The Week I Became A Meme

So, last week, I became a meme in Hong Kong. The meme itself is above; you can also check it out on the Jojo Wu Instagram account. I have some thoughts on what happened to me after it went online and what it means for society at large, but let me walk you through what happened first.

Hong Kong has a rich history in entertainment; in fact, you could say the place really invented modern forms of it in Asia. You might even have heard of some, even if you’re not local to Hong Kong or have spent time in Asia.

Beyond famous movie stars such as Bruce Lee, Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan, music also has an equally rich history in Hong Kong. Cantopop singers include Sam Hui, Paula Tsui, Roman Tam, Frances Yip, Alan Tam, Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui, Beyond, Jacky Cheung, Leon Lai, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Sammi Cheng, Faye Wong, Kelly Chen, Eason Chan, Joey Yung, Miriam Yeung, Leo Ku, G.E.M. These fine people entertained Hong Kongers and wider Asia for decades.

Of course, none more so than the most recent phenoms boy band, Mirror, namely ‎Edan Lui, ‎Anson Lo, ‎Stanley Yau, and ‎Keung To. And it was the latter’s 25th birthday party in HK’s Causeway Bay, the place where he was born, and my world collided on Tuesday, April 30.

What went down..

Little did I know, but thousands of supporters of Keung To line the sides of Causeway Bay every year to celebrate their idol’s birthday. I’ve lived in Hong Kong on and off for years and never noticed it. My bad.

For me, it was just another work day. I’d gone out for lunch heading towards Times Square’s fabulous Citysuper dining hall, as I do. My aim was to pick up the Roast Chicken, broccoli, potatoes, and gravy plate as usual. To get there, I needed to cross the famous 'Sogo’ crossing in ‘CWB as it’s known. Here’s what that looks like a few days after ‘the meme’:

The difference was that Tuesday, April 30, wasn’t a normal midweek day. I quickly became aware that something was up when I saw a huge crowd gathering, but Hong Kong is a busy place, and I wasn’t going to overreact. I pushed on to the front of the crowd.

Most of the attention was centered on the famous trams that run the length of Hong Kong Island—or ding ding as they are affectionately known in the city. The trams were packed full of people, and little did I know that they were Keung To fans.

Then I connected the dots once I saw them emblazoned with Keung’s photos and well wishes for his 23rd birthday. That plus the well wishes all holding up their smartphones and various banners. The huge billboards with their idol’s face also gave the game away.

I waited and waited, then asked the police officer when we could cross. “I don’t know,” he said. At that point, as the now infamous meme portrays, I got frustrated. Why couldn’t I cross? How long would it take? I’m hungry af..

Needless to say, I didn’t have to wait long, and 10-15 minutes later, some of us crossed. That was that. I went off, ate lunch, and then went back to work. It was not until 5pm or thereabouts that the meme hit Jojo Wu's Instagram account (plus others, e.g., 1 as per below).

How do I feel?

I’ve been thinking about this question for the past week since the meme happened. A lot has changed for me, both about how I present myself online and the impact of ‘fame’; that blood-rushing but also numb feeling seeing your face all over the Internet and your phone exploding with messages.

Many people laughed at me, some were angry at me, but most, I’m thankful to say, have said it made their lives better in some little way. Typical messages I received were laughing with me, and that‘s great. I even got some touching messages like this one:

I won’t share the less-than-flattering messages, but it made me think about how I present myself online now that I have a new ‘audience’ and what my role is here.

From now on, I want to be more positive online, and try to take the lessons learned from this to make my own presence one for greater good rather than posting negative stuff online.

Life is too short to do otherwise.

What do memes like this say about society?

Hong Kong has had it’s fair share of ups and downs recently, there’s enough online about those. Mirror brought a lot of people joy during COVID when people couldn’t leave home let alone Hong Kong itself. The music (I’ve listened to more now) is generally uplifting and the band members seem grounded and good.

That said, it is weird that one person (me) is publicly shamed for not wanting to be part of something. Everyone should be free to enjoy whatever makes them happy, without prejudice. I genuinely had no idea about the whole Keung To birthday thing, but even if I did, shouldn’t I have been allowed to go about my business as normal?

Let’s set the record straight; I’ve got no beef with Keung To. As anyone would probably do, I’ve enjoyed rolling with the meme and having a bit of fun with it. By popular demand, I’m even launching an online store that will feature clothing with variations of the meme on them!

I’m glad the many people who messaged me and posted about it online enjoyed the meme. I’m the type of person that can easily laugh at myself. It was really funny after-all. And I think it’s pretty indicative that the relatively small number of people who are angry at me perhaps need to look at themselves.

It’s good to have role models and idols, but maybe an important lesson here is this: the best role model you can aspire to be is yourself. Instead of blindly following the crowd, perhaps you should stand out in it as I did.

Best,
Alex