Chinese Title: 名媛望族
English Title: Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles
Genre: Period drama, Family affairs, Revenge
Notable: TVB 45th Anniversary Series
Producer: Chong Wai Kin (Just Love, Born Rich, Lives of Omission)
Production: December 2011 - April 2012
Episodes: 40

RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 22, 2012

Cast:
Damian Lau
Idy Chan
Kenneth Ma
Tavia Yeung
Ron Ng
Elena Kong
Mary Hon
Vincent Wong
Rebecca Zhu
Sek Sau
Sire Ma
Adrian Chau
Ben Wong
JJ Jia
Bella Lam
Sammy Sum
Charmaine Li
Stephen Huynh

The Skinny: The drama follows the lives of a large, rich, and influential Chinese family living in British Hong Kong during the 1920's and 30's.

Synopsis
During the 1930s in Hong Kong, where east meets west, feminist activists started campaigning for women's rights, seeking to uproot the phenomenon of men's superiority over women. Though having studied abroad in England and leading a western lifestyle, CHUNG CHEUK-MAN (Damian Lau) , a well-known Chinese barrister, is very traditional indeed. As a man possessing privileges and eminence, he has five wives, including his first wife KOO SUM-LAN (Mary Hon) coming from a noble family, second wife YEE YIN (Idy Chan), who is an ex-princess of the fallen Qing dynasty, third wife YIK YEE-FONG (Elena Kong), a daughter of a banker. Being a famous Peking opera artiste, HONG CHI-KWAN (Tavia Yeung) became his fourth wife. And as his fifth wife, CHIU TAN-TAN (Jia Xiaochen) covets vanity a lot. Despite being CHEUK-MAN's favorite among the five wives, CHI-KWAN and him do not agree with each other on elevating the social status of women. Moreover, his two sons – CHUNG KAI-SUN (Kenneth Ma) and CHUNG KAI-YIP (Vincent Wong) turn their back on their strict father respectively, while his daughter CHUNG HO-YEE (Sire Ma) marries to a poor policeman regardless of the consequences. As the intensification of the family struggles becomes more ferocious, KAM MUK-SHUI (Ron Ng) penetrates into the CHUNG family. Unwilling to compromise on the marriage of his beloved KWAI SIU-YAU (Rebecca Zhu) and the son of the CHUNG family, he seeks vengeance on them. This seemingly splendid family is in fact beginning to crack from the inside.

Plot/Character Descriptions (Source: Octopus Monthly // Translation by aZnangel)
The 1930s old Hong Kong was a colorful British colony and the upper class lived a British styled glamorous life. However, in reality during this time period, men are superior to women. No matter what status or background a woman has, they still cannot legally stop men from marrying multiple wives. Five women from different backgrounds struggle for the women rights that didn't exist back then and goes head-to-head against destiny.

In the old HK, the people in power were all foreigners, CHUNG CHEUK MAN (Damien Lau) is one of the fewest Chinese people in the upper class and the first Chinese barrister. He was born in Shanghai, grew up in HK and studied law under the British rule. Not only has he never lost a case in court, he also used his connections to develop his career and climbed up the social rank.

CHUNG KAI SUN (Kenneth Ma), MAN's eldest son, ambition is to be his father's successor. Unfortunately its impossible for him to agree to his father's thoughts and way of doing things. In his childhood, he had a crush on their maid, HONG TZE KWAN (Tavia Yeung), but unfortunately for him, she becomes his fourth wife in the future. SUN had no other choice, but to bury his feelings deep inside.

Due to her parents' death, TZE KWAN (Tavia) was sold to work as a maid, but she later escapes after suffering maximum misery. Depending on her hard efforts, she successfully becomes a famous Peking opera Daomadan (刀馬旦) singer and eventually attracted MAN. She also made him promise her that she'll be the last woman he marries.

KOO SUM LAN (Mary Hon), MAN's first wife is well educated and tries her best to look after the family. His second wife, YEE YIN (Idy Chan), a former Qing dynasty princess, is deeply favored by MAN. Although she takes up all her responsibilities as his wife, she still has a former lover in her heart. YIK YI FONG (Elena Kong), MAN's third wife comes from a wealthy family and married MAN just to pull in the business relations between her father and MAN. The two later developed true feelings and had a child together. CHIU DAN DAN (JJ Jia), she was originally a worker at the department store and later participates in a beauty pageant contest. She did not hesitate to seduce MAN and after marrying into the Chung family as the fifth wife, she constantly tries to take over the family property.

KAM MUK SHUI (Ron Ng) is a member in the triad. He grew up in the orphanage and rescued the pitiful orphan KWAI SIU YAU (Rebecca Zhu) during his childhood. The two developed a deep relationship, but later when SHUI went to HK to make a living, he joined the triad. Because he worked for MAN, he met SUN and they became good friends.

SIU YAU's (Rebecca) parents died when she was a child and she was left alone on the streets crying. Later she found a job with the Peking opera and discovered MAN was responsible for her father's death. She gets close to SUN and eventually marries into the Chung family for revenge.

* Trivia: Fala Chen was initially part of the cast in the Sales Presentation, but because she had a health condition of numbness on her face and back stiffness, she was forced to withdraw. Her role was replaced by Rebecca Zhu.



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