Adam Cheng Siu-chow is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer.-Career:Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB Wuxia drama series based on the works of Louis Cha and Gu Long, such as The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and Chor Lau Heung...

 is aired on TV, the stock market will fall for an unexplainable reason. In 1992 when the series made its debut, the Hong Kong stock market dropped by 1200 points in one month. During an interview that year with Cheng's fellow actor Derek Kwok, Kwok said that he did not believe in the phenomenon. In 2009 when Kwok collaborated with Cheng again in The King of Snooker, the Hang Seng Index
Hang Seng Index
The Hang Seng Index is a freefloat-adjusted market capitalization-weighted stock market index in Hong Kong. It is used to record and monitor daily changes of the largest companies of the Hong Kong stock market and is the main indicator of the overall market performance in Hong Kong...

 fell by 600 points again.

Others

Sean Lau's character Fong Chin-bok was involved in a love triangle
Love triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...

 with Yuen Mui and Long Kei-man, played respectively by Vivian Chow
Vivian Chow
Vivian Chow is a Hong Kong based Cantopop singer and actress. She is well known for her ladylike stage image as well as her charity works for animal rights and breast cancer awareness....

 and Amy Kwok
Amy Kwok
Amy Kwok is former Miss Hong Kong winner and actress based in Hong Kong. She is married to Hong Kong Film Award and Golden Bauhinia Awards Winning Actor Sean Lau.- TVB TV Series :...

. Fong married Yuen eventually in the series, but in reality, Lau dated Kwok and married her in 1998.

Yammie Lam
Yammie Lam
Yammie Lam Kit Ying is a former Hong Kong TVB actress, most notable for her excellent performance in The Greed of Man and Looking Back In Anger.-Career:...

, who played Lo Wei-ling, became mentally insane just like her character in the series. The Hong Kong media has since speculated that she has been possessed and cannot get out of her role. In September 1998, Lam lost control of her car while driving at Repulse Bay
Repulse Bay
Repulse Bay is a bay in the southern part of Hong Kong Island, located in the Southern District, Hong Kong.-Geography:Repulse Bay is located in the south of Hong Kong Island, to the east of Deep Water Bay and to the west of Middle Bay and South Bay...

, and was admitted into hospital. Her mental illness was announced in the following year.

The series also featured many different songs performed by top singers such as Alan Tam
Alan Tam
Wing Lun Alan Tam, MH is an award-winning Hong Kong Cantopop and English pop singer and actor. During the early 1980s he played a major role in developing the cantopop scene as he was known for singing romantic ballads with modern arrangements. As of 2008, he is still active in the music...

, Beyond
Beyond (band)
Beyond was a rock band formed in Hong Kong in 1983. The band became prominent in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia. They were also very popular in mainland China. The band was, and still is, widely considered as the most successful and influential Cantonese band from Hong Kong...

 and Faye Wong
Faye Wong
Faye Wong is a highly successful and influential Chinese singer-songwriter and actress who is usually referred to as a diva . Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong . Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and rose to stardom in the early 1990s by singing...

.

Sequels

In 2000, TVB's rival station ATV
Asia Television Limited
Asia Television Limited is one of the two free-to-air television broadcasters in Hong Kong, the other being rival Television Broadcasts Limited . It launched in 1957 under the name Rediffusion Television as the first television station in Hong Kong...

 produced Divine Retribution
Divine Retribution (2000 TV series)
Divine Retribution is a TV drama series broadcast by ATV in Hong Kong on 11, September 2000. The series is supposed to be a sequel to TVB's 1992 series The Greed of Man, and was initially called , literally "Greed of Man 2000". Part of the reason for the name change was said to be due to legal...

, as a sequel to The Greed of Man. Both its Chinese and English titles were modified to avoid association with The Greed of Man.

Ting family

Cast Role Description
Lai Hyun Ho Chin
何賤
Ting Hai's mother. She is old and has health problems. As she was the wet nurse
Wet nurse
A wet nurse is a woman who is used to breast feed and care for another's child. Wet nurses are used when the mother is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cultures the families are linked by a special relationship of...

 for the Fong family, she always sees the Fongs as her extended family, despite the rivalry between the two families.
Adam Cheng
Adam Cheng
Adam Cheng Siu-chow is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer.-Career:Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB Wuxia drama series based on the works of Louis Cha and Gu Long, such as The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and Chor Lau Heung...

