Look up Wong or wong in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wong may be any of the following:

Name[link]

• Wong (surname), a Cantonese and Hakka surname

Businesses[link]

• WONG (AM), a radio station (1150 AM) licensed to serve Canton, Mississippi
• Wong (supermarket), a supermarket chain in Peru, founded by Chinese-Peruvians
• Wong Fu Productions, Asian American filmmaking group
• Wong Kei, London Chinatown restaurant
• Wong Lo Gat herbal tea, a Chinese herbal tea
• Long Wong's, Arizona club
• Mister Wong, social bookmarking site

Music[link]

• Won-G Bruny (born 1978), Haitian rapper

Fictional characters[link]

• Wong (comics), Marvel Comics character and manservant to Doctor Strange
• Wong Leung, a character from the PlayStation 2 game The Bouncer
• Ada Wong, female character in the Resident Evil video game series
• Amy Wong, Futurama series character
• Brad Wong, character in Dead or Alive
• Maria Wong, character from the show Braceface
• Mr. Wong (James Lee Wong), fictional Chinese detective in a series of short stories published in Collier's and later in a series of films in the late 1930s and early '40s
• Mr. Wong, character in Coronation Street
• Mr. Wong (cartoon character), icebox.com character
• Nikki Wong, character from the show 6teen
• Stanford Wong, lead character in Lisa Yee's book Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time
• Characters from the Beyblade series:
  • Lee Wong
  • Mariah Wong
• Characters from the Digimon series:
  • Henry Wong or Lee Jiang-Liang
  • Suzie Wong (Digimon)

Places[link]

• Wong Chuk Hang, an area to the east of Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island
• Wong Chuk Hang Estate, a public housing estate in Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong
• Wong Chuk Hang Road, a major thoroughfare in southern Hong Kong
• Wong Chuk Hang Station, a proposed South Island Line rail station on Hong Kong
• Wong Chuk Kok Tsui, a cape in north east New Territories, Hong Kong
• Wong Chuk Yeung (Tai Po), a village in the Tai Po District of Hong Kong
• Wong Leng, section 9 of the Wilson trail in Pat Sin Leng Country Park, Hong Kong
• Wong Nai Chung Gap, a geographic gap in the middle of Hong Kong Island
• Wong Nai Chung Reservoir Park, a park in Wong Nai Chung Gap
• Wong Nai Chung Road, a major road in Happy Valley, Hong Kong
• Wong Nai Deun Tsuen, a village in the New Territories, Hong Kong
• Wong River, a river of Thailand
• Wong Shek, an area in the northern part of the Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong
• Wong Shiu Chi Secondary School, a school in Tai Po, Hong Kong
• Wong Tai Sin, Hong Kong, an area in Wong Tai Sin District, Hong Kong
• Wong Tai Sin District, a district of Hong Kong
• Wong Tai Sin Temple, a famous shrine in Hong Kong
• Wong Uk Village, a village in the New Territories, Hong Kong

Other[link]

• Wong cilik, the general populace in the Javanese social hierarchy
• Wong, et al. vs. San Francisco Board of Education, et al., a lawsuit in the U.S. state of California
• Wong Fei Hung – Master of Kung Fu, a martial arts television series
• Wong Sun v. United States, a United States Supreme Court decision
• Wong Tai Sin, Chinese deity popular in Hong Kong associated with the power of healing
• "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium", an episode of the New Twilight Zone
• Jan Wong controversy, a 2006 Canadian media controversy
• The World of Suzie Wong, a 1957 novel, later adapted into a film of the same name
• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, a 1995 American comedy film

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "Wong"
• Huang (disambiguation)
• Wang (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Senator The Honourable Penny Wong
Penny Wong in May 2012
Australian Senator for South Australia
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2002
12th Minister for Finance and Deregulation
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 September 2010
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Lindsay Tanner
Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water
In office 3 December 2007 – 13 September 2010
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard
Preceded by	position created
Succeeded by	Greg Combet
Personal details
Born	(1968-11-05) 5 November 1968 (age 43) Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Domestic partner	Sophie Allouache
Children	Alexandra
Residence	Australia
Alma mater	University of Adelaide
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Uniting Church in Australia
Website	www.financeminister.gov.au

Penelope "Penny" Ying-yen Wong^[1] (born 5 November 1968), an Australian senator representing South Australia, is the Commonwealth Minister for Finance and Deregulation. Wong is a member of the Labor Party and member of the Australian federal cabinet.

Wong was the first Australian Minister for Climate Change and Water. Her appointment was amended on 26 February 2010, by the Prime Minister, to the Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water. This change in the Government's cabinet was brought about by the controversy of the Home Insulation Program (HIP).^[2] On 13 September 2010, she was sworn in as Minister for Finance and Deregulation in the Gillard Labor cabinet.^[3] She has been a member of the Australian Senate since 2002, representing South Australia.

