April Flavour of the Month: Law Lok-lam

Law Lok-lam feels a death scene coming on

Prolific Hong Kong television actor Law Lok-lam (罗乐林, pinyin: Luó Lèlín) caused great alarm amongst those of a superstitious nature earlier this month. In the space of just 24 hours, five different characters he was portraying in various TV series all died. It's unusual enough for an actor to have five different series running concurrently, but to die in all of them, more or less at the same time, is almost spooky. If Oscar Wilde thought one death a misfortune, and two carelessness, what would he have made of Law's situation?

Law's first death, as the founder of the Ming Dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor, was a peaceful one at least - shuffling off this mortal coil via old age in the TVB series Relic of an Emissary. An hour later, he was dead again, this time violently beaten to death in the martial arts series Grace Under Fire. An off-screen death followed a few hours later, in the repeat series Police Station No.7. That evening, in another repeated series, Face to Fate, he kicked the bucket for the fourth time, vomiting blood in the process. Virtues of Harmony 2 is a TVB 2002 sitcom getting a repeat airing, but it was no laughing matter for Law when again the character he was playing passed away - demise number five.

The run of bad luck experienced by Law's characters made international news, and some wits on the net quickly composed a song about him: 同是天涯罗乐林. (The title is basically a play on words of a famous Chinese proverb). There was also criticism from viewers directed at the television station, TVB, or at least their programming department. Wasn't it a bit tasteless to have an actor repeatedly dying, not to mention tempting fate? Law himself, a modest retiring sort who normally shuns the glare of publicity, was non-plussed by the whole thing. "Why would dying in a drama matter? It's not for real" he was quoted as saying in reaction to the sudden media attention.

Law Lok-lam has been acting since 1971, first as an extra before graduating to supporting roles. The high school drop-out has appeared in countless TV series in his forty year career, many of them as villains. Since 1990 he has been acting exclusively in TVB series, and in that 21 year period he would have been in close to a hundred shows. Before that he was with the other major Hong Kong network, ATV, from 1989 to 1999, appearing in almost fifty series.

For a great overview of the actor and his career, the entertainment magazine Mingpao has an excellent in-depth article (BTW brilliantly translated by llwy12, one of the hardworking folk at the AsianFanatics Forum).

March Flavour of the Month: Mavis Pan

Up until March 16, Mavis Pan (潘霜霜, pinyin: Pān Shuāngshuāng) was a minor model and aspiring actress, best known as a Shu Qi lookalike with a 36D bust. However when phone cell photos were released showing her in bed with Hong Kong's TVB heartthrob Raymond Lam (林峰, pinyin: Lín Fēng), the mainland born Mavis suddenly became a household name. It became news for at that time know one knew Lam was in a relationship. Once the photos were released, an upset Lam admitted that they had once been in an item together but that Lam had called off the relationship months earlier.

Like all good scandals, the revelations didn't stop there. Pan's side quickly counter-claimed that the relationship hadn't ended and indeed Lam had proposed on Valentine's Day. There were further rumours that Lam had visited her Beijing apartment just the day before the photos were exposed. Neither rumour could be confirmed, though gossip magazine Next Magazine, the originally publisher of the photos, showed alleged Valentine's Day photos of the two as a couple.

Then claims were made on the internet that Pan was/is in fact married to a Westerner know only as John. A photo was posted online showing Pan sitting arm in arm with an older Caucasian male, a young boy on her knee. The rumours were contradictory over whether the boy is Pan's son or not - one rumour had them meeting and marrying just two years ago, though the boy is six years old. In any case, Pan's management denied the marriage claims.

Then there was the question of how the photos managed to fall into the hands of Next Magazine. Pan claimed that her mobile phone had been stolen, while Pan's manager put the blame on a sacked personal assistant of Pan's now seeking revenge. Lam's fans on the net took the cynical view, that Pan had leaked the photos herself to gain publicity for her career.

24 year-old Pan was born in Zhejiang province on the mainland and is based in Beijing. She got a big break with her modelling career when she did a photoshoot for online betting agency bwin.com during the football World Cup in 2008. She made her acting debut in the yet-to-be-released action film Treasure Inn starring big-name Hong Kong stars Nicholas Tse, Nick Cheung and Charlene Choi. Now film production companies are lining up to sign her up for further roles.

