ah, a policeman with those who we are, your is actually on fire made for mines here watching d. w. news asia coming up today. hong kong next to leader will be a man called john leed hand picked 5 aging. his selection is all but a foregone conclusion. so who is he plus another controversy in hong kong? this one in the entertainment industry, one actress is portrayal is being called racist. and in pakistan, a dying ard, and attempt to preserve the sounds of an ancient musical instrument. ah,

i melissa chan, thanks for joining us. it's official, hong kong, former 2nd in command will soon be 1st in command. john lee is set to be the next chief executive. this week he formerly registered as a candidate which will be voted on not by the 7000000 people of hong kong, but by committee of about 1500 electors. this is john lee, submitting his candidacy to become hong kong new leader. he's came to draw attention to his application form the critic say's application is little more than a formality because he is the only person running for office. even so he took the time to explain how he won the backing of more than half of the prob,

aging election committee. they have in general, supported the 3 directions, which is you as a result oriented approach to solve problems onto on hansley compact is in as of on call and also to um, consolidate a firm foundation for the development. hong kong lee said to take over from kerry lam who's not standing for a 2nd term after a difficult period in office, evolving the coven 19 crisis side were violent pro democracy protests. as lambs, deputy and 2nd in command, it was lee who oversold the, please crack down on the demonstrations. and it was lee who was instrumental in pushing for the new ex traditional that sparked the protests in the 1st place. this is lead some to speculate that his appointment could lead to a further tightening of control by,

by jing over the territory for his part, lee has said he wants hong kong to maintain at status as an international metropolis. he's also spoken about upholding values of inclusion. and diversity and openness so far though, he's failed to detail any concrete plans of how this could be achieved. such james also seemed to run counter to the draconian changes that have been imposed on hong kong in the last few years. joining us is phoebe kong from hong kong phoebe, do we have any sense how publicly popular john lee is? hey. well, it's only has served as one of the key officials in carry lamb's. our cabinet 1st is security hat and then i got promoted to the number 2 officials off the government last year. so we could say that john lee is probably of an unpopular and

contagious political faker in hong kong. when we look at the statistics that are like throughout his term, his i, popularity, ratings are actually was, are one of the lowest among his colleagues. and since the very late, often thousands are 2019 antic. i'm in protest which was handled by john the mainly that's john. these are popularity ratings and a but this approval ratings have been outnumbering the approval factors that can tell like a sense of unpopularity. like in hong kong about these political factor and many lay people, where you have spoken to a citizens in hong kong, they attributes on his popularity to his heart lie handling of the protest and the subsequent correct out on the sense. so it doesn't sound like he's well liked, at this point who leads hong kong is very much a decision made by bay gene despite the performative election process. so what

message is badging sending with this choice with this choice that isn't well liked? so that means a lot to hong kong that's like throughout the past 25 years on hong kong hat for, for chief executives who were an entropy nurse administrative office as an are professionals. and these time john lee will likely be the. c first security official to take that the top job. so are many see that as like a reflection of beijing's shifting approach to rule. hong kong that on beijing seems to our, to our blame needs some one who is like absolutely loyal to the central authority and who has laid out a definite obedience. and also that the will to carry our bay janes, our policy, and in any kind of flight measures in the future, especially when we are talking about light in the coming 5 years,

we are expecting on 1st of an act, men of national security, that's your station and, and there might be a 3rd, a tightening grip in the sea for society. said amy, it's some one horse harsh enough to carry out those policies. yeah. see the com. thank you so much for joining us. sticking to hong kong, but pivoting to popular culture where a tv show has sparked anger and controversy. louisa. my wife. oh, nice to meet you ha. up in one episode of the drama series and actress plays a domestic worker from the philippines. in addition to adopting a stereotype of filipino accent, she had darkened her skin with makeup. critics say it's brown face and racist, and wonder why the producers couldn't find someone actually from the philippines. for the part. you can imagine the reaction on social media, an estimated 200000 filipinos live and work in hong kong and many face

discrimination. even the philippines consul general in hong kong called the portrayal. quote, downright ignorant, insensitive, and totally disgusting journalist, kathleen, my. grandma points out that there are, quote, a lot of filipinos in performing arts in hong kong. you could have cast id and vivian chow says initial reaction had actually raved about the performance of the local actors painting. her face dark to play the role of a filipina and asks, why does this still exist in this day and age? well, we have vivian chow with us. she's an arts and culture journalist. welcome to the program vivian. before we begin is just worth pointing out that the latest is that this particular episode has now been pulled, so it won't air. but let's start with the question you asked on twitter yourself. how can something like this happen in hong kong in the 1st place?