Wong is the first openly lesbian member of the cabinet, and the first Asian-born federal minister.^[4][5] Before entering Parliament, Penny Wong was a barrister and solicitor in Adelaide and an adviser to the Carr Government in New South Wales.^[6]

Early life[link]

Wong was born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia to a Malaysian Chinese Hakka father and an Australian mother.^[7][8] She moved to Australia at the age of eight with her mother and younger brother Toby, after her parents separated. Toby went on to become a chef in Adelaide, South Australia.

Wong gained a scholarship to Scotch College, Adelaide where she studied chemistry, physics and mathematics and was accepted into the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide.^[9] After spending a year on exchange in Brazil,^[10] Wong found she had an aversion to blood. She then studied and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours at the University of Adelaide and completed a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of South Australia.^[9][11][12]

When she was 18, Wong took over the control of the Adelaide University Labor Club.^[13] While at university, she worked part-time for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. Wong also became involved in political activism at university, winning a position on the National Executive of the National Union of Students. Wong has been a delegate to the South Australian Labor Party State Convention every year since 1989, with the exception of 1995.^[14] Her time at university was one where a substantial number of contemporaries became Australian politicians. Former senator Natasha Stott Despoja was a contemporary, along with current Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill whom Wong dated while at university.^[10][9]

Career[link]

Wong graduated from university in 1992. She continued her association with the CFMEU as an industrial officer. She was admitted to the South Australian Bar in 1993.

During 1995 and 1996, Wong acted as an advisor to the timber union and the newly-elected New South Wales state government, specialising in the area of forest policy in the middle of the fierce 1990s environmental battles over logging in NSW.^[15]

On returning to Adelaide, Wong began practising law, working as a solicitor at the firm Duncan and Hannon between 1996 and 1999. From 1999 to 2002, Wong worked as a legal officer with the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union. During this time, she also won a position on the ALP's state executive.

During her legal career (between 1996 and 2002), Wong appeared 11 times before the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, 15 times before the South Australian Industrial Relations Court, 8 times before the South Australian Industrial Relations Commission, 3 times before the South Australian Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal and 10 times before the South Australian Workers Compensation Tribunal.^[16]

Wong ran for pre-selection for the Senate in 2001, and was selected for the top position on the Labor Party's South Australian ticket. Wong is a member of EMILY's List Australia, the support network for Labor women, and, until her appointment as a minister following the 2007 election, sat on a number of Senate committees, primarily those related to economics.

In June 2005, Wong was appointed Shadow Minister for Employment and Workforce Participation and Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility. Following the reshuffle in December 2006, she became responsible for the portfolios of Public Administration and Accountability, Corporate Governance and Responsibility, and Workforce Participation.

In November 2007, in the wake of the Labor Party victory in the 2007 election, Wong was appointed Minister for Climate Change and Water. As a result of this promotion, she is the highest ranked politician representing South Australia. She accompanied then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to Bali for the international climate change talks. Wong led final negotiations as Chair of the United Nations Working Group in the closing days of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2007,^[17] shortly after her appointment as Minister for Climate Change and Water.

In September 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced Wong had been promoted to succeed Lindsay Tanner as Minister for Finance and Deregulation.^[18][19]

Personal life[link]

Penny Wong is lesbian, and was the first sitting member of the Australian Labor Party to come out while still in parliament.^[20] Her partner, Sophie Allouache, a public servant and former University of Adelaide Students' Association president, attended her swearing-in ceremony along with Wong's mother, Jane Chapman. Although her father remains overseas, they keep in touch.^[10] In December 2011, Allouache gave birth to their first child, Alexandra,^[21] after announcing the IVF-assisted pregnancy using donor sperm in August 2011.^[22]

In 2010, Wong was selected by readers of samesame.com.au as one of the 25 most influential lesbian Australians.^[23] Wong is a practising Christian,^[10] attending Pilgrim Uniting Church in Adelaide.

See also[link]

• Rudd Ministry
• Gillard Ministry

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Penny Wong

• Official ALP website biography
• Penny Wong Senate Biography

v t e Rudd Cabinet (2007–10) Prime Minister: Kevin Rudd Anthony Albanese • Chris Bowen • Tony Burke • Kim Carr • Stephen Conroy • Simon Crean • Chris Evans • John Faulkner • Martin Ferguson • Joel Fitzgibbon • Peter Garrett • Julia Gillard • Joe Ludwig • Jenny Macklin • Robert McClelland • Nicola Roxon • Stephen Smith • Wayne Swan • Lindsay Tanner • Penny Wong

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2010)

Ivana Wong
Chinese name	王菀之
Pinyin	wang2 wan3 zhi1 (Mandarin)
Jyutping	wong4 jyun2 zi1 (Cantonese)
Birth name	Wong Oi Chi (王愛之)
Ancestry	Chaozhou, Guangdong
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	(1979-06-18) 18 June 1979 (age 33) Hong Kong
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Genre(s)	Cantopop
Instrument(s)	Singing, piano, flute, drums
Label(s)	East Asia Records (2007-present)(Hong Kong) SeedMusic (2007-present)(Taiwan) Universal Music Group (2005-2007)
Years active	2005-present
Official Website	Ivana Paradise

Ivana Wong (Chinese: 王菀之; Mandarin Pinyin: wang wan zhi; Jyutping: wong jyun zi) was born on 18 June 1979. She is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer-songwriter.

