Happy April Fool’s Day!  Alas, there won’t be an April Fool’s Day joke from me today.  I was thinking of doing a fake story on EEG and Sexy Photos Gate.  Something like this …

EEG announces co-operation with Japanese porn studio.  First releases to be:

EEG-001: Former Teen Idol’s Scandalous AV Debut starring Gillian Chung

EEG-002: Sexy Accidental Public Exposure Tsimshatsui Edition starring Yumiko Cheng

… but you’re probably all tired of Sexy Photos Gate so I figured that I should devote my time and energy elsewhere.

Speaking of time and energy …

From the comments on News Links: March 27th, 2009

Sara Lee writes: You said that you didn’t have the time or inclination to chase down other sources for confirmation about the Gigi Leung story. I’m curious, what would you have done if you had the time and the inclination? Do you have connections of some sort?

First, I would have asked to speak to the fired flight attendant directly to ascertain the facts (date, names, flight number, etc.).  I would also ask for a copy of the photo.  Then, I would have put together a story then contacted Cathay Pacific and Gigi Leung’s management for a reaction.  After that, I would write a final version of the story and publish it.

MANI SPEAKS:

Xinhua ran an interview today with EEG’s Mani Fok Man-Hei. Known as the “Mother of Emperor”, she has managed the likes of Nic Tse, Joey Yung, Isabella Leong, Twins and Yumiko Cheng over the course of her 16 years with EEG. Excerpts from the interview:

On the inspiration for Twins:

“I have a twin sister. Our company signed Ah Gil first then we signed Ah Sa. I thought to myself: ‘why don’t we pair the two young girls together?’

In the beginning, we dressed them the same then we slowly began to dress them differently. The only thing that didn’t quite work was that their personalities were completely different. Ah Sa is a lively extrovert while Ah Gil in an introvert.”

On Gillian Chung:

“I treat my artistes like they were my own family. When they have problems, I treat them like my own. At the beginning, I told her that ‘he (Edison Chen) is not a person you should be involved with’. However, when a young person is in love, they don’t listen to anyone.”

“Ah Gil’s mistake was that she didn’t think of her bottom line. She should have remembered that she was a public figure. In the end, though, the person who made the biggest mistake was Edison Chen.”

On Gillian Chung’s comeback:

“In the past year, I’ve had Ah Gil study dancing, acting and gymnastics to prepare her for her comeback. The only thing we didn’t plan on was that Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi would do her interview first. But, it doesn’t matter who was first and who was second.”

“Work is very hard for Ah Gil now because she’s been out for so long. She didn’t sleep much in the days before her comeback. I’ve been with her the whole time. It was very gratifying to see all the support she received at her events in the Mainland. Her attitude is to come back slowly. Besides, restoring her confidence she’s winning back her respect.”

On Isabella Leong:

“I’ve worked with more than 30 artistes and the only who’s walked away is Isabella Leong. Although she left, I feel that I’ve done right by her. When I was working as her manager, I feel that I did the job to the best of my ability.”

RETIRED ACTRESSES NEWS:

The latest edition of East Weekly suggests that retired actress Cherie Chung Chor-Hung is experiencing some financial difficulty and that a comeback to the entertainment circle is imminent.

Yammie Nam seen panhandling

Former TVB leading lady Yammie Nam Kit-Ying was spotted outside of a Shau Kei Wan Circle K convenience store on Monday morning. She was smoking and asking passersby for money. Nam, a popular actress for TVB in the 1980s and early-1990s, has a history of mental illness. 

SHINJUKU INCIDENT:

Derek Yee Tung-Sing: In the yakuza’s grip

Saving the world is still on Jackie Chan’s agenda

Not just any Hollywood role for Daniel Wu & Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan pitches his ‘different’ side in new movie

REPRINT: The Mirror’s (UK) review of SHINJUKU INCIDENT

IN PRODUCTION:

Hong Kong-Mainland producers announce “5510 Big Movie Plan”

Related Photo Gallery: Lee Lik-Chi, Li Bingbing, Zhou Xun among those who attended event

Photos from the IP MAN 2 press conference in Shanghai

A press conference was held yesterday in Shanghai formally announcing the production of IP MAN 2. Wilson Yip Wai-Shun returns as director while Sammo Hung Kam-Bo will, once again, handle the action. Donnie Yen, Xiong Dai-Lin, Fan Siu-Wong and Gordon Lam Ka-Tong will all reprise their characters. The sequel is set in late-1940s Hong Kong so the Bruce Lee character will not be appearing. 