February Flavour of the Month: Barbie Hsu

Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛, pinyin: Xú Xīyuàn), Taiwanese actress and TV show host, had a busy February that included a wedding announcement, a retirement and an award (albeit of the wrong kind).

Barbie Hsu in (Photoshopped) wedding dress - thanks Xinmin website

Earlier last month Hsu announced a wedding date for her marriage to multi-millionaire restaurateur Wang Xiaofei - to be held in the Chinese resort city of Sanya on Hainan island on March 22. It's actually the second ceremony for the two; in November last year they also got married, but in a low-key affair in Beijing almost immediately after announcing their engagement. Low-key understates it - not even the couple's parents attended the civil ceremony. The second ceremony will be much more extravagant, with Wang reportedly planning to spend NT$2.5 million (or US$85,000) on the occasion.

The Mainland-born Wang is an executive director with the restaurant chain South Beauty Restaurants. His father is the founder and chairman of the group, a business that reportedly has a net worth of NT$11.5 billion. The 29 year old Wang certainly has a way with the women. Previous girlfriends include actresses Zhang Ziyi and Kitty Zhang, and he can now add Hsu to the list of photogenic conquests.

Soon after the wedding announcement, Barbie Hsu also revealed that she would take a break from movies for an indefinite period. She said that she hoped to have children soon, adding fuel to the rumours that she is already pregnant. Those rumours first surfaced after her surprise engagement announcement in October last year and subsequent hasty initial marriage. Although Hsu has said she won't be making any movies or TV shows, she hasn't closed the door on lucrative TV commercials. She is already a serial endorser of products and services; Wikipedia's entry on her lists 21 brands that she promotes.

Not everyone will mourn the halt to her acting career. The Golden Broom awards, China's equivalent to the Golden Raspberries, last month nominated Hsu in the Most Disappointing Actress category. Hsu wasn't nominated for just one performance but three: Future X-Cops, Adventure of the King, and Reign of Assassins. I haven't seen the first two so can't comment, although she has already won a Golden Donkey, Taiwan's version of the Golden Raspberries, for Adventure of the King. The nomination for Reign of Assassins however seems a bit harsh, but unfortunately for Hsu, she has built a reputation over the years. Say the name Barbie Hsu and Chinese almost inevitably comment on her bad acting, and at times it seems like an almost knee-jerk reaction.

Hsu started her showbiz career initially as a singer, in a girl group called ASOS with her younger sister Dee Hsu. The two went on to acheive greater fame as co-hosts of the Taiwanese TV variety show, 100% Entertainment, a gig they held from 1998 to 2005. Hsu's career really took off in 2001 when she starred in the hit Taiwanese idol drama Meteor Garden and its sequel Meteor Garden II the following year. She is a regular on the FHM's Sexiest Women in the World lists and was also voted one of PETA's Sexiest Vegetarians in 2009.

January's Most Newsworthy: Selina Jen

Flavour of the Month is not the right term this time, but one person has dominated Chinese entertainment headlines over the month just passed. When Selina Jen (任家萱, pinyin: Rèn Jiāxuān) of one of Taiwan's most popular groups, S.H.E, sustained shocking burns in an on-set accident, it was arguably the biggest entertainment story in China of 2010. The accident happened on October 22, while Selina was filming an episode of the TV series, I Have a Date With Spring, in Shanghai. Selina and her co-star, mainland actor Yu Haoming, were filming a scene where they had to run from a burning building. But the scene went awry when explosions were set off at the wrong time, engulfing the two stars in flames.

Both Selina and Yu received third-degree burns, Selina to 53 percent of her body. Selina was hospitalised for over 90 days, much of it in intensive care, and underwent surgery and skin grafts. It has been the darkest of times for the 29 year old singer with the gentle nature; however last month she and her fans began to receive some good news. On January 17 she made her first public appearance, alongside her two other S.H.E bandmates. Already hugely popular, the 29 year old singer would have won over even more fans with the courage she displayed facing the media. In an emotional speech she showed bravery and determination, vowing that she would return to the group. She was finally released from hospital on 19 January, though spare a thought for Yu who remains hospitalised.