Biography[link]

Wong's first public performance was at the CASH (Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong) Song Writers contest in 2000 in which her Mandarin piece "It is just misunderstanding and not tragic at all" placed first. Soon after she wrote songs for popular Chinese singers including Jacky Cheung, Sammi Cheng, and Jolin Tsai.

She signed for Universal Music (環球唱片) in 2004 as an all-round artist (composer, lyricist and singer). On 5 October 2004, she sang with Jacky Cheung (張學友) "I am really hurt" (我真的受傷了) in his live performance and started to become well-known.

In May 2005, her first EP album "Ivana王菀之" was launched with excellent sales, ranked the best selling album in HMV for weeks.^[1] Continuing on her success, a second album "I Love My Name" was released 5 months later in November 2005.

In 2008, Ivana's First Mandarin Album (王菀之Ivana首張國語創作專輯) was awarded one of the Top 10 Selling Mandarin Albums of the Year at the 2008 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards, presented by the Hong Kong branch of IFPI.^[2]

Compositions[link]

Ivana's own albums

"Ivana王菀之"

• "Tricks" (把戲)
• "Wanna Fly" (想飛)
• "Touched in One Second" (一秒感動)
• "Missing You" (心掛掛)
• "I'll Remember You" (我會記得你)
• "Now I See the Reason" (原來如此)
• "I Am Really Hurt" (in Mandarin, 我真的受傷了)
• Hidden Track - "Thunder and Lightning" (French Demo, 雷電)

"I Love My Name"

• "Hopes in Hand" (手望)
• "Caution, Fragile" (小心易碎)
• "Thunder and Lightning" (雷電)
• "Denunciation" (面斥不雅)
• "Sudden Dance" (忽然起舞)
• "Love Has It All" (English)
• "Thanks for Your Dream" (多得你夢)
• "Love Myself" (愛自己)
• "Little Angel" (in Mandarin, 小天使)
• "I Cannot Recall It" (in Mandarin, 我想不起)
• "Hopes in Hand (Care Version)" (手望(守望版)), featuring Hins Cheung (張敬軒)

"詩情．畫意(Ivana Wong 2006 New Album)"

• "Poem's Passion" (詩情)
• "Painting's Meaning" (畫意)
• "(Paris Doesn't Have A) Ferris Wheel" ((巴黎沒有)摩天輪)
• "Together with the Clock's Time" (融了鐘的時間)
• "Bliss" (幸福)
• "Wanted Love, Not In Love" (想愛不相愛)
• "Flying With Your Lover" (與愛人飛)
• "Starry Sky" (滿天星)
• "To Hate With Qualification" (恨也講資格)
• "I Really Love You" (我好愛你)
• "Poem's Passion - Calm Mix" (詩情 - 清心Mix)

"Read my Senses(Ivana Wong 2007 New Songs + Best Selections Album)"

• "Truth" (真心話)
• "Mask" (面具)
• "Home Reunion" (重見家圓)
• "Love you Forever" ( 一輩子愛您)
• "There is nothing sad about misconception" (是一個誤會沒什麼可悲)
• Hidden Track - "Girl from Ipanema"

"王菀之Ivana首張國語創作專輯(Ivana's First Mandarin Album)"

• "It's Love" (是愛)
• "Love and Kiwi" (愛與奇異果)
• "Why can it be lonely" (怎麼會寂寞)
• "Self Entertaining" (自娛)
• "Learned" (學會)
• "You're my true love" (你是我最愛的人)
• "Improvise" (揣摩)
• "Since" (自從)
• "Spinning Ferris Wheels" (流轉摩天輪)
• "Winter Dreams" (冬夢)
• "Lost" (迷湖)
• Bonus Track - "Why aren't you here" (Demo, 冬眠)
• Bonus Track - "Where's my teddy?" (Demo, 恨也講資格)
• Bonus Track - "Amazing Grace" (奇異恩典)

“Infinity Journey”

• “I Come from Mars” (我來自火星)
• “How Long is Forever” (永遠幾遠)
• "The Colour of Glass" (玻璃色)
• “Shower Head” (花灑)
• "My Man is Coming" (郎來了)
• "The Black Kitty and I"(小黑與我)
• "The God Does Not Reply" (呼天不應)
• "In Love with Your Bed" (戀上你的床)
• “Sentimental” (多愁善感)
• "Love Thinner Than Paper" (情比紙薄)
• "A Greek Maiden besides the Wishing Well" (in Mandarin, 許願池的希臘少女)
• “I Come from Mars (Infinity Journey Mix)” (我來自火星-Infinity Journey Mix)

“On Wings Of Time”

• “She threw a match” (in Mandarin, 她扔了根火柴)
• “Moon said” (月亮說)
• "Big Ben" (大笨鐘)
• “Song of Low-Tech” (低科技之歌)
• "I'm Sorry" (English)
• "I Do Not Intend to Tear" (in Mandarin, 我不打算流眼淚)
• "Small Reunion" (小團圓)
• "Remember Remember" (記住 記住), Duet with Shilei Chang (常石磊)
• “The Candy is Poisonous” (粒糖有毒)
• "Lost Art" (迷失藝術)
• "The Moon Matter" (in Mandarin, 月亮事)
• “Mary had a little clock” (English)

