Chapter 601
Singapore Land
Time flies, and it's now 1988.
When Chen Mengyi's motorcade arrived at the 'Times Studios' in Tseung Kwan O, it immediately attracted the attention of the people there. Hong Kong people are no strangers to this 'media queen'.
In the past year, Asia Television has made great strides, surpassing TVB for the first time to become the highest-rated television station in Hong Kong.
The variety show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" achieved phenomenal ratings every episode, even setting a record for generating 100 million HKD in advertising revenue per episode. Talent shows "Idol Producer" and "Produce 101" aired 12 episodes each in the first and second halves of the year, respectively, selecting the boy groups 'H.O.T' and 'S.E.S.', generating immense buzz and discussion. The music program "Music Bank" also became a new option for Hong Kong singers to promote their songs. Some TVB singers even risked being blacklisted to promote their music on "Music Bank," because compared to TVB's conservatism, ATV's music programs were open to all singers, without any barriers, and maintained authority and fairness.
The TV series "Justice Bao" has been filming and airing simultaneously for a year, consistently achieving high ratings. Although TVB also produced its own version of "Justice Bao," which was jokingly referred to by Hong Kong citizens as the "Double Bao Case," ATV's "Justice Bao" has consistently outperformed its rival. The series "The New Legend of the White-Haired Scholar," which aired at the end of the year, once again utterly defeated TVB, leading some to jokingly suggest that ATV had borrowed TVB's "soldiers" (Zhao Yazhi).
In terms of singers, ATV continued to poach singers from TVB, while the H.O.T. group debuted in July and their first album, "Descendants of Warriors," achieved double platinum status, making them a true idol group. The S.E.S. girl group, which debuted at the end of the year, also received much attention, and their sweet and pure style became a hot topic in the city.
With the success of two consecutive "idol groups," industry insiders finally realized that the large-scale talent shows held by "Times Entertainment" every year were not just "media queens" playing around, but rather "media queens" laying out a grand strategy.
Today, the 'Media Group' has become a representative of Hong Kong's 'cultural industry', with subsidiaries including: Asia Television, Times Pictures, Times Entertainment, and Oriental Daily News, each of which is a leader in Hong Kong.
Good morning, Miss Chen.
"morning"
34-year-old Chen Mengyi was like a whirlwind, leaving an echo wherever she went. People respected and feared her, and admired her all at the same time.
What a prestigious name 'Media Group'! From the beginning, when the succession was questioned, Chen Mengyi is now the undisputed 'Media Queen' and Hong Kong's 'Rupert Murdoch'.
"Ms. Chen, President Zou has arrived."
"Please invite him in."
Raymond Chow, president of Era Films, walked out respectfully, showing no airs whatsoever about being called a 'film tycoon' by the people of Hong Kong.
From initial skepticism and dissatisfaction, Raymond Chow now only feels admiration for Chen Mengyi.
Back then, Tsui Hark lost money filming "Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain," and Raymond Chow was very dissatisfied with Tsui Hark, which led Tsui Hark to prepare to leave Times Film Productions. However, Chen Mengyi stayed and supported him in opening his own studio, continuing the collaboration with Times Film Productions in a cooperative manner. Later, John Woo had a conflict with Raymond Chow and went to Taiwan to film. It was Chen Mengyi who, at a crucial moment, invited John Woo back to Hong Kong to film "A Better Tomorrow" and signed a five-film contract with Chow Yun-fat in advance.
It can be said that although Raymond Chow is the president of Era Pictures, Chen Mengyi's influence is ubiquitous.
Therefore, Raymond Chow completely abandoned the idea of 'independence' because Jack Cheng was not one of his people and would not follow him; many people at Era Films would also not follow him.
Raymond Chow then settled into the role of CEO, earning a high salary and working for the Chen family.
"President Zou, comedies have always been a specialty of our competitor, Cinema City, and I intend to address this weakness."
Upon hearing this, Raymond Chow replied, "Ms. Chen, we have kung fu superstar Jack Cheng. If we were to develop comedy films, firstly, we wouldn't have any big-name comedians, and secondly, wouldn't the resources be unevenly distributed?"
Chen Mengyi stated directly, "No, my idea is to cultivate new talent, and to develop comedy films that are not like those from Cinema City, but rather 'nonsensical films.' Here are two scripts, 'Curry and Pepper' and 'All About Ah-Long.' I hope you will shoot two comedy films according to the requirements on them. I think Stephen Chow from TVB is very suitable for the male lead, and I plan to sign him to a long-term contract to cultivate nonsensical comedians."