Initially after the accident there was a public silence from the television makers and the production company, Hunan TV, despite criticism over the lack of safety measures for actors. Hunan TV denied rumours that the pyrotechnics staff were at fault, instead blaming faulty equipment. The series director, Chen Ming-chang, issued an apology on his blog (incurring more criticism for not fronting the media directly). Then in a second apology Chen accepted the blame for not overseeing the filming properly. Meanwhile Selina's record company, HIM International Music, was in negotiations with Hunan TV over compensation. The good news continued for Selina when it was just announced that Hunan TV have agreed to a compensation package that includes all her medical and rehabilitation expenses, and a payment equivalent to one year's earnings. The production company also issued an apology.

In more good news, some companies provided a show of support to Selina last month by expressing their intentions to have her endorse their products. HIM International Music announced that five companies had invited Selina to endorse products ranging from clothes to fruit juice to skin care products. The singer had earlier admitted to fearing that with minor burns to her face it might be difficult to relaunch her career again. Although those around her have been emphasising that her recovery will be slow and challenging, the positive news over the last few weeks has made the outlook much more optimistic than in the gloomy months after the accident.

May Flavour of the Month: Cross Dressers

In the month of May and a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, or, in China's case, putting on women's clothes. There were a spate of cross-dressing episodes last month, the most notorious involving Liu Zhu (刘著), a contestant on the mainland's Super Boy talent show. Although in the Mandopop world pretty boys are as common as lip-synching, Liu Zhu took it to the next level when he appeared on Hunan TV's popular singing contest.

His appearance in full drag provoked a now notorious response from one of the guest judges, Anni Meigui. Meigui kept interrupting the hapless Liu, questioning whether he was eligible for the all-male contest, even summoning the internet's human-flesh searchers to check his background. Ironically, netizens turned on the rude and abrasive judge and sympathised with Liu Zhu instead - a reflection perhaps of changing mores in Chinese society.

Liu progressed past the early rounds of the Super Boy competition, but was eliminated before reaching the final 25. Immediately a conspiracy theory sprang up, that the Chinese government through its State Administration of Radio, Television and Film (SARTF), had ordered the show's producers to remove Liu from the contest. (The EastSouthWestNorth website has translations of media coverage of the conspiracy theory). The theory goes that Liu is hardly a poster boy for wholesome values and mainstream culture, so SARTF - as guardians of mainstream culture - intervened. But then, if you started banning every man who dressed up as a woman and sung, it would mean the end of that bastion of Chinese culture, Peking opera. Perhaps a more plausible theory for Liu's elimination is that, despite his admirable courage in putting himself out so to speak, he just wasn't a good enough singer.

Another "is-she-a-boy?" scandal, this time in Hong Kong, erupted when B-grade movie producer Stephen Siu alleged that a former Miss Hong Kong placegetter had been in fact a Mister. Siu claimed in a radio interview that a transsexual had finished in the top three of a past Miss Hong Kong Pageant. The Pageant, organised by TV station TVB, is one of the premier events on the Hong Kong show business pageant, and has been the launching pad for dozens of acting and singing careers. Notable finalists in the Pageant's 37-year history include Maggie Cheung, Ada Choi, Charmaine Sheh and Anita Yuen.

Unfortunately Siu declined to reveal the name of the transsexual, the only clue given that she/he was a contestant from sometime in the past 12 years. This immediately sparked a frenzy of groundless conjecture from the media, with Anne Heung (pictured left) and Hoyan Mok - both former winners - pronounced the chief suspects. Alex Fong, husband of Mok, will no doubt be surprised by the revelation.

Even Taiwan had its own "fake girl" episode. (伪娘 or wěi niáng, literally "fake girl" is a neulogism that has only become popular in recent months to describe the fad/fashion of men dressing as females). Former Taiwanese Super Idol winner Eison had a public appearance interrupted by a cross-dressing fan. The fan presented the singer, celebrating his birthday that day, with a birthday bun...from her chest. At least Eison appears to be enjoying his close-up experience with transgenderism. (Photo and story courtesy of CpopAccess).