Other songs

• "It is just misunderstanding and not tragic at all" (是一個誤會沒甚麼可悲)
• "Red Cheek" (臉紅), in NEO ACOUTSTIC MOVEMER Vol.1
• "Little Happy Doctor" (快樂小博士)
• "Please Let Me Hold Someone" (讓我擁抱一個人) in 903 Sammy and Kitty Opera 06'

Compositions for other singers (Incomplete)

• Jacky Cheung - "I Am Really Hurt" (in Mandarin, 我真的受傷了);
• Sammi Cheng (鄭秀文) - "In Love with Your Bed" (戀上你的床);
• Remus Choy (蔡一傑) - "Addiction" (上癮);
• 2R - "Creating My Wonders" (變出我精彩);
• Fiona Sit (薛凱琪) - "Hibernation / Vie-Ya" (冬眠/Vie-Ya);
• Fiona Sit - "The Black Kitty and I" (小黑與我);
• Gigi Leung - (梁詠琪) - "When I fell in love" (愛上你開始);
• Gigi Leung - (梁詠琪) - "First thought" (初心)
• Otto and Osman @ EO2 - "Wow Wow Wow" (嘩嘩嘩) in 903 Sammy and Kitty Opera 06'
• Kelly Chen (陳慧琳) - "Fumi Saimon's Woman" (柴門文的女人);
• Joey Yung (容祖兒) - "The God Does Not Reply" (呼天不應);
• Leo Ku (古巨基) - "Shower Head" (花灑);
• Leo Ku - "Human" (我生);
• Miriam Yeung (楊千嬅) - "My Man is Coming" (郎來了);
• Andy Hui (許志安) - "After Tomorrow" (明日之後);
• Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) - "A Greek Maiden besides the Wishing Well" (許願池的希臘少女);
• Hacken Lee (李克勤) - "Love Thinner Than Paper" (情比紙薄), etc.

Music Chart[link]

HK Record Merchant (香港唱片商會) Album Sales Chart

Awards[link]