Ting Hai
丁蟹
A stubborn, uneducated and pathologically self-righteous brute who solves his problems through violence and intimidation. He is not exactly intelligent, but has amazing streaks of luck.
David Siu
David Siu
David Siu Chung Hang is a former Hong Kong TVB actor. He is best known for his role as Ting How-hai in the 1992 TVB series The Greed of Man. He entered TVB in 1987 and starred in a number TV series including Behind Silk Curtains, A Trial of Lifetime, Bet On Fate, The Greed of Man, The Link,...

Ting How-hai
丁孝蟹
The boss of the Ting family triad. He is considered to be the most compassionate of Ting Hai's sons. He becomes cold and ruthless later.
Michael Tao
Michael Tao
-Career:Tao entered the acting industry in the 80s, affiliating with TVB. It was during this period that Tao earned the name "Housewife Killer" due to his overwhelming popularity amongst housewives , solidifying his position as a 1st tier television actor in TVB.Tao later moved over to rival ATV in...

Ting Yik-hai
丁益蟹
A cruel, vulgar and unforgiving triad member.
Ng Kai-ming Ting Wong-hai
丁旺蟹
A smart but corrupt lawyer who spends his time making money through unscrupulous means.
Derek Kwok Ting Lei-hai
丁利蟹
An unethical doctor.

Fong family

Cast Role Description
Damian Lau
Damian Lau
Damian Lau Chung-yan is a Hong Kong film and television actor, executive producer and film director. Lau has starred in many television drama series of various genres, produced by Hong Kong's TVB and ATV.-Early career:...

Fong Chun-sun
方進新
A premiere stockbroker who attempts to rid the stock market of corruption. His first wife is killed by a car driven in the wrong direction near a supermarket. He raises his four children with the help of Ting Hai's mother.
Yammie Lam
Yammie Lam
Yammie Lam Kit Ying is a former Hong Kong TVB actress, most notable for her excellent performance in The Greed of Man and Looking Back In Anger.-Career:...

Lo Wai-ling
羅慧玲
Ting Hai's ex-girlfriend. She seeks protection from Fong Chun-sun after discovering Ting's brutal ways. She helps Fong raise his children like a stepmother, even though she is only a few years older than them. She is driven insane eventually after witnessing the destruction of her family at the hands of the Tings.
Sean Lau Fong Chin-bok
方展博
Fong Chun-sun's only son. He enjoyed a privileged childhood when his father started off a wealthy man. However, he falls into despair and idleness after his father's death and his family's descent into poverty. When he returns to financial stability, he becomes an aggressive stock holder and vows to avenge his family.
Ng Wing-hung Fong Fong
方芳
Fong Chun-sun's oldest daughter. She is emotional but clear-minded. She is the most "ordinary" of the Fong siblings, but is overwhelmed by events beyond her control.
Loletta Lee
Loletta Lee
Loletta Lee is a Hong Kong actress born on 8 January 1966 in Hong Kong. She later changed her name to Rachel Lee in 2000.She started playing small roles in Hong Kong movies in the 1980s. Her first role as main actress is in Devoted to You...

Fong Ting
方婷
She is beautiful and intelligent enough to earn a good life for herself. Unfortunately, she falls in love with Ting How-hai, the son of her father's murderer and a triad boss. She realises her mistake and tries to end her relationship with Ting, but is unable to escape the disastrous consequences.
Carol Yang Fong Man
方敏
The youngest of the Fong siblings. She is brightest and most innocent of the four. She commits suicide by jumping off a building after being raped by Ting Yik-hai, who promptly had the incident publicized.


Other notable characters

Cast Role Relations Description
Vivian Chow
Vivian Chow
Vivian Chow is a Hong Kong based Cantopop singer and actress. She is well known for her ladylike stage image as well as her charity works for animal rights and breast cancer awareness....