John Woo’s Titanic runs aground

Production Stills: TREASURE HUNTER

Taiwanese stars Jay Chou and Lin Chi-Ling began work last week on their new film TREASURE HUNTER.  The time travel romantic/action/comedy is being directed by Chu Yen-Peng (KUNG FU DUNK) and co-stars Eric Tsang Chi-Wai.  Producers hope to have the film ready for the Christmas 2009 holiday movie season.

Confirmed: Chow Yun-fat plays Confucius

Related Photos: Chow Yun-Fat, Zhou Xun attend opening lens ceremony for their Confucius biopic at a Confucian temple in Beijing

Stranglehold Movie Apparently Won’t Star Chow Yun-Fat

‘Karate Kid’ redo retitled ‘Kung Fu Kid’

GENERAL NEWS:

Fans Pay Tribute to Leslie Cheung on Sixth Death Anniversary

Jackie Chan, Stephen Chow named Asia’s best selling actors & directors

Jackie Chan to sing in bird nest

Jet Li, Zhang Yimou Named “Chinese of World Influence”

Daniel Wu willing to sacrifice privacy for movies

Miriam Yeung: Miriam’s girl-next-door charm

Tang Wei: “Lust Caution” is history

ASHES OF TIME REDUX: Lovers and Fighters

HK pop star Kelvin Kwan released from police custody

Stefanie Sun’s new boyfriend exposed!

Rain confident of winning appeal 

SEXY PHOTOS GATE:

Eason Chan: Edison Chen missing Hong Kong badly

HKIFF: Edison Chen sex scandal sure to make Sniper a hit

Edison Chen ‘tests water’ with role as sex pervert

MOVIE REVIEWS:

Variety reviews Ann Hui’s latest NIGHT AND FOG (Simon Yam, Zhang Jingchu)

Variety review of Feng Xiaogang’s IF YOU ARE THE ONE (Ge You, Shu Qi)

California Chronicle reviews Oxide Pang’s BASIC LOVE

FEATURES:

Chow Yun-Fat Talks Dragonball Evolution

Chow Yun-Fat: DRAGONBALL’s Dirty Old Sifu

Jolin Tsai: Jolin talks about scandal and Mr Right

Super Band: ‘It’s really not about money’

PHOTO GALLERYS:

ASHES OF TIME REDUX event in Hong Kong

Director Alan Mak Siu-Fai marries

This past weekend, director Alan Mak Siu-Fai (INFERNAL AFFAIRS, LADY COP AND PAPA CROOK) married his longtime girlfriend Chung Wai-Tak. Reportedly, Mak met Chung, eleven years his junior, at an event five years ago. To celebrate the nuptials, a 20-table banquet was held at the Aberdeen Marina Club. Among the attendees were Andrew Lau Wai-Keung, Shawn Yue Man-Lok, Michelle Ye and Jade Kwan Sum-Yin. 

Wong Jing and his latest “Jing Girl” Natalie Yao Meng

Following in a line that includes Chingmy Yau Suk-Ching and Kelly Lin, Natalie Yao Meng is Wong Jing’s latest “Jing Girl”.  Wong spotted Yao in Mainland director Huang Jianzhong’s SILVER ORNAMENTS and imported her to Hong Kong where she can now be admired in such films as THE VAMPIRE WHO ADMIRES ME and BEAUTY AND THE 7 BEASTS.  Yao can next be seen alongside Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, my other cousin Tony, Eason Chan, Alex Fong Lik-Sun, Kate Tsui and Wong Jing himself in I CORRUPT COPS.  The film opens in Hong Kong on April 23rd.

Shu Qi, Aloys Chen and Sylvia Chang shoot ad for Cartier

Related: Shu Qi, Syliva Chan promote Cartier

Cecilia Cheung shoots ad for a bedding company in Guangzhou

Michelle Reis Poses for Marie Claire

Tang Wei poses for Chinese edition of Vogue

Ada Choi Siu-Fan and hubby attend event promoting Moiselle

Promotional stills from the upcoming Mainland film WHEAT (Fan Bingbing, Wang Xueqi)

Jane Zhang debuts in Japan

A-Mei Chang performs in Taipei

Happy New Year! … even though everyone knows that the “real” New Year doesn’t begin until February 7th.