• 2000 - CASH Song Writers Quest Champion
  CASH 流行曲創作大賽冠軍
• 2005 - TVB JSG Seasonal 2005 (Second) "Newcomers" Award (one of the awards)
  勁歌金曲優秀選第二回"新人薦場飆星獎" (得獎者之一)
• 2005 - TVB Top Ten Children's Songs - "Little Happy Doctor"
  十大兒歌金曲(得獎作品《快樂小博士》)
• 2005 - Metroshowbiz Top Ten New Stars Second Round "Dazzling New Female Star"
  新城十強新星鬥第二回「奪目女新星」
• 2005 - Friday Weekly "University and College Students' Favourite New Singer-songwriters
  學勢力xFriday大專生熱愛歌手選「大專生最熱愛唱作新人」
• 2005 - PM Newcomers Awards "PM Powerful New Singer-songwriter"
  PM 樂壇新人頒獎禮"PM強勢唱作女新人"
• 2005 - TVB8 Hall of Fame "Best Female Newcomers" Silver Award
  TVB8金曲榜頒獎典禮"最佳女新人銀獎"
• 2005 - Guangzhou Radio/TV Hall of Fame "Best Female Newcomers of Year (Hong Kong, Taiwan and Overseas)" Gold Award
  廣州電台/電視台05金曲金榜頒獎禮"年度最佳女新人(港台海外)金獎"
• 2005 - Metroshowbiz Hits New Hopes Award (one of the awarded)
  新城勁爆唱好新希望獎
• 2005 - Metroshowbiz "Hits Singer-songwriters of New Generation" (one of the awarded)
  新城勁爆新一代創作歌手 (得獎者之一)
• 2005 - Metroshowbiz "i-Tech Metro Hits Kings of New Singers" (one of the awarded)
  i-Tech 新城勁爆新人王 (得獎者之一)
• 2005 - 4 Stages Association Performance Excellence Award - Bronze
  四台聯頒音樂大獎 - 卓越表現大獎銅獎
• 2005 - Ultimate Song Chart "Singer-songwriter" Bronze Award
  叱o宅樂壇唱作人銅獎
• 2005 - Ultimate Song Chart "New Female Singer" Silver Award
  叱o宅樂壇生力軍女歌手銀獎
• 2005 - TVB JSG "Most Popular Singer-songwriter" Silver Award
  十大勁歌金曲頒獎典禮 - 最受歡迎唱作歌星銀獎
• 2005 - TVB JSG "Most Popular New Female Singer" Silver Award
  十大勁歌金曲頒獎典禮 - 最受歡迎新人獎(女)銀獎
• 2005 - Hit Rank of Chinese Songs (Cantonese)"New Female Singer Praised by the whole Nation"
  加拿大至HIT中文歌曲排行榜(粵語組)"全國推祟女新人"
• 2005 - 28th Hong Kong Top Ten Chinese Songs "New Female Singer with Best Prospect" Silver Award
  第二十八屆香港十大中文金曲頒獎禮"最有前途女新人銀獎"
• 2005 - SINA MUSIC Voting Index Awards "Best Live Performance" Award - "Hopes in Hand (Care Version)" with Hins Cheung
  SINA MUSIC樂壇民意指數頒獎典禮 "最佳現場演繹大獎" (得獎作品：與張敬軒合唱《手望(守望版)》
• 2005 - SINA MUSIC Voting Index Awards "My Favourite New Female Singer" Gold Award
  SINA MUSIC樂壇民意指數頒獎典禮"我最喜愛女新人金獎"　
• 2006 - Ultimate Song Chart "Singer-songwriter" Bronze Award
  叱o宅樂壇唱作人銅獎
• 2007- Metroshowbiz "Hits Original Song"
  2007 新城勁爆頒獎禮 - 勁爆原創歌曲 《幸福》
• 2007- Metroshowbiz "Hits Singer- Songwriters of the year"
  2007 新城勁爆頒獎禮 - 新城勁爆創作歌手
• 2007- Untimate Song Chart "Singer- Songwriter " Gold Award
  2007 年度叱吒樂壇流行榜頒獎典禮「叱吒樂壇唱作人 金獎」
• 2007- RoadShow Best Music Award "Best song"
  RoadShow至尊音樂頒獎禮2007 - 至尊歌曲 《真心話》
• 2007- RoadShow Best Music Award "Most improved Singer"
  RoadShow至尊音樂頒獎禮2007 - 至尊飛躍歌手
• 2007- JSG "Most Popular Singer-Songwriter Gold"
  十大勁歌金曲頒獎典禮「最受歡迎唱作歌手金獎」
• 2007- 30th Top 10 Hong Kong Chinese Songs " CASH best singer- songwriter"
  第三十屆十大中文金曲 「CASH最佳創作歌手」
• 2008- Metroshowbiz "Hits Original Songwriter Album Award"
  2008 新城勁爆頒獎禮 「新城勁爆創作專輯」【Infinity Journey】
• 2008- Metroshowbiz "Hits Songwriter Album Award"
  2008 新城勁爆頒獎禮 「新城勁爆創作歌手」
• 2008- Metroshowbiz "Hits Song Award"
  2008 新城勁爆頒獎禮 「新城勁爆歌曲」《我來自火星》
• 2008- Untimate Song Chart "Singer- Songwriter " Silver Award
  2008 年度叱吒樂壇流行榜頒獎典禮「叱咤樂壇唱作人銀獎」
• 2008- Untimate Song Chart "Female Singer" Bronze Award
  2008 年度叱吒樂壇流行榜頒獎典禮「叱咤樂壇女歌手銅獎」
• 2008- 31st Top 10 Hong Kong Chinese Songs " Top 10 Elite Singers"
  第31屆十大中文金曲頒獎典禮「優秀流行歌手大獎」
• 2008- JSG "Most Popular Singer-Songwriter Gold"
  十大勁歌金曲頒獎典禮「最受歡迎唱作歌手金獎」
• 2008 - Top 10 Selling Mandarin Albums of the Year - IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards
  Ivana's First Mandarin Album (王菀之Ivana首張國語創作專輯)

Trivia[link]

• The songs "(Paris Doesn't Have A) Ferris Wheel" and "Please Let Me Hold Someone" share the same melody. The latter is a piece featuring DJ Sammy.
• "Poem's Passion - Calm Mix" is the background music of Vita Tsingsumzhan's (維他清心棧) TV advertisement.

See also[link]

• Cantopop

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ivana Paradise (Official)
• Ivana Wong's SeedMusic Website (Official)
• Ivana Wong's Blog (Official)
• BatGwa.com Interview with Ivana

Wong Kar-wai 王家衛
Wong Kar-wai, September 2008
Chinese name	王家衛 (Traditional)
Chinese name	王家卫 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Wáng Jiāwèi (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Wong4 Gaa1wai6 (Cantonese)
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	(1958-07-17) 17 July 1958 (age 53) Shanghai, China
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1982–present
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director 1991 Days of Being Wild 1994 Chungking Express Best Picture 1991 Days of Being Wild 1994 Chungking Express Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Hong Kong Film of Past 10 Years 1997 Days of Being Wild Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best Film 1994 Ashes of Time Best Screenplay 1994 Ashes of Time Best Director 1994 Ashes of Time 2000 In the Mood for Love Film of Merit 1995 Fallen Angels 1997 Happy Together 2000 In the Mood for Love 2004 2046 Other awards Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival) 1997 Happy Together César Award for Best Foreign Film 2000 In the Mood for Love NSFC Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2001 In the Mood for Love NYFCC Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2000 In the Mood for Love 2004 2046

Wong Kar-wai BBS (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylised, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild (1990), Ashes of Time (1994), Chungking Express (1994), Fallen Angels (1995), Happy Together (1997) and 2046 (2004). His film In the Mood for Love (2000), starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, garnered widespread critical acclaim. Wong's films frequently feature protagonists who yearn for romance in the midst of a knowingly brief life and scenes that can often be described as sketchy, digressive, exhilarating, and containing vivid imagery.^[1]

