Leon Lai BBS, MH 黎明
Chinese name	黎明
Pinyin	Lí Míng (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Lai4 ming4 (Cantonese)
Birth name	Lai Chit (黎捷)
Ancestry	Meixian, Guangdong, China[1]
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	(1966-12-11) 11 December 1966 (age 45) Beijing, China
Occupation	Singer, Actor, Record Company Manager
Genre(s)	Cantopop, Mandopop
Instrument(s)	Singing
Label(s)	1990–1998 PolyGram 1998–2004 Sony Music 2004 -Amusic
Years active	1986 – present
Spouse(s)	Gaile Lok
Official Website	www.amusic.hk
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Original Film Song 1999 City of Glass Golden Horse Awards Best Original Song 1997 Eighteen Springs Best Actor 2002 Three Going Home New Talent Singing Awards 1986 Second Runner-Up

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Leon Lai is a Hong Kong-based actor and Cantopop singer. The media refer to Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王). He uses the stage name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming" which literally means "dawn."

Biography[link]

Lai was born in Beijing, China as Lai Chit (黎捷) with Meixian, Guangdong ancestry.^[1] His family was originally from Meixian. His parents divorced when he was four. He migrated with his Malaysian Chinese father, Lai Xinsheng to Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution in China. At the age of 15, he attended Kingsway Princeton College in the United Kingdom and returned to Hong Kong at the age of eighteen in 1984.^[2][3]

Career[link]

Early years[link]

Lai initially worked as a salesperson for a mobile phone company.^[2] After being awarded second-runner-up in the 1986 5th New Talent Singing Awards, Lai received vocal coaching from Dai Si Zong (戴思聰).^[4] In the same year he also obtained an artist contract from Capital Artists.^[5] Lai did not release any albums for four years.^[6] As a result, his teacher, Dai, arranged to have him signed a contract with Polygram, later known as Universal Music.^[7]

Music[link]

In Polygram, he released his first album "Leon" and subsequent album "Meet In The Rain". His debut album went gold.^[8] After several years at Polygram, he then signed a new contract with Sony Music on 23 March 1998.

Together with Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok, Lai was among the four most popular male singers during the 1990s, when the media referred to them as Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings (Chinese: 四大天王).

	"Sugar in the Marmalade" noicon A hybrid cantopop techno song by Leon Lai
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

In the early stages of his career, he mainly sang cantopop, but due to the influence of producer Mark Lui, he expanded his repertoire to include popular electronic songs with compelling music videos. In 1990 he won his first 1990 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards and 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards.^[9][10] He also followed up to win the "Most Popular Male Singer" award in 1993 and 1995 for TVB Jade Solid Gold.^[11][12] In 1996, he collaborated with composer-producer Steve Barakatt on his album "Feel". Two years later in 1998, he became the first HK singer to reach the Top 10 K-pop chart with the song "After loving you".^[13] In 1999 he announced that he would no longer accept any more awards in Hong Kong.

In 2002 he was selected to sing "Charged up", the 2002 FIFA World Cup theme song for the Greater China region.^[14] In 2004 he became the first Hong Kong singer to represent the territory at the first Asia Song Festival held in South Korea.^[15]

Lai was selected to be the ambassador of the 6th Winter Asian Games to be held Changchun in 2007. He sang the Games' theme song and took part in the torch relay.^[16] He then joined Michael Wong and Janice Vidal held a three day "Magic Live" charity concert at Star Hall, Hong Kong from 9 Nov to 11 Nov 2008.^[17]

Duets[link]

Apart from being a solo artist, Lai has co-operated with other artists. Some of his better known collaborations are "Love Until the End" and "A Happy Family" with Vivian Chow, "Really Wish to Be Like This Forever" and "It's Still You" with Priscilla Chan, "Song of the Star" with Alan Tam, "Never Give Up" with Jacky Cheung, "Why did I let you go?" with Janice Vidal.^[18]

Company founder & singer[link]

In 2004, Lai formed a new record production company, "A Music", East Asia Record Production Company Limited, with Peter Lam. The first album produced by the company, "Dawn" was released in September of that year. The album, "Dawn", was released with minimum promotion as Lai went to Mainland China for a movie shoot on the day of the album's release.^[19]

In order to bring in new excitements for his music, Lai invited a famous music producer Jonathan Lee from Taiwan in 2005 to produce his new mandarin album "A Story". However, by doing so he had to give up the opportunity for a lead role in a big budget Taiwan movie "Gui Si" due to conflicts in his schedules.^[20]

Lai returned to the Hong Kong Coliseum on 13 April 2007 to perform in his one night only Leon 4 in Love Concert where he performed not only his own hits but also hits of the other three heavenly kings. He performed a total of 18 songs, all of which are newly arranged by Mark Lui. He subsequently released an album titled "4 In Love" on 3 May 2007, comprising 16 of the 18 songs he had performed in the concert.^[21]

Actor[link]

In the period before Lai participated in the New Talent Singing Awards, he enrolled in the ATV actor training class, a classmate with actress Cheung Man, however he didn't complete the training. He then applied for admission to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts but his application was rejected.

After the New Talent Singing Awards, he had some opportunities to star in a few TV series. On one occasion, he went for filming of a romantic serials titled, Fengyun era, in Taiwan. There was a stark contrast in height between Lai and the popular lead actress who is only 160 cm in height. The actress then demanded that Lai squatted while filming so as to make up for the height differences. Lai had to act through all the scenes with the actress while squatting but he had to endure it as he was not popular at the time. Not long afterwards his new TVB series, The Breaking Point (1991 TV series) turned out to be a resounding success and propelled him to widespread fame in Hong Kong and Taiwan.^[22][23]

In 1996 Lai was nominated for the Best Actor award at the 16th Hong Kong Film Awards for the film Comrades: Almost a Love Story. The next year in 1997, he managed to win the award for Best Original Song for the film Eighteen Springs both at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Hong Kong Film Awards. He was again nominated for the Best Actor and Best Original Film Song award for the film City of Glass in 1999, but he only managed to win the award for Best Original Film Song which he shared with Albert Leung and Dick Lee.^[24]

Lai was considered by Lee Ang to act as Li Mu Bai in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, however he had to turn down the offer as he had advertising contract and live concert about to start which would not match his shaven head as was required for the role.^[25][26]

He collaborated with Cecilia Cheung in 2001 for the first time in the Wong Jing directed romantic comedy film, Everyday Is Valentine. In the film, Lai played a serial liar.^[27]

