Hong Kong TV Queen Ali Lee and Lai Lok-Yi, collaborating for the first time as leads, star in the Malaysian series ‘Righteous Harmony’, which will premiere on the 14th of this month. On the 4th, the two attended the press conference with other cast and crew, and joined media and fans for a preview of the first episode. Ali Lee takes on the role of a gang leader’s wife, ‘Sister Bing’, for the first time, and has a romance arc with Lai Lok-Yi’s character ‘Brother Han’. The trailer even features a kissing scene. She laughed, saying that she was the initiator, but joked, “His gaze was just as ambiguous, so it wasn’t just one-sided from me.”
When asked if there were any intimate scenes, Ali Lee quipped, “How could there be a passionate scene without the male lead? But as to with whom and in what setting, you’ll just have to wait and see.” Lai Lok-Yi then revealed that his passionate scene partner is Carmen Chang. When asked if he needed to notify his wife about the kiss with Ali Lee, he responded that the two of them have been friends for many years, “There’s no need to specially report it; my wife trusts me very much.”
Ma Yiteng, taking the director’s chair for the first time, shared that scripts were often revised on set, and expressed special thanks to Lai Lok-Yi for helping polish dialogue. He noted that the sea scenes posed the greatest challenge: “I get seasick, and with the fishing boat being so cramped, we had to shoot with the most streamlined crew possible each time.”
‘Righteous Harmony’ is presented in both Cantonese and Mandarin, which proved a major challenge for many cast members. Hsu Liang-Yu, acting in Cantonese for the first time, admitted, “The hardest part was speaking Cantonese. The entire show is in Cantonese, and I even sang the Cantonese theme song, so it was all new for me.” He laughed that he often sought guidance from Lai Lok-Yi, and was thankful for his help.
Wong Cheng-Hee joked that he was the “happiest” on set, enjoying special privileges: “Everyone else has to speak Cantonese, but I get to speak Mandarin with ‘Sister Bing’.” Ali Lee confessed that her Mandarin lines were stressful, but felt the setting suited her character. Lai Lok-Yi poked fun at his “challenging journey with Mandarin”: “I want to speak Mandarin, but the director and producers always stop me.” This drew laughter from everyone. The director suggested he say something in Mandarin on the spot, but Ali Lee playfully stopped him: “Don’t turn this into a joke; his Mandarin really…” Lai Lok-Yi loudly exclaimed, “I begged and begged, and finally the director let me have one Mandarin line in the whole series. So watch out for that scene!”