Wong was listed at number three on the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound Top Ten Directors list of modern times.^[2]

Early career[link]

Born in Shanghai, he moved to Hong Kong with his parents at the age of five. Coming from the Mainland and speaking only Mandarin and Shanghainese, he spent hours in cinemas with his mother. After graduating from Hong Kong Polytechnic College in graphic design in 1980, he enrolled in the Production Training Course organised by Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) and became a full-time television screenwriter. In the mid-1980s, he became a screenwriter/director at The Wing Scope Co. and In-gear Film Production Company, the production houses owned by renowned Hong Kong actor /movie producer Alan Tang. Wong's current nostalgic artsy style took shape during his apprenticeship with Alan Tang Kwong-Wing, who invested in the first movie Wong directed, As Tears Go By (1988). Wong's career took off when he directed the film Days of Being Wild (1990), despite losing Alan Tang millions of invested dollars. Wong subsequently graduated to feature film work. He is credited with about ten scripts between 1982 and 1987, covering an array of genres from romantic comedy to action drama, but claims to have worked to some extent or another on about fifty more without official credit.^[3] He considers Final Victory (最後勝利, 1986), a dark comedy/crime story for director Patrick Tam Kar Ming, his best script.

Work as director[link]

Feature films[link]

He made his directing debut in 1988 with As Tears Go By, also produced by Alan Tang. A crime melodrama of the kind then hugely popular, it heavily borrowed from Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1974), but already displayed one of Wong's principal trademarks in its atmospheric and sometimes expressionistic color palette. It is his only box office hit to date.

His next film, Days of Being Wild (1990), produced by Alan Tang, a drama about aimless youth set in the early 1960s, established his trademark form: elliptically plotted mood pieces, with lush visuals and music, about the burden of memory on melancholic, misfit characters. Days was a box office failure but now regularly tops Hong Kong critics' polls of the best local films ever made. It has been described as a sort of Cantonese Rebel Without a Cause.

He also established his own independent production company, called Jet Tone Films Ltd. in English. His partner in the company is Jeffrey Lau, a director and producer who tends to work closer to the populist vein of mainstream Hong Kong film.

Wong went on to direct several more feature films in the 1990s produced by Jet Tone, which allowed him to work at his own pace. Among these were Chungking Express (1994), which follows the lives of two love-struck cops in Hong Kong and the mysterious women they meet and fall in love with. Originally intended to be a distraction piece for him to get his mind off of the heavily delayed Ashes of Time, it ended up being one of his most popular films. Fallen Angels (1995), was originally intended to be the third act of Chungking Express, but when the tone didn't fit with the other two parts, he cut it out and made it a standalone movie instead; it is seen as a semi-sequel to Chungking Express as is a neo-noir film about on a disillusioned killer trying to overcome the affections of his partner, a strange drifter looking for her ex-boyfriend, and a mute trying to get the world's attention in his own ways, all set against a sordid and surreal urban nightscape.

Wong's fourth movie, Ashes of Time (1994), released between Chungking Express and Fallen Angels, applied his approach to a star-studded wuxia (martial arts swordplay) story; the desert shoot in Mainland China dragged on for over a year and resulted in one of contemporary Hong Kong cinema's most notorious commercial disasters.

His first major international recognition was at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival where he won the Best Director prize for Happy Together (1997).^[4] A film that "uses gorgeous, saturated images set to an eclectic soundtrack of tango by Argentinian maestro Astor Piazolla, Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso and Frank Zappa instrumentals to chronicle the stormy affair of a gay couple living as expatriates in Buenos Aires."^[5]

Despite his background as a screenwriter, one of Wong's trademarks as a director is that he works largely through improvisation and experimentation involving the actors and crew rather than adhering to a fixed screenplay. This has been a frequent source of trouble for his actors, his financial backers and many other people connected with his films, including sometimes himself.

The filming of In the Mood for Love (2000) had to be shifted from Beijing to Macau after the Chinese Film Bureau demanded to see the completed script. This was all in all a minor setback in the "very complicated evolution" of the project which goes as far back as 1997. It was Wong's intention to make two films, one of which would be titled Beijing Summer, the plot unclear at the time, but eventually taking form in Macau. Here Wong planned to call it Three Stories About Food, but saw it better to settle for only one story, A Story About Food, that centres on a writer. Together with scenes shot in Bangkok and Angkor Wat, the filming took as long as 15 months. This was an especially arduous time for lead actress Maggie Cheung whose hair and makeup reportedly took a daily five hours, and who appeared in many different cheongsams. She famously compared the lengthy shoot to a cold she couldn't get rid of. Working without deadlines, the film's upcoming premier at Cannes nonetheless put some pressure on Wong to finish editing. Intending to name the film Secrets he was dissuaded by Cannes, and finally named it In the Mood for Love after listening to Bryan Ferry's cover of the song "I'm in the Mood for Love."^[6][7]

Wong's 2046 (2004), a film about capturing lost memories, was the third chapter of a shared story that began with Days of Being Wild and continued with In the Mood for Love. Infamous for long drawn out shoots without any real regards to deadlines, a running joke amongst the crew was that he would finish in the year 2046.