In 2002 Lai took the spotlight at the Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese-language version of the Oscars in Taiwan. He won Best Actor for Three: Going Home. Lai played a minor role as Superintendent Yeung Kam Wing in Infernal Affairs III in 2003. In 2004 Lai starred with Faye Wong in the romantic movie Leaving Me, Loving You, the story of which he co-wrote with Wilson Yip and he was also the creative/production controller of the movie. However, the movie was a flop raking in HK$ 10,529,501 in the box office.^[28] Still in that same year he was ranked 8th on the China Celebrity 100 list released by the Chinese edition of Forbes.^[29]

In 2005 Lai acted as one of the seven warriors in the Tsui Hark directed wuxia film, Seven Swords.^[30] In the same year in the film Moonlight in Tokyo, Lai unexpectedly acted as a Chinese retard who pretend to be a Korean gigolo in Japan and thus shedding his idol image.^[31] He won the Golden Deer Best Actor Award from Changchun China Film Festival for his portrayal in Leaving Me, Loving You in 2005.

In 2006 Lai starred alongside Fan Bingbing and Rene Liu in a love and horror, thriller film titled The Matrimony where he played a cinematographer Shen Junchu, the love interest of Manli and Sansan. JunChu was pressurised into marrying Sansan after the untimely demise of his true love Manli in an accident. The film was released on 8 February 2007.^[32] In the same year, Lai wrote and directed a musical film titled A Melody Looking which was shot in New York. It features Lai and the rest of the Amusic family of singers namely Janice, Jill, Emily, Charles and Chapman. This film marks his debut as a director.

In 2007 Lai starred alongside Kelly Chen, Donnie Yen and Guo Xiaodong in the Ching Siu-tung film An Empress and the Warriors. He acted as a woodland medicine man who has a romantic relationship with a princess. Lai and Kelly Chen sang the theme song, "Fly With Your Dreams" written by Albert Leung and composed by Mark Lui.^[33]

He underwent training in Peking Opera for playing the lead role as Méi Lánfāng in the biographical film Forever Enthralled which was directed by Chen Kaige. He directed the music video for the film where he and Zhang Ziyi sang the theme song, "You Understand My Love".^[34] For the first time in his career, Lai played the role of a beggar in the Peter Chan directed film Bodyguards and Assassins.^[35] For his success a wax figure of Lai was revealed at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.^[36]

Community[link]

Apart from being an actor and singer, Lai is actively involved in the Community Chest. In the 1990s he began serious charity work when his father was diagnosed with carcinoma of the rectum. The doctors said it was incurable. But after operation, his father survived the miraculous surgery. When the Cancer Research Foundation and the UN organization approached him for help, he started getting involved in charity work actively.^[37]

Lai's first work with UNICEF in a China polio eradication project in 1993. He managed to raise substantial funds accruing from his supporters, fans and concert ticket sales. In July 1994, he was appointed the International UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and thus becoming the first Hong Kong citizen to be given this position. Since the year 1994, he has been involved in various fund raising activities of The Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF (HKCU). These activities include seven charity concerts, three charity chocolate sales and charity walkathon. Lai, along with HKCU representatives, visited Rwanda, Gansu of China and Brazil to study the work of UNICEF and to help promote public awareness to help children".^[38] In December 1995, he was appointed as "UNICEF Special Representative to Youth" at in the New York headquarters recognizing his contributions for the welfare of the children.^[38]

Lai have also been elected as one of The Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in 1997, giving him a formal recognition of his professional endeavours and commitment to the community.^[39] He bought the first donation ticket, numbered 000001 at a "Children's Education Fund Raising Campaign" launch event at Tsuen Wan PARKnSHOP's Skyline Superstore in 2001 to encourage people to contribute to a meaningful social cause. The funds raised was donated to the Community Chest.^[40]

He was awarded the Medal of Honour (M.H.) on 12 October 2003 by Tung Chee-Hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.^[39]

Ever since his decision not to receive any music award in HK, he has not appeared on the TVB Jade Gold Solid Awards ceremony even as a guest, but in order to secure more funds for charity, he agreed to perform in the ceremony as a guest performer on 8 Jan 2005. On 13 May of the same year, Lai co-operated with Mark Lui to compose the song "8858". The song will be used as the promotional song of the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF). The title of song means "Help me (sounded like 'bang bang wo ba' in Putonghua)" and the number "8858" represent the SMS number people can use to donate the money.^[41][42] In a surprising move in Dec 2005, Lai appeared in a Hong Kong government television advertisement requesting the public to support a gradual political reform package tabled by the ruling government rather than asked for rapid political reform. This marks the first time he got himself involved in a politically motivated advertisement.^[43]

Incidents[link]

Commercial anthem incident[link]

In 2000, Lai's song All Day Love (全日愛) got him into trouble with the Chinese authorities for drawing passages from the Chinese National Anthem, March of the Volunteers. The starting tune also sounds similar to the anthem tune. He was warned against using the song for commercial purposes.^[44][45]

Concert[link]

At Hong Kong Coliseum :

(Note: # indicate literal translation)

Source:^[46]

Advertisement[link]

Music pop chart[link]

(source:^{[48][49][50][51]})

Awards[link]

Source:^[52]

External links[link]

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

• A Music
• Leon Lai Family (Hong Kong) 黎明家族 (香港) – fansite
• Leon Family (Taiwan) – fansite
• Leon Lai Fans Club 黎明之友 – fansite
• Leon Lai at the Internet Movie Database
• Leon at UNICEF

References[link]

Marmalade were a successful Scottish pop rock group, from the east end of Glasgow, originally formed in 1961 as "The Gaylords", later "Dean Ford and The Gaylords". In 1966, they changed the group name to 'The Marmalade'. The most successful period for the band, in terms of UK chart success, was between 1968 and 1972. From 1972, after the break up of the original band, the band evolved with many further changes and still exists to this day, although with the departure of Graham Knight in September 2010, there are now no original Marmalade members remaining in the band.

Original band members[link]

• Dean Ford: born Thomas McAleese, 5 September 1945, Coatbridge, Scotland — lead vocalist.
• Junior Campbell: born William Campbell, 31 May 1947, Glasgow, Scotland^[1] — lead guitarist / instrumentalist / vocalist and arranger.
• Graham Knight: born John Graham Knight, 8 December 1943, Glasgow — bassist and vocalist.
• Pat Fairley: born Patrick Fairley, 14 April 1943, Glasgow — 6 string bassist / rhythm guitarist.
• Alan Whitehead: born 24 July 1945, Oswestry, Shropshire, England — drummer.

