HONG KONG — In the tiled corridors of Stanley Prison, a maximum-security complex on a rocky edge of Hong Kong’s main island, the chatter among the foreign inmates on Monday mornings tends to revolve around a single question.

Did you hear what “Brother Bruce” said last night?

Hundreds of prisoners in this semiautonomous Chinese city listen to “Hour of Love,” a variety show that airs every Sunday on a local station and includes hymns and Bible readings, along with pop music in Igbo, Punjabi, Spanish and other languages.

The inmates say the show is a spiritual balm that helps them cope with life behind bars in a faraway land. They are especially drawn to a segment where the American host, Bruce Aitken, reads from inmates’ handwritten letters and plays tear-jerking voice mail messages from their parents, spouses, children and former cellmates.

“His program was very, very uplifting,” said Anita Hamid, 42, a mother of three from Kenya who was released in February after serving eight years and four months in Hong Kong for heroin trafficking.