I wrote about the Chinese version of South Korea's Dad, Where Are You Going? in this paper last November. As the reality show had enjoyed phenomenal success and astonishing advertising revenue, Hunan TV soon began filming a new season. Two weeks ago, on June 20, the first episode of the sequel was aired.

The show, known on the mainland as Baba Qu Nar, depicts overnight journeys taken by five celebrity fathers and their children. In each episode, each of the five celebrity dads and their young children need to complete tasks, which usually involve the preparation of meals in the countryside. Every task requires the father-child team to cooperate with each other while pitting them against other teams.

Much of the show's appeal comes from its star-studded cast. In the new season, the five celebrity dads are Lu Yi (actor), Huang Lei (actor), Francis Ng Chun-yu (actor), Yang Wei (gymnast) and Gary Chaw (singer-songwriter).

In the first season of the franchise, the dads featured were Jimmy Lin Chih-ying (actor), Wang Yuelun (director), Guo Tao (actor), Zhang Liang (model) and Tian Liang (athlete). A comparison between the cast from the two seasons reveals the workings of the mainland's entertainment industry. Both Jimmy Lin and Gary Chaw are Taiwan-based (Chaw is Malaysian Chinese). This re-affirms the established tradition of including someone from Taiwan in these reality shows. This has to do with the sizable and affluent market there, the susceptibility of the Taiwanese audience because of cultural and language affinity, the political need to remind them they belong to the same country, or any combination of these above reasons.

Recently, Hunan TV has demonstrated a stronger need to also include someone from Hong Kong, and that is why we see Francis Ng appearing in the second season. Rumor has it that Ng is paid millions, if not tens of millions to participate, but the commercial logic behind this move escapes me. The last time I tried to watch the show in Hong Kong on the internet, I saw a black screen with words in white saying "due to copyright issues, the content is not available in your region". It also doesn't look as if Yinlu Peanut Milk or Blue Moon Detergent, major sponsors of second season of the franchise, is planning major promotion initiatives in the Hong Kong market. Indeed, if Hongkongers were ever to consider Yinlu as something in any way edible, every mainland-Hong Kong conflict, together with all parallel milk powder trading, would have disappeared into thin air.

In fact, I am not sure as to whether Ng's appearance in the show would help promote Hong Kong's image (or harmony between the two systems) at all. His performance is embarrassing, and symbolizes the typical shortcomings of Hongkongers. If you want to know the problems Hongkongers are facing when they go up North, you must watch the show.

Francis Ng, born 1961, is now 53. His son Feynman is 6. Other fathers in the show, all with children of Feynman's age, are 10 years younger than Francis. This reminds us that Hongkongers, exploited by the capitalist system, often sacrifice family life for their so-called "careers" - so they can own a house that is overpriced.

Feynman appears malnourished and stressed, with dark circles under his eyes. This may be due to the fact that when he was born his parents were past their prime, or because his dad poured hot food onto his hands and pushed him down the stairs, as Francis admitted to (with pride) in an interview last year.

Both Francis and Feynman seem ill at ease during interactions with the mainland members of the cast. They communicate between themselves in English with a strong Hong Kong/Singapore accent. Through the show, our compatriots will come to recognize this strange behavior as a common practice among the middle class in Hong Kong, where parents believe that teaching their children poorly pronounced monosyllabic English words will turn them into great bilinguals.

Nothing illustrates Hongkongers' collective obsessive-compulsive disorder better than when Francis refused to move his luggage down a steep hill using a donkey. He paid the price, carrying the luggage himself. For him, the donkey must be dirty and unhygienic. Let's imagine how he would feel if asked to ingest the Yinlu Peanut Milk.

The author is a current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 07/08/2014 page9)