Whitehead replaced Ray Duffy, who left in 1967 to return to his trade as a chef. Duffy later returned to the music industry, drumming on Matthews Southern Comfort's number one "Woodstock", and also most of Gallagher and Lyle's hits. Duffy also teamed up again with Campbell, playing drums on the latter's solo hit singles, "Hallelujah Freedom" and "Sweet Illusion", plus the album, Second Time Around.

Biography[link]

"The Gaylords", (named after the notorious post war "Chicago Gaylords" street gang), were originally formed by Pat Fairley and Billy Johnston in Baillieston, a suburb east of Glasgow, around 1960/61. Their initial line-up included Tommy Frew on drums and lead guitarist Pat McGovern, fronted by vocalist Wattie Rodgers. Junior Campbell joined on his fourteenth birthday on 31 May 1961, replacing McGovern, and Rodgers was then replaced, initially by two new lead vocalists, Billy Reid and Tommy Scott, although Reid soon departed, leaving Scott as the new frontman. Bill Irving then took over from Johnston on bass. The group gathered notice and, in 1963, Dean Ford replaced Scott as lead singer. They then became known as "Dean Ford and The Gaylords". Ray Duffy then replaced Frew on drums. and for a few months, they had an organist, Davey Hunter. By 1964 Graham Knight, from the local group The Vampires, had replaced Irving on bass.

(Pictured; left to right: Bill Irving, Junior Campbell, Dean Ford, Ray Duffy and Pat Fairley (1964))

Becoming popular in Scotland, and under the management of Billy Grainger, in early 1964 they were signed to Columbia (EMI) by Norrie Paramor and recorded four singles, including a cover of the 1963 Chubby Checker US hit,"Twenty Miles" which was a big seller locally, but failed to chart nationally.^[2] The group were well regarded in Scotland, and despite being crowned 'Scotland's Top Group' decided to try for success in the UK as a whole.^[2]

In 1965, they played a long stint in Germany, at the Storyville in Cologne and in Duisburg, before moving to London, where they began to build up a club reputation, as a tight, close harmony band, and in 1966, finding themselves in the middle of the 1960s "swinging London scene", decided to update their image and instrumentation, and on the advice of their manager, changed the band name to "The Marmalade".^[2] Unusually, they now had two bass players, Graham Knight on 4 string, and Pat Fairley on 6 string ( Fairley having dropped the standard "rhythm guitar" associated with the "three guitar" instrumental groups of the early 1960s).

After changing labels to CBS, and producer Mike Smith, their next few singles also failed to chart in the UK, although one, the self penned cult hit, "I See The Rain", written by Junior Campbell and Dean Ford, was highly praised by Jimi Hendrix as the 'best cut of 1967'.^[2] It became a chart-topper in the Netherlands the same year (Graham Nash of The Hollies, contributed to the session).

Thursday, 19 January 1967, proved to be a major turning point in the bands progress when they made their debut at London's Marquee Club where they supported Pink Floyd.^[3] Two weeks later, 3 February, they supported The Action. They never supported anyone again at the Marquee, and on 16 March 1967 they began a long residency which carried through to the autumn of the following year, building a reputation and following,^[2] including touring with The Who, Joe Cocker, Traffic, Gene Pitney and The Tremeloes. This culminated in a summer appearance at the Windsor Jazz and Rock Festival in 1967, directly preceding Jerry Lee Lewis.^[4]

Marmalade's label CBS were concerned at their lack of commercial success and threatened to drop them if they did not have a hit, and after the failure of another self-penned single later that year, "Man in a Shop", insisted they record more chart-oriented material. They rejected "Everlasting Love", which became a #1 for Love Affair, but later gave in to pressure and recorded, "Lovin' Things", written by Artie Schroeck & Jet Loring in 1967, and arranged by Keith Mansfield for Marmalade. It reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart in the summer of 1968.^[5] This was later covered by The Grass Roots in the US in 1969, using virtually the same arrangement.

After a lesser hit with the follow-up "Wait For Me Mary-Anne" (written by Alan Blaikley and Ken Howard), which made #30, they enjoyed their most remembered UK success with their cover of The Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", which topped the UK chart in January 1969.^[2] As the first Scottish group to ever top that chart,^[6] in the week it went to the chart summit they celebrated by appearing on BBC One's music programme Top of the Pops, dressed in kilts. Their version of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" sold around half a million in the |UK, and a million copies globally by April 1969.^[4] This was followed by further success with "Baby Make It Soon", (written by Tony Macaulay), which reached #9, in the summer of 1969.^[5] The group at the end of 1969 appeared on the BBC's highly rated review of the sixties music scene Pop Go The Sixties, performing Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da live on the show broadcast on BBC1, December 31, 1969.

Following a change of record label to Decca Records, under a deal allowing them to write and produce their own songs, they recorded what would become their biggest worldwide hit.^[2] Topping the charts in Europe, (a Top 10 in United States, and #1 in most of South America), the melancholy "Reflections of My Life", written by Campbell and Ford,^[7] featured a backwards guitar solo by Campbell ( see Reflections of My Life).

"Reflections of My Life" has recorded over two million sales and the writers were awarded a Special Citation of Achievement in 1998 by BMI in attaining radio broadcast performances in excess of one million in the US alone.^{[citation needed]} Other UK hits included "Rainbow" (UK #3) and "My Little One" (UK #15).^[2]

They were managed by Peter Walsh, a 1960s and 1970s pop entrepreneur whose portfolio also included The Tremeloes, Bay City Rollers, Billy Ocean, The Troggs and Blue Mink.