Show Luo: February Flavour of the Month

We're only two months into 2010, but already Show Luo's (罗志祥, pinyin: Luó Zhīxián) latest album Rashomon (罗生门, pinyin: Luóshēngmén) is a hot favourite to be this year's album of the year in Taiwan. Released in mid-January, the dance king's seventh studio album has spent the last six weeks at the top of the G Music album charts. Not only has it been the best-selling album for one and a half months, it's completely dominating album sales in Taiwan. Last week it accounted for a massive 36 percent of all record sales.

The album has also produced four singles, with the latest, Love Doesn't Travel Alone (愛不單行) holding top spot on the KKKBox Mandopop Singles Chart four weeks running. The song is taken from the Hi My Sweetheart TV series which recently finished it's moderately successful run (respectable rather than outstanding ratings). The versatile Luo also played the lead role in the series.

Other songs to chart from Rashomon are the debut single Love's Home Turf (愛的主場秀), an uptempo dance number, the second single, I'll Be Used To It (習慣就好), and Head Over Heels in Love (愛瘋頭), also from the Hi My Sweetheart soundtrack. In one week this month all four songs were in the Top 10 singles (source: this Cpop Access post).

Show Luo started the month winning search engine Baidu's number one prize at the Hot Point Awards. He was crowned Most Popular All-round Entertainer, reward for a very successful 2009. In fact, it would be safe to say that Luo is having the most successful period in his fifteen year career. And to top off the month for Luo, he was also voted "most desired lover" on one online Valentine's Day poll.

Show Luo began his career back in 1996 in a tribute band The Four Heavenly Kings (referring to four of Hong Kong's most popular singers from the 80s and 90s, introduced in this post), and made his acting debut in 1999. He launched his solo singing career in 2003, and around the same time began hosting popular variety show 100% Entertainment. Affectionately known by his fans as Little Pig (apparently he was a bit chubby as a child), Luo has won most of Taiwan's major prizes including the Golden Melody Award for Best Male Singer in 2007.

January Flavour of the Month: Xiao Xiao Bin

Xiao Xiao Bin (小小彬) is the child actor who has had an immediate impact in the hit drama series Autumn Concerto, even managing to upstage his idol co-stars. He first appeared in the series in November, and almost immediately the ratings began to shoot up. In the new year, as the ratings continue to climb, Xiao Xiao's celebrity status likewise continues to reach new levels.

He began the year with a prominent role in Taiwan's Flag Raising Ceremony, the first of several public appearances in January. His father, who also acts as his manager, then announced a schedule that includes four movies and six commercials in the near future. Xiao Xiao's weekly earnings were also revealed (Chinese article here): 700,000 Taiwan dollars, or US$21,000 - much more pocket money than I ever received.

Xiao Xiao also got his first taste of the dark side of being a celebrity, when he had to answer some tough questions during a variety show interview. The five year old, whose parents are divorced, was asked "Do you want a new Mommy?". His response, that his old mommy didn't want him anymore, hinted that behind his bright and cute persona his parents' break-up may have left some scars. Some people felt the interview had gone too far, but the show's host defended himself, a little insensitively, by claiming it's all part of a child star's job. (Original Chinese article here, and a translation from Asian Fanatics here).

Questions have also been raised about Xiao Xiao Bin's heavy workload, and whether it's appropriate for someone who, let's face it, is just a little boy. His Autumn's Concerto co-star, Ady An, has publicly expressed her wish that his father doesn't put too much pressure on him. Even the Bureau of Social Affairs were called in to investigate his workload. At least Xiao Xiao, his waking hours taken up with acting and promotional appearances, doesn't have to go to school. Instead he will receive private tutoring, a decision that has also received criticism.

Although Autumn's Concerto nears the end of its run on TV - the show has two more episodes to go - Xiao Xiao Bin will continue to remain large in the public eye. A rival idol drama series, Down With Love, in which he has a prominent role, has just started its run on Sunday evenings. He will also act in TTV/SETTV's follow-up to Autumn's Concerto, with the working title P.S Man.