In 2006, he became the first Chinese director to preside the jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

Wong Kar-wai's first full English-language film, My Blueberry Nights, opened the 2007 Cannes Film Festival as one of 22 films in competition. The lead, American singer-songwriter Norah Jones, made her acting debut in the film.

Wong Kar-wai was the jury president of the 2008 Shanghai International Film Festival which was held from 14–22 June 2008.

Wong Kar-wai's "The Grandmasters" will release in North America through Annapurna Productions.^[8]

Casting[link]

Wong frequently re-casts actors who he has worked with on previous movies:

Actor	As Tears Go By (1989)	Days of Being Wild (1990)	Ashes of Time (1994)	Chungking Express (1994)	Fallen Angels (1995)	Happy Together (1997)	In the Mood for Love (2000)	2046 (2004)	Eros (2004)	My Blueberry Nights (2007)	The Grandmasters (2012)
Chang Chen						N		N	N		N
Jacky Cheung	N	N	N
Leslie Cheung		N	N			N
Maggie Cheung	N	N	N				N	N
Takeshi Kaneshiro				N	N
Andy Lau	N	N
Carina Lau		N	N					N
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai		N	N	N		N	N	N			N
Gong Li								N	N
Brigitte Lin			N	N
Rebecca Pan		N					N
Faye Wong				N				N
Charlie Yeung			N		N
Zhang Ziyi								N			N

Short films[link]

Wong Kar-wai has directed various short films, television commercials, music videos, or combinations thereof, all faithful to his style.

Commercials[link]

In 1996 he shot wkw/tk/1996@7′55″hk.net for Japanese designer Takeo Kikuchi, starring Tadanobu Asano and Karen Mok; in 1998 he did a commercial for Motorola starring Tadanobu and Faye Wong;^{[9][10][11][12][13]} in 2000 he produced a commercial for Suntime Wine with Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Maggie Cheung,^[14] and directed another one for JCDecaux, Un matin partout dans le monde, featuring different kinds of dawns in cities around the world shot by famous movie directors;^[15] in 2001 he shot the TV spot Dans la ville for the French mobile network company Orange France^[16] and the short film The Hire: The Follow as part of the BMW films initiative; in 2002 he directed La Rencontre, a commercial for Lacoste starring Chang Chen and Diane MacMahon;^[11][17] in 2005 he filmed an ad for Dior's Capture Totale perfume starring Sharon Stone. Around 21 September 2006, in Prague, he directed a commercial (released in early 2007) for Lancôme Paris's Hypnôse Homme perfume starring Clive Owen and Daria Werbowy. Around 25 June 2007, again in Prague, he directed a set of commercials for SoftBank, starring Brad Pitt. Also in 2007 he directed an ad for Dior's Midnight Poison perfume starring Eva Green and featuring Muse's song "Space Dementia". On 30 August 2007, "There's Only One Sun", a short film he scripted and directed for Philips' Aurea HD Flat TV, starring Amélie Daure, premiered at the IFA in Berlin.

Music videos[link]

In 2000 Wong directed a music video of Tony Leung's duet with Niki of a song from the In the Mood for Love soundtrack to be included in Tony Leung's CD by the same name and on the French DVD release of In the Mood for Love. In 2002 Wong made the music video Six Days for DJ Shadow featuring Chen Chang and Danielle Graham.^[18]

Short film[link]

His short film Hua Yang De Nian Hua is a montage of scenes from vintage Chinese films, most of which were considered lost until some nitrate prints were discovered in a California warehouse during the 1990s, set to a song from the soundtrack of In the Mood for Love, it was shown at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival.^[19]

Filmography as director[link]

Feature films[link]

Short films[link]

Screenwriter and producer[link]

Wong is officially credited with about ten screenplays while having worked on another fifty in one way or another before his directorial debut. He has yet to direct a feature based on a script other than his own (though Ashes of Time was rather loosely adapted from a Louis Cha novel), which would be highly unlikely considering his method of improvisation. Wong, through Jet Tone, is also the producer of all of his own films since 1993 with the exception of Ashes of Time, a project that began much earlier. Through Jet Tone or otherwise, Wong has also produced various films, some directed by his partner in the company, Jeffrey Lau. Here are lists of films other than his own that Wong wrote screenplays for or produced:

Writing credits:

Once Upon a Rainbow (1982), Just for Fun (1983), Silent Romance (1984), Chase a Fortune (1985), Intellectual Trio (1985), Unforgettable Fantasy (1985), Sweet Surrender (1986), Rosa (1986), Goodbye My Hero (1986), The Final Test (1987), Final Victory (1987), Flaming Brothers aka Dragon and Tiger Fight (1987), The Haunted Cop Shop of Horrors (1987), The Haunted Cop Shop of Horrors 2 (1988), Walk On Fire (1988), Return Engagement (1990), Saviour of the Soul (1992).