After Campbell, who co-wrote most of the group's original material with Ford, left the band in March 1971 for a solo career,^[8] Marmalade suffered adverse publicity from the UK's newspaper, News of the World.^[2] They began a series of line-up changes including the loss of drummer Alan Whitehead.^[2]

Marmalade recruited a new drummer, Dougie Henderson, and guitarist, Hugh Nicholson, an ex-member of The Poets, another band from Scotland.^[2] Then Marmalade released the album, Songs, in 1972, and Nicholson took on most lead vocals and song composition with more direct and less orchestral arrangements, which met with limited success. However, Nicholson penned two of their last hits, "Cousin Norman" and "Radancer", as well as the lesser hit "Back on the Road", on which he sang lead vocal.^[2] After the departure of Campbell, Pat Fairley then left the band to run the group's music publishing company.Nicholson left in 1973 to form Blue (not to be confused with a much later boy band of the same name – Blue), and Ford plus Knight carried on with Marmalade Nicholson was replaced by Mike Japp, a rock guitarist from the Welsh band 'Thank You'.^[2]

Refusing to play most of the band's old hit records on stage, the group slowly came to a standstill. Knight was sacked, but then linked up with the original drummer, Alan Whitehead, to form Vintage Marmalade. They were reunited with their old manager Peter Walsh to play all the hits on stage, and had a full date sheet.^[2]

Ford was one of many lead vocalists contributing to The Alan Parsons Project. His last known work in music was in 1991, by which time he was living in the US.

In 1975 Knight and Whitehead took over the name Marmalade again with a new line-up, fronted by vocalist and guitarist Sandy Newman.^[2][9] They signed a deal with Target Records, and in 1976, had what turned out to be their final Top 10 hit with the ominously entitled Tony Macaulay penned song, "Falling Apart at The Seams".^[1] Subsequent singles failed to chart.^[2] but ironically one of them was "Talking In Your Sleep", produced by Roger Greenaway and released in January 1978, 6 months ahead of the Crystal Gayle's version of the same song, which became well known worldwide.

Whitehead left the band in 1978 to manage other pop groups and singers, which he does to this day. He also appeared in the 2010 TV series, Take Me Out. Knight remained with the band, touring on the nostalgia circuit with Marmalade alongside Newman, Glenn Taylor (drums), and Alan Holmes (guitar), but departed the line-up in July 2010. In 2011 John James Newman, and Damon Sawyer, were added to the current line-up.

Ford, having retired from the music industry, settled in Los Angeles (after a brief spell in New York). He has recently become more active in music and released a single called "Glasgow Road" with Joe Tansin ex- Badfinger in 2012. Fairley now has his own bar, called Scotland Yard, also situated in Los Angeles.

Campbell became a successful solo recording artist, songwriter, television and film composer, record producer and music arranger, and lives in Sussex.

Marmalade since 1975[link]

Sandy Newman has continued to front the band since 1975, releasing a further 11 singles in the UK (excluding re-releases), 7 of which were via Target Records and today he continues to tour the nostalgia circuit, performing the band's full hit repertoire.

Band members in 2011[link]

Sandy Newman - Lead guitar, keyboard & lead vocals. Mike Steed - Bass guitar & vocals. Alan Holmes - Acoustic/electric guitar, keyboard & vocals. John James Newman - Acoustic guitar & vocals Damon Sawyer - Drums & percussion.

Discography[link]

Dean Ford and the Gaylords singles[link]

Marmalade singles[link]

Marmalade studio albums[link]

• Original Band

• There's a Lot of It About (1968) CBS
• Best Of (1969) CBS
• Reflections of The Marmalade (1970) Decca Records

• Additional/ Later Line-Ups

• Songs (1971) Decca Records

• Our House Is Rocking (1974)

• The Only Light on My Horizon Now (1977)
• ...Doing It All for You (1978)
• Marmalade (US only) (1981)
• Heartbreaker (1982)

^[11]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Info sourced from liner notes, including those by band members on:
• 1992 Decca Records (Deram) 820 562-2 Reflections of The Marmalade
• 1996 Castle CD CCSCD436; The Marmalade – The Definitive Collection
• 1998 Castle CD CCSCD825 Marmalade - The Definitive Collection
• 2000 Castle - Sequel NEECD 335 Rainbow: The Decca Years
• 2004 Sanctuary CMOCD 940 The Marmalade - BBC Sessions
• 2005 Sanctuary SMETD 182 Marmalade - The Ultimate Collection

External links[link]

• Marmalade at "Rockingscots"
• Marmalade biography at Allmusic
• Current official website
• Marmalade feature in German
• Marquee Club Calendar - 1967

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Andy Lau 劉德華
Andy Lau being interviewed at the 29th Hong Kong International Film Festival (2005).
Chinese name	劉德華 (Traditional)
Chinese name	刘德华 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Liú Déhuá (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Lau4 Dak1 Waa4 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Xinhui, Guangdong
Born	(1961-09-27) 27 September 1961 (age 50)[1] Tai Po, Hong Kong
Other name(s)	Wah Zai (華仔) Lau Wah (劉華) Ngau Wah (牛華)
Occupation	Singer, actor, film producer, and presenter
Genre(s)	Cantopop, Mandopop
Instrument(s)	Singing
Label(s)	Capital Artist(1985) EMI(1986-1989, 2002-2004) Polygram(1990-1993) Warner Music(1993-1995) Music Impact(1995-2000) Multi-Talent(2000-2002) Ever Song (2004-2005) Focus Music (2005-2007) East Asia Music(2007-present)
Years active	1981 - present
Associated acts	Five Tiger Generals
Spouse(s)	Carol Chu 朱丽倩 (2008 - present)
Children	1 daughter
Official Website	www.andylau.com
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Film 1998 Made in Hong Kong 2011 Gallants 2012 A Simple Life Best Actor 2000 Running Out of Time 2004 Running on Karma 2012 A Simple Life Best Supporting Actor 2008 Protégé Best Original Film Song 2003 Infernal Affairs Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Actor 2001 A Fighter's Blues Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best Actor 2003 Running on Karma Golden Horse Awards Best Actor 2003 Infernal Affairs III 2011 A Simple Life Golden Rooster Awards Best Media Rooster for 2009 TVB Anniversary Awards My Most Memorable Male Leading Role 1999 The Return of the Condor Heroes Other awards Panasonic Awards 2007 1st Asian Film Awards 2007 Box Office Star of Asia Award

Andy Lau Tak-Wah MH, JP^[2] (born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer, actor, and film producer. Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time.^[3] In the 1990s, Lau was branded by the media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop (四大天王) along with Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung and Leon Lai.^[4]

Biography[link]

Andy Lau was born in Tai Po, Hong Kong, with origins in Xinhui, Guangdong. As a young boy Lau had to fetch water for his family up to eight times a day because their house was not equipped with plumbing.^[5] He later graduated from a Band One Secondary School, Ho Lap College in San Po Kong, Kowloon.^[6] He also practices Chinese calligraphy.^[7] Lau converted to Buddhism in the 1980s.^[8] He was raised in a nominally Buddhist household and is now a follower of the Lingyan Mountain Temple in Taiwan.^[9]

In 2008, Lau married Malaysian Chinese Carol Chu after 24 years of speculation over their relationship.^[10] The couple registered their marriage in Clark County, Nevada, in the United States.^[10] On 9 May 2012, Chu gave birth to his first child, a daughter.^[11]

Career[link]

Dramatic acting[link]

In 1981, Lau signed up for the artist training program offered by TVB, which is where his acting career began.^[1] The lead role which led to his initial popularity was in the 1982 TVB series The Emissary. In 1983, Lau's role as "Yang Guo" in the TVB series The Return of the Condor Heroes further increased his popularity. From then on, he would take on many of the lead roles in many of the TVB series.