Yuen Mui
阮梅
Fong Chin-bok's love interest She was a neighbour of the Fongs and witnessed their joys and tribulations. She is sweet, down-to-earth, pure and faithful, but extremely frugal in spending.
Amy Kwok
Amy Kwok
Amy Kwok is former Miss Hong Kong winner and actress based in Hong Kong. She is married to Hong Kong Film Award and Golden Bauhinia Awards Winning Actor Sean Lau.- TVB TV Series :...

Long Kei-man
龍紀文
Fong Chin-bok's love interest; Long Sing-bong's daughter She meets Fong by chance and fall in love with him. She is emotional, implusive, educated and smart. She is a clear contrast to Yuen Mui, her opponent in the love triangle.
Kenneth Tsang
Kenneth Tsang
Kenneth Tsang Kong is a Hong Kong actor. Tsang's career has spanned 50 years and included a variety of acting roles.Tsang was born in Shanghai, China with family roots in Jida, Zhuhai, Guangdong. He attended high school in Wah Yan Hong Kong and then Wah Yan, Kowloon...

Long Sing-bong
龍成邦
Long family patriarch A corrupt sergeant-major in the Hong Kong Police Force
Hong Kong Police Force
The Hong Kong Police Force is the largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. It is the world's second, and Asia's first, police agency to operate with a modern policing system. It was formed on 1 May 1844, with a strength of 32 officers...

. He flees to Taiwan in 1973 to escape from Hong Kong stock market corruption charges.
Kong Ngai
Chen Man-hin
陳萬賢
Chen To-to's father He is utterly corrupt and ruthless. He has good stock instincts but not skilled or lucky enough to compete with the Fong and Ting families.
Bowie Lam Chen To-to
陳滔滔
Chan Man-hin's illegitimate son A stock market expert who unseats his father from the stock exchange leading position. He leaves New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and returns to Hong Kong after the Fong family is murdered and swears vengeance.
Law Lok-lam Yip Tin
葉天
Fong family friend An honest stock market guru, who fantasizes about being the god of Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...

. He is the right-hand man of Fong Chun-sun during the 1960s and becomes the mentor of Fong's son in the 1980s. He has the right formula to winning the stock market, but is mentally unstable.
Lau Kong
Lau Kong
Lau Kong is a Hong Kong actor who works on the network TVB.-Biography:Little is known of Lau's private life, but he has been acting since 1976, when he first joined the now defunct network Commercial Television, he later joined RTV Lau Kong (劉江) is a Hong Kong actor who works on the network...

Chow Chai-sang
周濟生
A drug cartel
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...

 chief and highly respected elder of the triad community. He is a close ally of Long Shing-bong during the corruption period. He escapes to Taiwan together with Long and falls from power. He has an unusual penchant for Hangzhou cuisine.

Stock market tip

In the middle of the series, Fong Chin-bok receives a prophetic "Tip for Stock Market Invincibility" from his mentor, Yip Tin, who has since become mentally unstable. The words are initially arranged in an incoherent manner and not decipherable. Not until the end of the series did viewers, and Fong Chin-bok, notice what the tip is.

The original "Tip for Stock Market Invincibility" is re-arranged into a poem and then translated to :

"The original intent of the stock market is to allow a place for people to gather capital, which leads to a prosperous society where everyone gains. However, human instinct tends towards the greedy, and many will go to no end to gain unearned wealth. Thus, a paradise turns into hell, complete with ceaseless violence and killing. Countless people become penniless, even lose their lives. The winners lose all conscience and become inhuman. I have been in the stock market for years, and I have never seen a true winner. A smart person should know that this is a battlefield where no winners will emerge. There is only one way to win: leave the market early."

See also

  • Divine Retribution
    Divine Retribution (2000 TV series)
    Divine Retribution is a TV drama series broadcast by ATV in Hong Kong on 11, September 2000. The series is supposed to be a sequel to TVB's 1992 series The Greed of Man, and was initially called , literally "Greed of Man 2000". Part of the reason for the name change was said to be due to legal...

  • 1973–1974 stock market crash
  • Hang Seng Index
    Hang Seng Index
    The Hang Seng Index is a freefloat-adjusted market capitalization-weighted stock market index in Hong Kong. It is used to record and monitor daily changes of the largest companies of the Hong Kong stock market and is the main indicator of the overall market performance in Hong Kong...


External links

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