In my usual timely fashion, I’m going to start off 2008 by talking about 2007. On New Year’s Day, I went out for dim sum with my family. As most dim sum delicacies and, sadly, “oil-fried devils” (油炸鬼, my favourite Chinese food: fried doughsticks) remain beyond my eating and digestive capabilities, I nursed a bowl of congee while enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of a busy teahouse. I also picked up a copy of “Oriental News Weekly” — a free Chinese-language newspaper distributed to Chinese communities here in Western Canada. Inside the paper was an article by an unnamed author listing the “Top Ten Entertainment Circle Stories of 2007″. Surprisingly, I was aware of eight of the ten stories. I guess my entertainment circle database isn’t as out-of-date as I thought. Although, I would categorize most of these stories as news about entertainment circle personalities rather than actual entertainment circle news. Nevertheless, sharing the article with you guys will help get the ol’ writing and translating skills rolling again so, without further ado, the “Top 10 Entertainment Circle Stories of 2007″:

10. Ada Choi Siu-Fan Reveals Relationship, Announces Forthcoming Marriage

On December 10th, Ada Choi Siu-Fan released a four-hundred word statement to the press revealing that she and Mainland actor/stuntman Max Zhang Jin have been dating for four-and-a-half years and that they planned to marry in the near future. In the statement, which featured nineteen exclamation marks, Choi gushed about her future husband and called him a “man of the highest grade”.

Choi, 34, won the Miss Hong Kong Pageant in 1991. Zhang, 33, worked as a stuntman on CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON and HERO. He can be seen in the movies CHINESE HEROES, THE UNDISCOVERED TOMB and SHAOLIN VS EVIL DEAD 2. The couple reportedly fell in love with each other during shooting for the Mainland television series PARADISE (水月洞天).

(NOTE: Choi and Zhang married on January 12th, 2008.)

Related Links: Official site for PARADISE; Max Chang photo gallery from Baidu

9. Cathy Chui Chi-Kei Gives Birth To A Daughter

Shortly after actress/model Cathy Chui Chi-Kei (aka Cathy Tsui) married Martin Lee Ka-Shing (the second son of billionaire businessman Lee Shau-Kee — the founder of Henderson Land Development) in December 2006, rumours emerged alleging Chui was pregnant. On July 17th, 2007 those rumours came true as Chui gave birth to six-pound, eight-ounce baby girl Leanna Lee Hei-Tung. Similar to their opulent wedding in Sydney, the couple threw a lavish banquet in October at Hong Kong’s Four Seasons Hotel celebrating their baby daughter’s “eighty-day” milestone. The event was attended by most of Hong Kong’s wealthy and influential business people.

(SANNEY: How does this qualify as a “top ten” story? Was 2007 a really dull year for the entertainment circle?)

8. Lydia Shum Tin-Ha’s Continuing Health Struggles

After being diagnosed with liver and gallbladder cancer in 2006, Lydia Shum Tin-Ha, 60, has been in-and-out of hospitals. In October, she was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital and treated for pleural effusion — a complication of liver cancer. She recovered sufficiently to receive a lifetime achievement award in November at TVB’s 40th Anniversary Gala. Days later, while in Macau for a banquet, Shum was taken to a hospital after she collapsed. She was transfered to Hong Kong’s Queen Mary Hospital later that week where she remains today.

Related Link: Lydia Shum biography at Hong Kong Cinema: View From The Brooklyn Bridge (scroll down to bottom of the page)

7. Moon Lee Choi-Fung Divorces After Dirty Laundry Aired

Former “Girls With Guns” star Moon Lee Choi-Fung, 42, got divorced from husband Dennis Law Kai-Yan in 2007 after Law allegedly discovered Lee having an affair with their twentysomething godson. Supposedly, Law walked in on Lee and the godson — who worked for Law’s performing arts company — while the two were intimately involved. Exposing the alleged affair to the media in June, Law declared: “No matter how you look as it, as a husband or as a godfather … to discover something like that in your own bedroom … of course, it’s a shock and something that’s very hard to accept. What hurts most is that a loving family and marriage have been destroyed. After I learned the truth, I found out that this affair was an open secret among many people at the performing arts company.”

In response to Law’s declaration, Lee took out an ad in a newspaper denying the allegations. Reportedly, Law and Lee have now divorced with Lee receiving US$12,000 per month in alimony.

Lee, best known for the “Angel” series of action movies, married Law — a surgeon turned artistic company director — in 2000. The two formed Sight, Sound & Action Ltd., a production company that has staged successful musicals such as HEAVEN & EARTH and TERRACOTTA WARRIORS.