In September 1983, TVB was looking to increase their ratings in competition with Korea and Japan for the best variety show. The station then created the show TVB All-star challenge (星光熠熠勁爭輝) featuring almost the entire lineup of the most popular actors and singers at the time.^[12] Lau along with Tony Leung, Michael Miu, Felix Wong, and Kent Tong were branded as "TVB's Five Tigers" (無線五虎將) due to their popularity on the show.^[12]

In the late 80s, Lau left TVB due to contract problems. TVB wanted to bind him to an exclusive five-year contract which Lau refused to sign, so TVB blacklisted him. He then focused on his film career.^[5]

Film acting[link]

Lau's wax figure at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong

In 1981, Lau made a guest appearance in one of Susanna Kwan's music video and caught the eye of the manager Teddy Robin.^[13] Teddy Robin then gave Lau a chance to play a small role in the movie Once Upon a Rainbow.^[13] This was the first step in Lau's film acting career.^[13] He was then given a role in Ann Hui's 1982 film, Boat People.^[1] Later in 1983 he had his first leading role in a Shaw Brothers film called On the Wrong Track.^[14]

One of his early leading roles included the more serious 1988 film The Truth (法內情). However, Lau is best known in movies for his (often) recurring roles as a "Heroic Gangster" such as Wong Kar-wai's 1988 film, As Tears Go By and Johnnie To's 1990 film, A Moment of Romance.

Though a respectable actor, Lau in the early days was known more for his good looks. The people he works with say he is an idol, but he has claimed to be an artist.^[3] Lau has proved his acting skills in many of his movies. His first major acting prize came with A Fighter's Blues, which was his first Golden Bauhinia Award for Best Actor.^[15] He would win the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor award that year for Running out of Time.^[16] In 2004, he won the prestigious Golden Horse Award for his performance in Infernal Affairs III, the sequel to the popular Infernal Affairs.^[17] Western audiences may also be familiar with his performance in the House of Flying Daggers.

In 2005, Lau was awarded "No.1 Box Office Actor 1985-2005" of Hong Kong, yielding a total box office of HKD 1,733,275,816 for shooting 108 films in the past 20 years.^[5][7] The aforementioned figure is as compared to the first runner-up Stephen Chow's (HKD 1,317,452,311) and second runner-up Jackie Chan's (HKD 894,090,962). "I've never imagine that it would be as much as 1.7 billion!" he told the reporters. For his contributions, a wax figure of Lau was unveiled on June 1, 2005 at the Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.^[18] In 2007, Lau was also awarded the "Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia" by the Nielsen Company (ACNielsen).^[2]

Film producer[link]

In 1991 Lau has set up his own film production company called Teamwork Motion Pictures Limited, which in 2002 was renamed to Focus Group Holdings Limited. His contributions in the film industry as well as his involvement in nurturing new talents in the Asian film industry led him to being awarded the "Asian Filmmaker of the Year" in the Pusan International Film Festival in 2006.^[2] Some of the films he produced include the award-winning Made in Hong Kong and the mainland digital film Crazy Stone.

Musical career[link]

Andy Lau in concert 2011

Lau released his first album "Only Know that I Still Love You" (只知道此刻愛你) under Capital Artists in 1985.^[5] However, his first album was not a big hit.^[5] Despite having a voice not traditionally associated with popular music, his hard work and perseverance resulted in him being one of the most successful singers. His singing career reached stellar status in 1990 with the release of the album entitled "Would It Be Possible" (可不可以), and his subsequent releases only solidified his status as a marketable singer.^[5] For that song, he would win his first 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. He would then win at least one RTHK award category every year consecutively until the year 2007.

From Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards, he has won the “Most Popular Hong Kong Male Artist” award 7 times and the “Asia Pacific Most Popular Hong Kong Male Artist” award 15 times.^[5] He also entered into Guinness World Records for "Most Awards Won By A Cantopop Male Artist". By April 2000, he had already won a total unprecedented 292 awards.^[5]

Many of his songs quickly topped the music charts, not only in Hong Kong, but also in Taiwan, Mainland China, and in many different parts of Asia. Some of the most notable hits by Lau include "The Days We Spent Together" (一起走過的日子), "If You Are My Legend" (如果你是我的傳說), "The Tide" (潮水), "Forget Love Potion" (忘情水), "True Forever" (真永遠), "Chinese people" (中國人), "Love You Forever" (愛你一萬年), "You Are My Woman" (你是我的女人), "Secret Admiration" (暗裡著迷). Besides singing in Cantonese and Mandarin, he also sang in other languages, such as English, Japanese, Malay, and Taiwanese. One example of a Hokkien song was (世界第一等).^[19]

Since the early 1990s, Lau, along with Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai have been referred by the Chinese media as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王).^[4]

Lau sang alongside Jackie Chan during a part of the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony on August 24, 2008. In addition Lau, who has been supporting the disabled athletes in Hong Kong for more than a decade, was appointed as the Goodwill ambassador for the 2008 Summer Paralympics.^[20] He led other performers in singing and performing the song "Everyone is No.1" at the Beijing National Stadium just a few hours before the 2008 Paralympics opening ceremony began to show his support for the disabled athletes.^[21] He also sang the theme song "Flying with the Dream" with Han Hong during the Paralympics opening ceremony on September 6, 2008.^[20]

Appearance in other media[link]

Lau is alleged to have been featured as a non-player character (NPC) as a random pedestrian in a sandbox-style action video game called PROTOTYPE. On 6 July, the Hong Kong local newspapers Headline Daily and Sing Tao Daily reported on Lau's cameo.^[22]

Community[link]

In 1994, Lau established the "Andy Lau Charity Foundation" which helps people in need and promotes a wide range of youth education services.^[2] In 1999, he was awarded the "Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World", being the 3rd person from Hong Kong at that time to bestow this distinguished honor.^[2] In 2008, Lau took a main role in putting together the Artistes 512 Fund Raising Campaign for donation relief toward the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.^[23] It was one of the largest and most ambitious charity event ever assembled in the territory.