Raymond Chow took the script, glanced at it briefly, and immediately said, "No problem."
It turned out that the script was quite good, and it even included key information such as the lead actors and director, which clearly showed that he couldn't refuse it.
Now that Ms. Chen is communicating with him directly, it is clearly a sign of trust, which has led him to consider retiring at this company.
Seeing that Raymond Chow agreed so readily, Chen Mengyi nodded and said, "Stephen Chow is a box office star we are focusing on developing, so the contract can be for ten films or three years. In addition, I will personally go to the set during filming. I think nonsensical movies have a lot of potential."
Raymond Chow immediately realized that this was a big plan by Chen Mengyi, and not just about making two movies.
"Ok"
Chen Mengyi ended by saying something that made Raymond Chow beam with joy.
"The board of directors of Times Film will soon introduce a plan to issue a portion of incentive shares to you senior executives. We hope you will continue your efforts to maintain the prosperity of Hong Kong cinema."
Thank you, Ms. Chen.
Times Pictures Group is not just a simple 'film company'. In addition to the three major sectors of production, distribution and cinema chain, it also includes diversified investments such as real estate investment, hotel operation and amusement park operation.
Shortly thereafter.
Zhou Liangshuyi, the president of Asia Television, also came to Chen Mengyi's office to report on her work.
Last year, ATV not only surpassed TVB in viewership ratings, but also began to generate substantial profits, totaling HK$1.2 million in net profit. Among them, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" alone earned HK$3800 million in net profit, becoming the most lucrative program.
"At the same time, we were already on par with TVB in music, which made up for our biggest weakness."
Chen Mengyi was not complacent about such achievements. If TVB had achieved similar results, the net profit would probably have exceeded HK$3 million.
Ultimately, ATV's costs still haven't come down.
Of course, she was not in a hurry to get involved in this area, as the primary task was to stabilize the ratings and strengthen the brand's foundation.
Chen Mengyi took out a stack of documents and then said, "This is a new plan for a 'reality show' program, a music talent show. I hope the TV station will take it seriously and then broadcast it next year (1989) or the year after (1990)."
Zhou Liang Shuyi was delighted and took the documents to read them.
"The Voice of Hong Kong" is a music talent show that selects singers. The show establishes a "program bible" to standardize processes such as blind auditions and stage design.
Sure enough, it's yet another completely new model!
"It's interesting. This show will not only help us continue to work hard on music, but I believe the ratings will also be very high."
Chen Mengyi said, "More importantly, like 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,' it will become our 'copyright library,' and there may even be dozens of versions in the future. That's my goal."
Zhou Liang Shuyi was impressed by her boss, who was much younger than her. This ambition was truly befitting of the Chen family. She didn't think Chen Mengyi was dreaming; after all, the Chen family controlled Hong Kong comics and games, which generated huge profits from copyrights and supported many people in Hong Kong.
"Okay, we will definitely send out our best personnel and form a team."
Chen Mengyi nodded and added, "Although it's called 'The Voice of Hong Kong,' it can be open to the entire Chinese community. Through open auditions, we can select the best voices from Hong Kong step by step. The specific implementation details are all in this plan. The key is that we need to create a complete process, not only to make the program better, but also to make this process a 'program bible' to prevent overseas TV stations that buy our copyright from making arbitrary changes in the future."
"Yes, Miss Chen."
Watching Zhou Liang Shuyi's departing figure, Chen Mengyi revealed a slight smile.
In the years to come, her father would probably give her some scripts or plans to implement.
This is 'Hong Kong pop culture'. Her father probably already has a complete plan, down to the detailed outline of the program.
For example, her father encouraged her to train screenwriters so that he could produce 'Hong Kong style dramas' in the future, which is something she is very much looking forward to.
This day.
An unexpected guest arrived at Singapore Land: Chen Wenming, Chairman and President of Global Group. He was received by Tao Xinbo, Chairman of Singapore Land.
Tao Xinbo is 72 years old this year, 19 years older than Chen Wenming, so it can be considered a 'clash between the old and the middle-aged'.
"I have met your father many times and I am deeply impressed by him."
"Thank you. Although my father has been completely retired for eight years, he is still our pride."
The two exchanged pleasantries.
Tao Xinbo was a public official during the Republic of China era. He worked in transportation during the War of Resistance against Japan. After the war, he went to Vietnam to do business and later came to Singapore in the 1960s to develop his career.
