Hong Kong drama school affirms respect for Candace Chong over ‘red lines’ concern

The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) has said it respects Candace Chong Mui-ngam’s contributions and reached out to her after the outspoken playwright accused it of censoring her remarks for an anniversary promotion drive.

But the academy did not explain on Tuesday why it refrained from publishing an interview with Chong for a social media campaign to mark its 40th anniversary this year, prompting the award-winning playwright to write an open letter.

In the letter, which was published on Monday, Chong said she was among 11 alumni invited last May by the organisation’s student recruitment and community engagement office to be interviewed for the promotional effort.

The series also featured interviews with renowned actor Michael Ning and singer Chiu Sin-hang.

But Chong said her interview, which was filmed in June last year, had yet to be published, although the others had been posted, prompting her to contact the academy.

“The staff called me after three days, saying that they had already uploaded all the alumni interviews on the Chinese social media platform RedNote this January, but only mine could not be uploaded,” Chong wrote.