Lau has been noted for his active involvement in charity works throughout his 30 years of showbiz career and was honored "Justice of Peace" by the Hong Kong SAR government in 2008.^[24] In May 2010, he received the "World Outstanding Chinese" award and an "honorary doctorate" from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.^[25]

Incidents[link]

Yang Li-juan fan case[link]

Lau experienced unexpected notoriety with his encounter with a 29 year old fan from mainland China, Yang Li-juan (楊麗娟), who had idolized the star for 13 years.^[26] After her parents sold the family house to pay for a trip to Hong Kong, Yang finally met Lau on March 26, 2007.^[27] One day later, Yang's father committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea in Hong Kong, leaving a suicide note chiding Lau for not having taken his daughter more seriously.^[27]

Awards and nominations[link]

Hong Kong Film Awards

Won[link]

• 1998 Best Film for Made in Hong Kong (Producer)
• 2000 Best Actor for Running Out of Time
• 2003 Best Original Film Song for Infernal Affairs (Singer with Tony Leung ^{[disambiguation needed ]})
• 2004 Best Actor for Running on Karma
• 2008 Best Supporting Actor for Protégé
• 2011 Best Film for Gallants (Producer)
• 2012 Best Film for A Simple Life (Producer)
• 2012 Best Actor for A Simple Life

Nominations[link]

Best Actor[link]

• 1989 Best Actor Nomination for As Tears Go By
• 1992 Best Actor Nomination for Lee Rock
• 1996 Best Actor Nomination for Full Throttle
• 2001 Best Actor Nomination for A Fighter's Blues
• 2002 Best Actor Nomination for Love on a Diet
• 2003 Best Actor Nomination for Infernal Affairs
• 2006 Best Actor Nomination for Wait 'Til You're Older
• 2008 Best Actor Nomination for The Warlords

Best Original Film Song[link]

• 1992 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Casino Raiders II (Singer)
• 1995 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Heaven and Earth ^{[disambiguation needed ]} (Singer)
• 1996 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Full Throttle (Singer/Lyricist)
• 1998 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Island of Greed (Singer)
• 1999 Best Original Film Song Nomination for The Longest Summer (Singer)
• 1999 Best Original Film Song Nomination for A True Mob Story (Singer/Lyricist)
• 2002 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Shaolin Soccer (Singer/Lyricist)
• 2006 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Wait 'Til You're Older (Singer/Lyricist)
• 2008 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Brothers (Singer with Eason Chan/Lyricist)
• 2012 Best Original Film Song Nomination for Shaolin (Singer/Lyricist)

Other Nominations[link]

• 1983 Best New Performer Nomination for Boat People
• 1999 Best Film Nomination for The Longest Summer (Producer)
• 2007 Best Asian Film Nomination for Crazy Stone (Producer)

(11 Best Actor Nominations, 11 Best Original Film Song Nominations, 4 Best Film Nominations, 1 Best Supporting Actor Nomination, 1 Best New Performer Nomination, 1 Best Asia Film Nomination)

References[link]

External links[link]

	Hong Kong portal
	Biography portal
	Film portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andy Lau

• Andy Lau's Official Website (Chinese) (English)
• Andy Lau at the Internet Movie Database
• Andy World Club
• Andy Lau interview.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2008)

Vivian Chow
Chinese name	周慧敏 (Traditional)
Chinese name	周慧敏 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Zhōu Huìmǐn (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Zau1 Wai3-man5 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Zhongshan, Guangdong
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	(1967-11-10) November 10, 1967 (age 44) Hong Kong
Occupation	Singer, actor, songwriter, Master of Ceremonies
Genre(s)	Cantopop, Mandopop
Instrument(s)	pianoforte
Label(s)	PolyGram
Years active	1989–present
Spouse(s)	Joe Nieh
Awards New Talent Singing Awards 1985 Semifinalist

Vivian Chow (Chinese: 周慧敏; traditional Chinese: 周慧敏; pinyin: Zhōu Huìmǐn) is a Hong Kong based Cantopop singer and actress. She is well known for her ladylike stage image as well as her charity works for animal rights and breast cancer awareness.

She retired from the Chinese entertainment scene in the late 1990s when Chow and her longtime partner, Joe Ngai, emigrated to Vancouver, Canada. However, she still makes frequent trips to Hong Kong to visit her family and to support animal-rights charities.

Early life[link]

Chow was born in Hong Kong and brought up by her mother. Her father died the same year she was born due to heart problems. As a child, Chow studied at St. Stephen's Church College, passing A-levels (thirteenth grade) in high school.

Career[link]

Radio years[link]

After high school, Chow entered the Fourth Annual New Talent Singing Awards in 1985 with Yoshie Kashiwabara's song Saiai (最愛). The same contest also saw the rise of William So (蘇永康) and Hacken Lee. Although Chow did not receive any prizes in the contest, this failure did not diminish her hopes of becoming a singer, instead, Chow entered the entertainment business by becoming a DJ in Radio Television Hong Kong in 1987.

As a DJ for RTHK, Chow was the main character in three of the radio dramas, they are "Love in the Summer" (夏之戀) as 'Tung Tung' "The Teenage Period" (青蔥歲月) as 'Fong Ka Yiu', and "Life in Paris" (在巴黎的日子) as 'Joyce'.

Acting[link]

In 1988, Chow made her movie debut in the smash-hit comedy "Heart to Hearts" (三人世界). She played the role of the daughter of Carol Cheng, a single mother who is quite protective of her. They then meet a man played by George Lam. For her role in the series, Chow won the 'Best New Performer' award of 1989.