He began investing in real estate in 1968, building the "Shin Kwong Building" on Shenton Road in Singapore's financial district, taking one character from each of his and his wife Liu Guangli's names as a tribute. This building became a pioneer in commercial architecture at the time. Also in that year, Tao Xinbo acquired a 25% stake in Singapore Land and became its chairman.
During his tenure at Singapore Land, Tao Xinbo led the company from a small firm to a Singapore real estate giant. His proudest achievement was the construction of the Shell Tower at Raffles Place, Singapore's financial center.
The return on this investment was exceptionally high, with the cost recovered in about four years of rental income. At the same time, Singapore Land also built the Standard Chartered Bank Tower together with Standard Chartered Bank. In 1980s Singapore, the Shell Building and the Standard Chartered Bank Tower stood side by side, towering over Raffles Place.
In the early 80s, the Singapore government tendered for land reclamation to develop the Marina Centre area, and Tao Xinbo won the bid. At that time, the land was still in the process of being reclaimed from the sea, and it took great courage to buy a piece of land that was still submerged in water. Singapore Land spearheaded the development of Marina Square here, which was another large-scale project.
Now that Chen Wenming wants to increase his investment in Singapore, he naturally hopes to complete his strategic layout quickly through acquisitions.
Tao Xinbo only holds 20-25% of Singapore Land's shares, and his descendants lack strong successors, which undoubtedly gave Chen Wenming an opportunity.
Therefore, Chen Wenming quickly got straight to the point: "Mr. Tao, I wonder if you are interested in selling your Singapore Land Corporation shares? I am willing to buy them at a premium!"
Tao Xinbo's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected Chen Wenming to make such a request; it was simply unreasonable.
“Mr. Chen is joking. Singapore Land is something I developed with great effort. How could I possibly put it up for sale?”
Chen Wenming, however, persisted, saying, "Mr. Tao, you are already 72 years old this year. I have heard that your descendants are not yet capable of taking over the property, or are not strong enough. If you are willing to put it up for sale, we will definitely give you a satisfactory price."
The Wharf Holdings Group, which he leads, spent six or seven years developing a shopping mall in Singapore.
Doing projects one by one is too slow. It would be better to go for the small fish to eat the big fish and acquire one of the largest commercial real estate companies in Singapore.
Tao Boxin firmly stated, "I will absolutely not sell my shares. I've heard that Mr. Chen, the Wharf Group you inherited also started by acquiring other companies, which is a method I strongly dislike. So, if you really want to acquire, please come from the front door, not the back."
It means that I am a listed company and my stock is publicly traded. If you are really capable, you don't need to consult me; just go to the market and buy enough of my shares.
In recent years, many business tycoons in Singapore have coveted Singland and even considered it, but none of them have succeeded.
Tao Boxin believes that although Chen Wenming is a powerful outsider, he is still a local strongman.
Although he only holds 21% of Singapore Land's shares, the second largest shareholder is the Kuwait Investment Authority, which also holds 12% of the shares. In addition, many shares are held by financial investment institutions in Singapore.
So how could Chen Wenming, a Hong Kong conglomerate, manage to win over these investors?
Singapore is not Hong Kong, and he was certain that Chen Wenming would not succeed in the acquisition!
Unless that retired overseas Chinese leader intervenes, it might not be possible to succeed.
However, since he has already retired, he probably won't get involved in such matters, as it wouldn't do him any good.
Chen Wenming, naturally unwilling to back down, confidently replied, "Alright, since Mr. Tao has spoken, I will certainly come from the front door. Excuse me!"
"please"
The talks between the two sides naturally broke down!
On the way back, the assistant said to Chen Wenming, "Mr. Chen, the Kuwait Investment Authority has a 12% stake, but we don't know if they are willing to sell it! In addition, we know a lot of fund companies in Singapore, and I believe they would be happy to sell their Singapore Land stake at a good price."
After a moment's thought, Chen Wenming said, "We must acquire the shares from the Kuwait Investment Authority before we can openly acquire shares from the Singapore fund company; otherwise, everything will be very expensive. However, we can tentatively inquire with the Kuwait Investment Authority first, without being too hasty."
"Um"
Chen Wenming was quite confident about the acquisition, as Tao Xinbo held too few shares. Furthermore, the Chen family had deep connections in Singapore; Tao Xinbo immigrated to Singapore in 1963, but his father had already begun establishing a presence there after World War II.
As for competing in terms of wealth and power, he was even less afraid. No other conglomerate in Singapore could rival the strength of the Global Group. (End of Chapter)