His father has also revealed plans for a CD, possibly for release at the end of the year. First however Xiao Xiao has to learn how to sing and dance. While no one doubts his acting ability, an appearance on another variety show exposed his shortcomings in the fields of song and dance. Dance lessons, not to mention English tutoring, have been added to his already busy schedule.

November Flavour of the Month: Sir Run Run Shaw

Sir Run Run Shaw (邵逸夫, pinyin: Shào Yìfū), Hong Kong's preeminent TV and movie mogul, last month announced his retirement after eight decades in the entertainment business. Retirement in this case means stepping back from his executive role, although he will continue to retain the honourary title of company chairman. The decision was first announced in October, but became official at TVB's 42nd Anniversary Gala a few weeks ago.

However, Shaw's retreat from public life has proved short-lived. On November 26, it was announced that the grand old name of Hong Kong movie production houses, Shaw Studios, would crank out films again after a long absence. Three films are already in production, with the first of them, Seventy Two Tenants of Prosperity due to be released in time for next year's Spring Festival.

Shaw, affectionately known as Luk Suk or Sixth Uncle, was born in either 1906 or 1907, possibly October or November - no one seems to be clear on the exact details. In any case it makes him at least a sprightly 101 years old. He was born just outside Shanghai and entered the nascent film business back in 1924 - that's back in the era of silent movies. He and his brothers built up a film distribution and exhibition business with operations on both sides of the Pacific. Eventually Shaw settled in Hong Kong in 1959 and established Shaw Brothers Productions. By the 1970s the company had become the largest privately owned studio in the world churning out around 40 films a year.

Although Shaw Studios produced films across a variety of genres, it was best known for martial arts films, including classics such as The One Armed Swordsman, The Five Fingers of Death, Come Drink With Me and Vengeance. That era is still considered a golden age of Hong Kong cinema. As the movie industry changed and the big movie studios lost their power and dominance, Sir Run Run Shaw shifted his company's focus to the television side of operations with TVB, the television studio he had established in 1967. Today TVB is one of the largest television producers in the world, and Shaw presides over a media empire valued at around US$3.5 billion.

Shaw is also famous for his philanthropy, bequeathing millions to hospitals, educational institutions and the arts, not just in Hong Kong but in greater China and beyond. In 2002 he established the Shaw Prize which awards one million dollars each for research in three science categories: astronomy, life sciences and mathematics.

In recent years Sir Run Run Shaw's health has deteriorated, reducing his role in the day-to-day running of the business. A large proportion of executive control is said to be in the hands of his wife, the 76 year old but still formidable Mona Fong, who holds the title of Managing Director. Nevertheless, Sir Run Run's appearance at last month's TVB Gala Awards where he was one of the presenters, followed by his announcement he was back in the movie-making business, shows he retains to a surprising degree his trademark energy and passion for hard work.

October Flavour of the Month: Jiang Wenli

Actress Jiang Wenli (蒋雯丽) may be considering a larger trophy cabinet after last month's triumph at two different film award ceremonies. At the prestigious Golden Rooster Awards she shared the Best Actress prize for her moving performance in And the Spring Comes (立春). The day before she won the Audience Award at the Pusan International Film Festival in Korea for her directorial debut, Lan (Chinese title 我们天上见 or We See the Sky).

And the Spring Comes was released back in 2007 - the Golden Roosters are held every second year so 2009 was the first year she was eligible. She had already been honoured for her performance at the Rome International Festival in 2007, where the film received its premiere. The film, directed by Jiang's husband Gu Changwei, takes place in a bleak northern industrial town. The role of a plain-looking woman possessed with a beautiful voice and grand dreams of an opera career required Jiang to put on 30 pounds, and make-up effects to make her face blotchy and teeth uneven.

Lan is a film that has been five years in the making. A labour of love for Jiang, she not only directed it but wrote the original screenplay, and the film has strong autobiographical elements. It's set during the 1960s and 70s, a period which many Chinese from Jiang's generation now view with a certain nostalgia despite the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution. It tells the story of the relationship between a young girl and her grandfather who has the responsibility of raising the girl when her parents are sent off to a collective farm.