Music[link]

In the same year that Chow won the 'Best New Performer' award, she also released her first album, titled by her Chinese name, 周慧敏. This album contained only 4 songs, and its main purpose was to test the response of the people of Hong Kong for the rising star. Sales did not disappoint, and Chow started to develop her own fan-base by releasing two new albums, Vivian and Qing Mi (情迷), in 1990; 5 new albums (see Discography) in 1991, and 6 new albums in 1992-1993. Chow had to take Mandarin lessons in order to perfect her pronunciation prior to the release of the Mandarin album, Liu Yan (流言). In view of her elegance the media^[who?] dubbed her "玉女掌門人", a colloquial term that can be loosely translated as the "eternal maiden queen".^{[citation needed]}

Discography[link]

• Zhou Hui Min 周慧敏 (1989)
• Vivian (1990)
• Qing Mi 情迷 (1990)
• A Long & Lasting Love (1991)
• Endless Dream (1992)
• Zhou Hui Min Zhen Qin Jing Xuan 周慧敏真情經選 (1992)
• Dong Ri Lang Man 冬日浪漫 (1992)
• Liu Yan 流言 (1992)
• Jin Zai Bu Yan Zhong 盡在不言中 (1993)
• Zui Ai 最愛 (1993)
• Xinshi Chong Chong 心事重重 (1993)
• Xin Qu + Jing Xuan 新曲+經選 (1993)
• Likai You lv De Xi Guan 離開憂鬱的習慣 (1994)
• Zhiji Zhi Bi 知己知彼對唱精選輯 (1994)
• Gan Qing De Fen Li 感情的分禮 (1994)
• Cheng Zheng 成長 (1994)
• Hongye Luo Sou De Shi Hou 紅葉落索的時候 (1994)
• Zhou Hui Min 1994 Mei De Hua Shen Concert 周慧敏'94美的化身演唱會 (1995)
• Duo Yi Dian Ai Lian 多一點愛戀 (1995)
• Chu Chu Liu Qing 處處留情 (1995)
• Qing Mi Xin Qiao 情迷心竅 (1995)
• Shi Jian 時間 (1996)
• Re Min 熱敏 (1996)
• Zhou Hui Min De Min Gan Di Dai 周慧敏的敏感地帶 (1997)
• Hui Yi Cong Jin Tian Kai Shi 回憶從今天開始 (1997)
• Wan Qian Chong Ai San Shi Shou 萬千寵愛30首 (1998)

Filmography[link]

• Heart to Hearts (三人世界) (1988)
• Path of Glory (1989)
• The Romancing Star III (精裝追女仔(三)) (1989)
• Happy Together (相見好) (1989)
• Xiao nan ren zhou xian (小男人周記/Yuppie Fantasy) (1989)
• The Unmatchable Match (風雨同路) (1990)
• Goodbye Hero (玩命雙雄) (1990)
• Heart Into Hearts (三人新世界) (1990)
• The Perfect Match (1991)
• Devil's Vindata (妖魔道) (1991)
• Fruit Bowl (Yes!一族) (1991)
• Fun and Fury (1992)
• Heart Against Hearts (三人做世界) (1992)
• Stone Man (石頭記) (1992)
• Fire On Ice (血染黎明) (1992)
• Tulips in August (八月鬱金香) (1992)
• Arrest the Restless (藍江傳之反飛組風雲) (1992)
• Girls Without Tomorrow 1992 (現代應召女郎) (1992)
• Summer Lover (夏日情人) (1992)
• Angel Hunter (女校風雲之邪教入侵) (1992)
• Rage and Passion (中神通王重陽) (1992)
• The Kung Fu Scholar (倫文敘老點柳先開) (1993)
• Tom, Dick, and Hairy (風塵三俠) (1993)
• No Regret, No Return (走上不歸路) (1993)
• Family Affairs (清官難審) (1994)
• To Love Ferrari (我愛法拉利) (1994)
• A Stage of Turbulence (刀马旦) (1995)
• Top Banana Club (金裝香蕉俱樂部) (1996)
• All About Love (得閒炒飯) (2010)

Written works[link]

• Bengal Cat- 我的貓兒子周慧豹 (2004)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Vivian Chow at the Internet Movie Database
• Vivian Chow Board http://www.vivian-chow.com/
• Vivian Chow's Place http://vivianchow.info/
• Vivian Chow Back For Love Concert 2006 http://www.fotop.net/slideshow/henryfok/VivianChow2006
• Vivian Chow's Lyrics and Video http://www.geniv.com/ako888/list.php?id=887
• HK cinemagic entry
• Vivian's music

The Honourable Henry Tang Ying-yen 唐英年 GBM, GBS, JP
4th Chief Secretary for Administration
In office 1 July 2007 – 28 September 2011
Chief Executive	Donald Tsang
Preceded by	Rafael Hui
Succeeded by	Stephen Lam
3rd Financial Secretary
In office 5 August 2003 – 30 June 2007
Tung Chee-hwa Donald Tsang	Chief Executive
Preceded by	Antony Leung
Succeeded by	John Tsang
Chief Executive of Hong Kong
In office 25 May 2005 – 24 June 2005 (acting)
Preceded by	Donald Tsang (acting)
Succeeded by	Donald Tsang
1st Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
In office 1 July 2002 – 3 August 2003
Tung Chee-hwa	Chief Executive
Succeeded by	John Tsang
Personal details
Born	(1952-09-06) 6 September 1952 (age 59) Hong Kong
Nationality	Hong Kong
Spouse(s)	Lisa Kuo[1]
Alma mater	University of Michigan (BA)

Henry Tang Ying-yen, GBM, GBS, JP (born 6 September 1952 in Hong Kong^[2]) was the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong until his resignation in September 2011. He was one of the three candidates in the Hong Kong Chief Executive election, 2012, where 1200 members of the Election Committee are eligible to vote, but lost to Leung Chun-ying.

Personal and education[link]

Tang's family operated in the textile industry and came from Wuxi, Jiangsu to Hong Kong in 1949.^[3] Henry Tang himself was born in Hong Kong in 1952.^[2] Tang holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.^[4] He is a graduate of class of 1975.^[5] He is married with four children, three daughters and a son. Tang is also widely rumoured to have an illegitimate child^[6]

Tang has extensive ties with PRC leaders. His father Tang Hsiang Chien is a former standing committee member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the advisory body to the National People's Congress.^[7]

Career[link]

Tang was named Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 1993 and won the Young Industrialist of Hong Kong award in 1989.^[4]

Between 1995 and 2001 he served as the Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries.^[4] He was also a Committee Member of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and a Steward of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.^[4] He was also the Chairman of the Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordination Board (PCICB) before joining the government.^[8]

Tang has been a member of the Executive Council since the transfer of sovereignty of HK in 1997.^[9] He served as a member of the Legislative Council for seven years from 1991 to 1998.^[9] He was a member of the Liberal Party, a pro-businessmen and pro-Beijing party, before joining the government.