i really don't really have an answer for that because when i saw that i was shocked . but at the same time, not surprised. i was shocked because in this day and age, why do we still have fits in hong kong television because not longer. that was the film course though human and that's film we're doing so well and because they cast asia and i asked her and she's an amazing performance. and she also won the award for her performance. there was and she got shocked by the principal her role. so i thought that this might make a difference and i make it, you know, things will change at hong kong and people would be more sensitive towards them. the issue raised no good colors and different, you know, a variety of cultural identities. but the one that came on and i was really. ready surprised as someone who's been covering the culture in hong kong for so many years

. do you think critic speaking out will change the way local television and film industry? think about for trails of minorities at least in the future. if not, you know, in the past i think this needs to be discussed because our other one question is sites you know, where do you draw the line? if we look at, you know, previous cases, say for example, it were the case of mine to me and in the us. so, and it was accused of, you know, yellow, yellow sensing. and then if you look at ok, i'm scott johnson in cast and you know, goes to the shell and that was the keys. ash no white washing. and then there was also debates around the cast off chinese after says playing japanese people and met members of ganja. so i'm going to look the thing is where do you draw the line?

is that ok for people of different races, you know, train roles and the difference race? well, there's something that you know, cannot be done. for example, you know, yellow facing black tracing is this the line that we have to draw. so, and also this cultural stereotype, this is really, really wrong to me personally because a lot of build, you know, they are actually beta, their skin color is not like that's. so why do you have to do that in the 1st place? it's a very complex issue, vivian child, thank you so much for joining us. to discuss this. getting back to the rain of the models in the 17th century, the sound of the ancient surrounding instrument is meant to mimic the human voice. but now this traditional instrument is fading from pakistan's music scene. ringback

ringback ah, for 7 generations. so how you pass hands family has mastered the surrounding abode, short necked instrument, carved from a single piece of cedar. here in the shadow of the horse, ancient red, brick mosques, and palaces the streets with its rich towns. lou with the surround, he's difficult to master players, are a little financial reward. hassan is also a teacher, but it's a challenge for students. i go to block that was sitting in a low ball, but a sudden you know, uh my grandfather was an expert sir. angry player that in me, but he didn't teach it to my father about him because he felt he was not appreciate, it wasn't, was up in our ultimate aim is to earn money when you place the raggy or join any other feel it's none within the why should someone get into learning such a difficult instrument or rob when the money you get out of it is quite meager, assimilate a bit of name, and then again, the number's going glam,

thinking together. but the ser angry is expensive to buy and maintain the cedar is often source locally on its strings are made of goat, gus and steel. but most other parts are imported from neighboring india. from where imports are currently band. the instrument can set a musician back a hefty 120000 rupees around $625.00. yeah, i'm glad i got you and i will those over at the moment there not any sir. anger manufacturer is while in. are there any surround key players left and it takes time to make a survey. i can usually make one in 2 months or so repairing as the rang he takes between $15.00 to $20.00 days. but for some younger musicians, the romantic allure of the ceremonies melodious sound is enough to take this difficult path. your father laid little go to login to the other. this music plays with the strings of your heart, or was there a little gun milligram with her? very few people who are either learning or playing this instrumental. why,

but no one has been, it's because of this my, that i played my part in learning the surrounding loudy a little goodwill. remedies us manage will be other musicians. now hope that new outlets and platforms for the haunting instrument can help save the serrano ve from fading away. oh, that's it for friday. thanks for watching and have a good weekend. mm. super. i'm skin that. i think that tags and in the end is a me, you are not a lot of to you anymore. we will send you back. are you familiar with this? with the smudges were lions as of the what's your story. ready ready he wasn't, i was women, especially victims of violence in a lapse of it. take part and send us your story. we are trying always to understand

this new culture. so you are not a visitor, not the guests. you want to become a citizen. in full migrants, your platform for reliable information ah, is russia in default on its dollar denominated debt? a major credit ratings agency says yes, if it doesn't act fast. meanwhile, a dispute over russian energy imports continues with new threats over a stop in all deliveries to the you and vows that russia could find other customers . might india be one of them is already bought oil at a discount from russia due to sanctions. and that's causing friction with western angie. 7 nations will speak to our correspondent in delhi and iran is trying to get

past its own sanctions and return to mainstream oil markets might the e u. b, a future customer. welcome to the show. i'm seeking beardsley in berlin. credit ratings agency moody says russia may be in default on its sovereign debt, if it doesn't correct course, and make 2 recent payments in dollars instead of roubles. russia made the payments in question earlier this month. both were on dollar denominated bonds. moody said the settlement with rubles breeches, the terms of the contracts, and would put russia in default. the same payments are made in dollars by may. 4th, a currency is also at the heart of a dispute between russia and the u. overpayments for russian energy on thursday, president vladimir putin threatened again to turn off energy flows to the e. u. if member states don't pay for gas and roubles, something they so far have refused to do.