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((Just for clarification, subs refers to subtitles and dubs refers to voice-over dubbing.))
I had always insisted on getting the original for any sort of shows I watch because most jokes are funnier when they say it in their native language and more often than not, the dubbers screw up the show. It wasn't like I didn't give them the chance. I did. I sat through many crappy dubs before arriving at this conclusion. So I'd rather stick to the characters speaking with their original, god-intended voices and read some subtitles.
There are exceptions though. So far, the only dubbing that I have been able to stand is the dubbing of Hong Kong TVB's drama serials (not even ATV can match those dubs). It could be because I grew up listening to them but they do have decent dubbers and I don't have the urge to throw the tv out the window every time someone opens their mouth.
TVB has this funny policy of utilizing the same dubber for the same actor so the voice stays with the face even though the actor might be in a different series. But TVB also only has those few dubbers (bro and I counted 2 different guy voices and 2 different girl voices :P) so the same voice could be heard many times over in the same show, voicing different actors. Credits to them for portraying different personas even though it is (quite) clear that A and B are voice by the same person. TVB also uses the same bunch of dubbers for very long now. It's like, all these years of vegging out in front of the tv and watching those Hong Kong serials, hearing the same voices over and over... it's kinda surreal. But maybe that's why I can stand TVB dubbers. They have been with me almost my whole life.
But many years on, I'd picked up on Cantonese (albeit not that good as yet. Just barely passable in the understanding portion.), I'm beginning to get back to my principle of watching those serials in their original voices (with Chinese subs preferably, because with Chinese subs, you can match those Cantonese lines to those Chinese words). This is the first time watching a show in its native language didn't get me sighing in relief or jumping for joy. To me, watching those hk dramas in Cantonese and watching them in dubbed Chinese are almost the same, which is good because that means the dubs are on par with the original.
Another fact to note before I get into my discussion proper is that, for many years now, my local tv broadcast station is showing foreign (Japanese/Korean) dramas with dual sound options (original voices or dubbed voices). And the cinemas here tend to show Japanese movies in Japanese and Korean movies in Korean (with subtitles, naturally). So why aren't Hong Kong dramas/movies getting the same treatment?
I mean, this isn't like many many years before, when I was still younger, and the broadcast station can only send out single audio tracks to my tv. Dual sound *is* possible and it *is* being implemented to a lot of J-/K-drama these past few years. The technology is there but still, whenever the tv station shows a new Hong Kong drama, it will always be the dubbed version. I have only ever heard the Cantonese being spoken in those dramas when I switch over to some Malaysian channel at certain time and/or day because apparently, people across the causeway is more adept in Cantonese than us, isn't it?
Same goes for the silver screens. We get Japanese movies and Korean movies speaking in their native tongue. We even get French movies speaking in French but Hong Kong movies are shown in lousy China-dubbed Chinese. I admit, not all the Hong Kong dubbed movies are done in China or that lousy but like before, I watched many movies for verification before arriving at my conclusion. That gotta count for something, right?
Just recently, Johnnie To's new movie Exiled is being shown here and I had wanted to catch it (like, totally stimulate the movie industry and all) but guess what, GV listed the movie as Mandarin with English and Chinese subtitles and Shaw not even mentioning the audio or subs at all. With such steep movie prices, I don't want to be wasting $9.50 and a good 2 hours of my life sitting through a (supposedly) decent film that is ruined by lousy subs. So being the pirate that I am, I sought solace online only to be disappointed a second time. All the sites offer Exiled in Mandarin with Chinese subtitles. Like, wtf. It's already in Mandarin and you put in Chinese subtitles? Am I the only one who sees the redundancy?
So what I'm trying to say here is please, unless there is some hidden clause in the big book of broadcasting rules that says you need to pay more money to broadcast dual sound for Hong Kong dramas, can I pretty please have a choice of Cantonese/Chinese audio for those? And I know showing the movie in Cantonese and Chinese would require 2 different timing and all that but I bet I'm not the only crazy canon-whore out there who needs her shows to be in their original, god-intended ways. Or am I?
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1. I manage to bump into the same hot Dr. Chase lookalike (House MD) angmoh three times within a span of 1/2 an hour!
Went for the attachment interview yesterday and we crossed paths when I went to DSO @ Kent Ridge (behind NUH) for my interview. After the interview, boarded the bus to get back to Buona Vista mrt and lo! there he is again, sitting by the exit. Wonder if he feels like I'm stalking him... but really, I'm not. Last but not least, we dropped off at the bus stop near the mrt and I didn't see him on the platform. Thought that's where we part ways but what do you know? He comes up the escalator. @_@ Lucky!
2. I must be watching too much hk dramas lately!
Some guy from school asked where I came from, and what's my dialect. I'm from my mother's nether regions, ahem, I mean Singapore and I'm Hakka, even though I don't speak a word of it. After I answered (and pestered him for the reason), he says I speak/sound like a Hong Kong friend of his. Wtf? I mean, I've only been watching religiously watching hk drama for about 2 weeks (albeit in their native cantonese) but 2 weeks shouldn't be enough to make people think I'm a hongkie right?
Or (wishful thinking on my part) does this mean that I have a flair for adopting annotations and speech patterns of others if I'm subjected to them even for a short amount of time? I know I have a decent grasp on different written and spoken languages but this is a ridiculous!
3. Mother Teresa fell on me!
Sitting on the homebound train just hours ago, minding my own business, and suddenly thump, a slight pressure on my foot and a lot of apologies. Someone reading dropped a book on my foot. Thank goodness it was a thin book. And so, smile and reassurance of "it's ok, no problem". Didn't see what book's title was until a little while later, and gee... out of gazillion books circulating in Singapore alone, I had Mother Teresa fell on my foot. -_-" I hope it's not because of the attraction to my name.
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