Producer:

Flaming Brothers aka Dragon and Tiger Fight (1987), The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993), First Love: the Litter on the Breeze (1997), Chinese Odyssey 2002 (2002), Sound of Colors (2003).

Collaborations[link]

In October 2011, Wong collaborated with Shu Uemura on a 12-piece makeup range inspired by his films. To promote the collection, he produced a short film called The Mask, which he shot exclusively for Shu Uemura and stars the Taiwanese beauty Sandrine Pinna.^[20]

Awards[link]

• 1991 Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Director (Days of Being Wild)
• 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Director (Chungking Express)
• 1997 Cannes Film Festival, Best Director (Happy Together)^[4]
• 2000 European Film Awards, Screen International Award (In the Mood for Love)
• 2001 César Award, Best Foreign Film (In the Mood for Love)
• 2004 European Film Awards, Screen International Award (2046)

See also[link]

• Art film
• Cinema of Hong Kong
• William Cheung Suk Ping

Notes[link]

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wong Kar-Wai

• Abbas, M. A. Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8166-2925-0.
• Bordwell, David. Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-674-00214-8.
• Dannen, Fredric, and Barry Long. Hong Kong Babylon: The Insider's Guide to the Hollywood of the East. New York: Miramax, 1997. ISBN 0-7868-6267-X.
• Dissanayake, Wimal, and Dorothy Wong. Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2003. ISBN 962-209-585-2.
• Lalanne, Jean-Marc, et al. Wong Kar Wai. Paris: Dis Voir, 1997. ISBN 2-906571-67-9. (French)
• Tambling, Jeremy. Wong Kar Wai's Happy Together. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2003. ISBN 962-209-589-5.

Further reading[link]

In English[link]

• Botz-Bornstein, Thorsten. Films and Dreams: Tarkovsky, Bergman, Sokurov, Kubrick, and Wong Kar-Wai. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. ISBN 0-7391-2187-1.
• Brown, Andrew M. J. Directing Hong Kong: The Political Cinema of John Woo and Wong Kar-Wai. Political Communications in Greater China: the Construction and Reflection of Identity. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2001. ISBN 0-7007-1734-X.
• Brunette, Peter, and Kar-wai Wong. Wong Kar-Wai. Contemporary Film Directors. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2005. ISBN 0-252-02992-5, ISBN 0-252-07237-5.
• Redmond, Sean. Studying Chungking Express. Leighton Buzzard: Auteur, 2004. ISBN 1-903663-30-X.
• Teo, Stephen. Wong Kar-Wai: Auteur of Time. World Directors. London: BFI, 2004. ISBN 1-84457-028-2, ISBN 1-84457-029-0.
• Wong, Kar-wai, Yichang Liu, and Kar-wai Wong. Tête-bêche: A Wong Kar Wai Project. Hong Kong: Block 2 Pictures, 2000. ISBN 962-86051-1-9.
• Wong, Kar-wai, and Tony Rayns. Wong Kar-Wai on Wong Kar-Wai. London: Faber, 2002. ISBN 0-571-19397-8.

In other languages[link]

• Aleksandrowicz, Joanna. Pomiędzy obrazem a wskazówkami zegarów: o estetyce nietrwałości w filmach Wong Kar-waia. Kraków: Rabid, 2008. ISBN 83-60236-30-5. (Polish)
• Alovisio, Silvio, Vanessa Durando, and Micaela Veronesi. Le ceneri del tempo: il cinema di Wong Kar Wai. Piombino (LI): Traccedizioni, 1997. ISBN 88-7205-096-0. (Italian)
• Gliatta, Leonardo. Wong Kar-Wai: [saggio critico, foto, filmografia, dichiarazioni del regista, antologia della critica]. Roma: D. Audino, 2004. ISBN 88-86350-77-5. (Italian)
• Jousse, Thierry. Wong Kar-Wai. Les petits cahiers. Paris: Cahiers du cinéma, 2006. ISBN 2-86642-457-3, ISBN 2-240-02519-0. (French)
• Schnelle, Josef, and Rüdiger Suchsland. Zeichen und Wunder das Kino von Zhang Yimou und Wong Kar-Wai. Marburg: Schüren, 2008. ISBN 3-89472-438-2. (German)

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (September 2009)

Articles

• Robert M. Payne – Ways of seeing wild: the cinema of Wong Kar-wai
• Allan Cameron – Trajectories of identification: travel and global culture in the films of Wong Kar-wai
• Anthony Leong – Meditations on Loss: A Framework for the Films of Wong Kar-wai
• LA Weekly – Film Feature: Unforgettable
• Six "Hong Kongs" in search of a Negative Director: Wong Kar-Wai’s alter-Native cinema

Interviews

• Guardian Unlimited Mood Music, by Jonathan Romney
• Onion AV Club Interview by Scott Tobias
• TIMEasia And The Winner Is..., by Stephen Short
• TIMEasia "We love what we can't have, and we can't have what we love", by Bryan Walsh
• Urban Cinefile Audio Interview with Richard Kupier (RealMedia)

Other

• Wong Kar-wai at the Internet Movie Database
• They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?
• Blog from Location Manager of My Blueberry Nights
• lovehkfilm.com