Jiang Wenli was born in 1969 in a small town in Anhui province, and might have spent her life working in the local waterworks if she hadn't been accepted into the prestigious Beijing Film Academy. From the start she showed a talent for expressing genuine emotion and made a memorable early appearance in the classic Farewell My Concubine in 1992 (she played the prostitute forced to give up her child at the beginning of the film).

It wasn't until 1997 however that she became a household name, starring in the TV drama series Hand in Hand (牵手). At the time the series was the most popular ever shown on Chinese television and her performance won her China's Emmy - the Feitian TV award for Best Actress. It's for her TV roles that she's best-known in China. She played the Miranda character in China's version of Sex and the City, Longing for Tan Ailin (好想好想谈恋爱) in 2003. She then won multiple awards for her performance as a long-suffering wife in Golden Anniversary (金婚) - a series that showed through a couple's 50-year marriage the changing face of China itself.

Jiang has yet to feature in a blockbuster film that might win her the global popularity her acting probably deserves. And as she enters her forties the chances of her being cast in a James Bond film or martial arts epic are quickly diminishing. Hopefully her blossoming directing career can win her further plaudits and wider international recognition of her talents.

September Flavour of the Month: Andy Lau and Secret Marriages

Andy Lau and Carol Chu - finally, after 24 years, they can hold hands in public

Andy Lau (刘德华, pinyin: Liú Déhuá ), one of the biggest names in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently. The celebrated actor and singer, regarded as one of Cantopop's Four Heavenly Kings, tarnished his reputation when it was revealed he was secretly married to Carol Chu (Zhu Liqian). It may go down as one of Lau's finest acting performances - successfully presenting to the world an image of a carefree, unattached bachelor for the past 24 years, when all the time he was in a relationship with the former Malaysian beauty queen.

There has long been media speculation regarding Lau's relationship with Chu. However the rumours have always been denied by the actor or his representatives. Presumably the thinking behind this ruse was that a married Andy Lau made a less bankable commodity than a single (and available - keep that flame of hope burning, ladies) Andy Lau.

Lau's lie began to unravel in late August, at the funeral of Carol Chu's father in Kuala Lumpur. Lau tried to attend the funeral incognito, with the less than successful ploy of having several minders shield him from prying eyes at the ceremony with big black umbrellas. This despite the funeral being held on a glorious sunny day. The media then went on an Andy Lau hunt and several more sightings were made of the star in the company of the woman he had for 24 years denied being involved with. Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily took the initiative of searching US marriage registries, and finally it was revealed - Lau and Chu had in fact tied the knot back in June 2008. You may not necessarily approve of the ethics of the Hong Kong tabloids, but you have to admire their investigative skills.

A tearful and apologetic Lau confirmed the news at a press conference soon after and asked fans for forgiveness. He said that he had chosen to hide his relationship for so long to protect Chu from the media - though more cynical observers believed it was to protect his image as an idol. Others felt sympathy for the woman, forced to hide herself away for 24 years as if in some domestic arrangement from the feudal period.

As negative publicity towards Lau increased, the star was forced to extend the rationale for all the secrecy. It wasn't just the Hong Kong media he was protecting his wife from, it was also the Hong Kong triads. He reasoned that if his relationship to Chu had been revealed, it would have exposed her to mafia threats, even made her a kidnapping target.

The Andy Lau Secret Marriage scandal took a tawdry turn when one media outlet decided to track down Lau's most notorious/infamous fan. Yang Lijuan was obsessed with Lau and she and her family spent a small fortune - her father was even prepared to sell his kidney - trying to satisfy this obsession, travelling long distances to attend Lau's concerts and public appearances. The obsession led to tragedy in 2007 when she finally got the chance to meet her idol. However the brief time allotted to her, around five minutes, only served to create more anguish for her. Then her harrowed, and by this time broke, father committed suicide, partly in protest and partly in shame that he had failed to help his daughter. Two years' on, and Yang was asked for her comments on Lau's secret relationship. A clearly still bitter Yang demanded an apology from Lau, claiming if only he had come clean about his relationship her father might still be alive. (For the definitive account of the Yang Lijuan saga you can't go past this article, translated on EastSouthWestNorth.)