Related Link: Moon Lee’s blog (Chinese language only)

6. Yumiko Cheng Hei-Yi Reveals Two Points In Toronto

After suffering a wardrobe malfunction that exposed her thong at the 2006 Tung Wah Charity Show, EEG starlet Yumiko Cheng Hei-Yi suffered another wardrobe failure in 2007 as she unknowingly flashed her nipples on June 23rd while performing at Canada’s Wonderland for the New Talent Singing Awards Toronto Audition Show. Not only was the exposure shown on the stage’s big screen, it was uploaded onto YouTube where it became one of the most viewed clips.

5. Carmen Choi Ka-Man, Daughter of Toy King Choi Chee-Ming, Marries

(SANNEY: Let’s skip this one because I have no idea how this is related to the entertainment circle. As far as I can tell, Miss Choi is not involved in the entertainment business. Also, she married a man from another rich family and not some actor or singer.)

4. Michael To Dai-Yu Denies That Sonjia Kwok Sin-Lei Is “The Other Woman”

TVB star Michael To Dai-Yu and his wife Wong Wai-Bo divorced in March 2007 following six and a half years of marriage. Shortly after, Wong reportedly told “a friend” that TVB leading lady Sonija Kwok Sin-Lei was the “third party” responsible for breaking up her marriage. Despite strong denials by To, the allegation provoked a hailstorm of negative publicity that caused Kwok to flee Hong Kong for her native Vancouver for three months.

Kwok, a “rumour queen” who has been linked to many of her TVB co-stars, announced in December that she will not be renewing her TVB contract when it expires this year. She will instead concentrate on building her career in the lucrative Mainland market.

3. Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau and May Lo Mei-Mei Blacklisted

Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau and his wife May Lo Mei-Mei were blacklisted by the Philippine Consulate General in September 2007 from hiring any more Filipino maids. Reportedly, the Consulate General labeled the Cheung family a “substandard employer” after they allegedly went through twenty-one maids in three years. Responding to the move, Cheung told the media that he was an “ordinary employer” who has often rehired maids after their contracts expired and only fired the ones who weren’t “helpful”. He blamed the high turnover rate on a number of maids who resigned because they could not deal with the numerous stairs of his four-story home.

In addition to the ban on hiring new maids, the blacklisting means that Cheung will not be allowed to renew the contracts of his current maids when they expire. May Lo reportedly appealed to the Consulate General but to no avail.

This is the not the first time the Cheung household has had problems with Filipino maids. In December 2006, one of Cheung’s maids was convicted for stealing a letter and three photos from Cheung.

2. Singer/Business Executive Stephen Gan Fock-Wai Arrested For Indecent Assault

Pak Fah Yeow executive Stephen Gan Fock-Wai, 45, was arrested in October 2007 for an alleged indecent assault on a male taxi driver. Reportedly, on a taxi ride home following a night of drunken celebration, Gan touched his taxi driver inappropriately then tried to make amends by leaving a HK$500 bill.

In addition to his duties as an executive for Pak Fah Yeoh — makers of the popular remedy “White Flower Oil” — Gan has dabbled in music, releasing seven albums since 1987. He had his first hit, “Love for Another 80 Years”, in 2007. The song served as the theme music for a “White Flower Oil” ad campaign.

In the past, Gan has been linked romantically to actress Fennie Yuen Kit-Ying. There are also rumours that he is bisexual.

1. Father Of Obsessed Andy Lau Tak-Wah Fan Commits Suicide

The father of an obsessed Andy Lau Tak-Wah fan killed himself on March 26th by jumping into the sea off Kowloon after escorting his daughter to the star’s birthday party. The man, 68, left a twelve-page suicide letter stating that the trip to Hong Kong from their home in Lanzhou bankrupted his family and the least Lau could do was give his daughter, 28 year-old Yang Lijuan, a private audience.

According to media reports, Yang has been obsessed with Lau since she was 15 and had quit school and refused to work in order to be a full-time Lau fan.

The suicide set off a wave of condemnation in the Mainland media against over-indulgence of children and celebrity worship.

Image credits: Wenhui United Press Group (”Oil-Fried Devils”), Baidu.com (Max Zhang), CRI Online (Lydia Shum), Moon Lee (Moon Lee), Pak Fah Yeow (While Flower Oil bottle)