Tang has also served extensively on various government boards and public bodies, including the Trade Development Council, Town Planning Board, University Grants Committee, and Council of the City University of Hong Kong.^[9]

Tang took up his commerce post in July 2002 as part of a line-up of new secretaries aimed at improving the government's transparency. He was promoted from Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology to Finance Secretary on 4 August 2003 replacing Antony Leung. Leung resigned on 16 July 2003 due to allegations of tax evasion in regards to his new car. Tang briefly served from 25 May to 21 June 2005 as acting Chief Executive after Tung Chee Hwa, the former Chief Executive who resigned citing health reasons.

On 25 May 2005, Donald Tsang, the Chief Secretary for Administration, resigned to stand in the 'by-election' for Chief Executive. Tang served as Acting Chief Executive of HKSAR soon after Tsang's resignation was announced.

On 23 June 2007, it was announced that Tang would succeed Rafael Hui as the new Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong effective 1 July 2007.^[9]

2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive election[link]

On 28 September 2011, in a widely trailed move, Tang resigned from his post, and then in late November announced his candidacy for Chief Executive.^[10] He is believed to be preferred by Beijing, and hence many financial heavyweights quickly showed their support for Tang's candidacy, including Former Monetary Authority chief Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, HSBC Asia-Pacific chief executive Peter Wong Tung-shun, and Father of Lan Kwai Fong, Allan Zeman. However in polls around the time of his announcement and for some time afterwards, his main opponent, CY Leung, was leading in public polls. In the final rounds, it is revealed that Tang came in second place, falling to Leung Chun-Ying.

Controversy[link]

Harbourfest case[link]

Tang was involved in the Harbour Fest controversy as Chairman of the Economic Relaunch Strategy Group responsible for pushing ahead with the plan to spend $100 million to revive the economy after SARS, and said that he should be held responsible. Tang had said that although Mike Rowse, a senior civil servant, had actually signed the contract, Rowse as such was not required to be held politically responsible.^[11] However, during a Working Group meeting on 31 October 2003 and during an independent inquiry in May 2004, Tang allegedly said Rowse had not acted improperly and that there had been no irregularity in the implementation of the event.^[12] Tang had also said that all parties had under-estimated the complexity of the event and may have been too ambitious in organising it in such a short timespan. He later withdrew the remark: just before a government inquiry opened on November 2004, Tang requested the ERWG minutes be deleted.^[12] Internal governmental disciplinary process fined Rowse for misconduct, but a High Court judge quashed the government ruling on 4 July 2008. Political commentator Frank Ching pointed to the huge credibility gap of the government. He noted that Tang's attempt to shift political responsibility from himself, as the minister responsible, to a senior civil servant, was a travesty of justice for Rowse, and went against the Accountability System.^[13]

2010 shoeing incident[link]

On 6 March 2010 Tang attended a Youth Summit in Chai Wan organised by the Home Affairs Bureau. A 31-year-old jobless man threw a shoe at Tang and it landed on the stage metres away from him. The man was dragged away by police. The man said he was unemployed after getting fired by a computer company, and the government policies were not helping him. He said he was not a "post-80s" teen, but supported the highspeed rail protest connecting HK to Guangdong.^[14] A protester said that the topics discussed in the summit are not those that any young person would be interested in.^[15]

2011 car crash comment and protest[link]

On 15 January 2011 Tang attended a Roundtable Institute and gave a speech that targeted the Hong Kong post-80s generation with some controversial comments.^[16][17] He said the young generations need to take responsibilities, and he cautioned them for slamming others because of opposing views. Then he stressed the need to compromise and simplify complicated issues. He further said young people should not close the door and act like emperors.^[18] That he doesn't want to see politics lead to a bloodshed, leading to a road of no return and end up like a fatal car crash.^[17]

On 21 January Leung Kwok-hung led a group of protesters to a public forum with a toy model car. He then smashed the car in front of Henry Tang to represent a fatal car crash.^[19] On 30 January 2011 eight youth groups including Hong Kong Federation of Students marched to New World Development, Li Ka Shing's Cheung Kong Holdings in Central and accused the government of colluding with businesses in maximising profits while squeezing the poor.^[20] The students criticised Tang and the government for policies that benefit the upper class only like no real estate tax duty, reduction of wine and profit tax. The students said the whole HK is at the mercy of real estate developers.^[20]

Extra-marital affairs[link]

On 4 October 2011, in the midst of rumours about his extra-marital affair with Shirley Yuen, his administrative assistant when he was finance secretary of Hong Kong, Henry Tang issued a statement, in which he admitted that he had made a mistake in his romantic life in the past and he deeply regretted it. He said that his wife had forgiven him. His wife said in the statement that there had been difficult times in their relationship and that he has faults, but that she also appreciated his strengths. She acknowledged him as her 'best partner'.^[21] National People's Congress Standing Committee member Rita Fan said on 7 October 2011 that she didn't know about Mr Tang's now widely publicised infidelity when she offered her support and she refused to rule herself out of standing in the following year's Chief Executive election, though she did not in fact stand.^[22]

In February 2012, several Chinese newspapers reported Henry Tang might have had a relationship with Esther Lam, the daughter of Heung Yee Kuk vice-chairman Daniel Lam Wai-keung. Emails supposedly exchanged by the two of them and a picture showing them shoulder against shoulder have been published. Tang denied the reports claiming "we are only casual acquaintances".^[23]

Questionable academic credentials[link]

Henry Tang is commonly believed to have attended Graduate School at Yale University and to have obtained a Master's degree in Sociology.^[24] These were credentials submitted to then HK governor David Wilson in 1991–1992. So far there is no evidence that he did obtain that degree.^[24]

Unauthorized building works[link]

Since 13 February 2012, three major Hong Kong presses were reporting the unauthorised building works of Tang's two adjoined residences at York Road, Kowloon Tong. On 16 February 2012 during the inspection by the officials of the Buildings Department, revealing over 2200-square-foot (11 m by 19 m) basement which was not documented in the approved floor plan, Tang admitted at a press conference that he was aware of the construction of an illegal basement at his family house and said that it was his wife's idea.^[25] The admission follows several denials, and has provoked widespread criticism "He has lost almost all his credibility, he lied every day," said Ma Ngok, a political sciences professor at the University of Hong Kong to AFP.^[26]

The scandal has prompted some of Tang's potential supporters of the 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive election to review their position.^[27] One former supporter said that it was 'unbearable' for Tang to throw the blame onto his wife.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Antony Leung
• Politics of Hong Kong
• Executive Council of Hong Kong

References[link]