The fall-out from Lau's secret marriage continued to spread with other stars also suddenly needing to update their marital status. More "investigative journalism" uncovered that another Heavenly King, Leon Lai had married the model Gaile Lai in March last year. And singer Miriam Yeung also 'fessed up to marrying actor Gary Tang in August without letting the public or media know. The imaginative Taiwan media also got into the act - their perusals of the Las Vegas marriage records unearthed from several years ago a name similar to Ariel Lin, and speculated that the actress had married a Korean boyfriend when she was still a teenage university student. Not surprisingly, Lin denied the allegations.

Secret marriages have always been part of the Hong Kong entertainment industry. The most famous example was Jackie Chan who kept his marriage to actress Joan Lin plus the existence of a son secret for over 15 years. One reason for the secrecy was the fear that a heartbroken fan might take the news badly - fears that had some basis in reality. Two of his fans had already committed suicide after hearing rumours that Jackie was married. Chan too had fears that his son could be the target of kidnappers.

It seems doubtful that Andy Lau's career as a leading man will suffer because of the now public knowledge he is married. Even his reputation as a man of integrity is unlikely to suffer permanent damage. At the height of the scandal, it was announced that he would be cast in an upcoming romantic comedy, Kiss, alongside Zhou Xun. And the media has moved on from the secret marriage to news that he and his wife were in the process of having a baby through artificial insemnination. If and when Carol Chu becomes pregnant, we can safely assume it won't be kept a secret.

Flavour of the Month for August - Miss Hong Kong Sandy Lau

The annual Miss Hong Kong Pageant always manages to generate a lot of publicity, perhaps not surprisingly when heavyweight TV network TVB is behind the show's organisation. A good showing in the contest can often lead to a lucrative Hong Kong TV career. Or maybe Hong Kong citizens just like their beauty pageants. This year's winner, Sandy Lau (刘倩婷, pinyin: Liu Qianting), a 23 year old securities analyst, immediately found herself thrust into the glare of the publicity spotlight.

Dubbed the "Brokeback Miss Hong Kong", Lau has had to fend off suggestions that she is a lesbian, the media scutinising her relationships with a couple of "very close female friends" including a fellow competitor. At a media conference, Lau set the record straight by saying "I like the opposite sex". Not satisfied, the press asked if she would consider a gay relationship in the future, to which she responded "No way, I will never fancy a girl".

Then photos from her past emerged on the internet, which seemed to show a dramatic change in her appearance. Gone were the small eyes and dark skin of her younger days, features which are not considered as aesthetically pleasing. Defending herself again she denied undertaking any plastic surgery with the remark, "I'm not Michael Jackson". Unfortunately this only got easily offended netizens further offside, as they felt she was being disrespectful of the recently dead. As if no one has been making jokes about Michael Jackson since his demise. Nevertheless, Lau felt compelled to publicly apologise to the Jackson family.

Sandy Lau was considered a surprise winner, and when the favourite, Esther Lam failed to make the top five, there were familiar cries that the ceremony was rigged. It seems that people in Hong Kong, only too aware of how important your connections can be in getting ahead or getting things done, assume the same code applies when beauty pageant winners are selected.

Already there were grumblings about the quality of the field of contestants, one Chinese language website deriding it as the lowest quality in the contest's history. Lau was probably not the most attractive of the contestants, an admission the judges seemed to confirm by saying that she was selected because she was the most articulate. At least Lau hasn't been subjected to the derision that Kayi Cheung 2007's winner endured. Described as "pie faced", poor Cheung was infamously booed by some audience members when her name was announced.

Recently the Miss Hong Kong crown has been more like a cross that it has winner has had to bear. Last year's champion, Edelweiss Cheung, has earned herself the title of the "laziest" Miss Hong Kong ever because of her failure on so many occasions to fulfill her Miss Hong Kong duties. The media have claimed that she took "sickies" instead of making her required public appearances. As punishment, she was not invited to present the 2009 crown to this year's winner as is the usual practice. Instead, that honour went to Lolette Chu, winner of the crown back in 1977, a time now fondly looked back upon as a golden age for the Miss Hong Kong Pageant.