How Hong Kong radio legend Uncle Ray charted a different path from his local Portuguese contemporaries
- Most young, local Portuguese men in post-war Hong Kong with musical ambitions saw their dreams slowly extinguished by financial responsibility and marriage
- Uncle Ray’s start to working life was accompanied by an increasingly successful parallel existence as a drummer, which eventually evolved into a radio career
The world’s most durable DJ finally went “off the air” when Reinaldo Maria Cordeiro, known for decades as “Uncle Ray”, passed away on January 13, aged 98.
One of six children from a local Portuguese family of modest means, whose Shanghai-born paternal grandfather had settled in the British colony in 1868, Cordeiro was born in Hong Kong in 1924, and educated – like many other local Portuguese boys of his generation – at St Joseph’s College in Mid-Levels.
During the Japanese occupation, Cordeiro’s mother and sisters went as refugees to neutral Macau; he eventually joined them in 1943. A “Big Band” concert held on New Year’s Eve in 1944 apparently sparked off what became his lifelong enthusiasm for drumming.
A broad range of musical ability was widespread among the Portuguese communities in Hong Kong and Shanghai; talented performers developed part-time evening careers that sometimes became more lucrative than their day job.
In the interwar years, and on into the early 1960s, amateur bands could usually get dance-hall gigs somewhere, along with periodic club functions and private engagements – especially if the ensemble included an attractive female singer to perform cover versions of hit songs.
Families who would otherwise have kept their daughters closely chaperoned were more comfortable if she was singing with her brothers and cousins, with perhaps an uncle or family friend in attendance to make sure no “monkey business” took place.
Back in Hong Kong after the Pacific war ended, Cordeiro briefly worked as a warder at Stanley Prison, before joining HSBC as a bank clerk – a usual employment option for youngsters from his community in that era.
Like many other young local Portuguese men, Cordeiro left school as a teenager. In most families, older siblings started work as soon as they could; with several younger siblings to help feed, clothe and educate, most artistic, musical or other cultural ambitions were soon remaindered by the everyday realities of long hours and modest salaries.
Eventually, marriage, financial responsibilities and the general demands of family life extinguished any larger dreams that may once have been entertained. Decades later, some faded photographs, albums of programmes and newspaper clippings, and occasional “remember when we …” conversations with old friends from those years, are all that remain of many briefly popular local musical careers.
While Cordeiro started his post-war working life with a similar trajectory to his contemporaries, an increasingly successful parallel existence as a drummer in various bands, and dissatisfaction with his bank job, eventually evolved into a legendary radio career.
“A lifelong bachelor” who, according to various interview profiles over the years, simply “never met the right girl”, personal freedom from domestic responsibilities translated into an enduring musical avocation that gave lasting pleasure to countless listeners.
After a start at Rediffusion in 1949, he moved to RTHK in 1960. From 1970, until he finally retired in 2021, aged 96, Cordeiro hosted the late-night show All the Way with Ray.
These broadcasts provided decades of enjoyment to his legions of loyal fans, who faithfully tuned in during the quiet hours; nostalgic selections, personal introductions and entertaining reminiscences of artists interviewed over the years offered a broad range of musical pleasure, with something to appeal to most tastes.
‘World’s most durable DJ’, Hong Kong’s ‘Uncle’ Ray Cordeiro, dies at 98
An entire generation of Hong Kong people grew up – and then, grew old – to the sound of Cordeiro’s mellifluous fruity voice, tinged with the lingering local accent of another era, which has now almost completely disappeared.
“All the Way with Ray …” drawled slowly, with an almost-but-not-quite risqué hint, eventually became as immediately recognisable as the flat cap Cordeiro habitually wore.
So, thank you and farewell, Uncle Ray, much-loved Hong Kong broadcasting legend, and a lasting reminder of the local Portuguese community’s cultural legacy to this place.
