Hong Kong's 'unofficial history'

In his foreword to Shuangtian Zhizun, Wang describes the trilogy as "Hong Kong's unofficial history", but Ma says that "writing an unofficial history" was never the driving force of his creation.

"I didn't deliberately use characters to reflect or metaphorically represent that era of Hong Kong," he says; rather, the characters were rooted in that time, each carrying a fragment of Hong Kong's history.

The underground gambling depicted in the books is inspired by Ma's mother's frequent visits to gambling dens and her stories of them. Hon's obsession with martial arts reflects a common experience among men of that era. The Taoist and folk rituals are drawn from Hong Kong's diverse and inclusive cultural beliefs, he says.

In the three novels, many characters die unexpectedly. For Ma, although life is often expected to be a grand drama, it frequently comes to an abrupt halt.

He says this narrative choice has two underlying reasons.

The deeper reason is rooted in Ma's childhood, as several of his uncles were addicted to drugs, constantly causing trouble, and would show up at his family's door in the middle of the night asking for money. Growing up, he lived in constant, inexplicable fear, with a subconscious belief that good things do not last and that disaster inevitably follows contentment.

This sense of unease and pessimism about life's unpredictability stems from the long-standing threats he felt in his youth, forming the underlying tone of how he views the world, and leaving him always expecting sudden changes, he says.

Another more surface-level reason is John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, which Ma studied for his master's thesis at the University of Chicago. In the film, a conversation between Chow Yun-fat and Ti Lung is abruptly ended by a sudden gunshot that takes a life, a scene that left a lasting impact on Ma. From a narrative perspective, such sudden death scenes carry significant dramatic power, he says.

These internal and external influences led him to arrange for characters to have sudden exits. As the character Luk often says, "That's just how it is."

Beyond the pessimism about life's unpredictability, Ma intersperses a great deal of Hong Kong-style humor through his writing. He says that humor is a tried-and-true buffer, much like how people from Guangdong drink herbal tea when they feel unwell — it's something that, once found effective, becomes a lasting habit.

"Throughout my life, I've faced many setbacks in my career, finances, and relationships. I've tried approaching these challenges with a lighthearted, teasing mindset, applying the same attitude toward myself, and it truly helps alleviate heavy emotions," he says.

"Over time, this approach became a habit. If you face life in the same way for 10 consecutive days, it becomes ingrained in your daily routine. For me, humor is no longer a deliberate writing technique but an instinctive attitude toward life," he says.