Better Halves Special



[Ming Pao]
Entangled love stories are suited to the past and the present and TVB will begin airing its primetime show "Gam Pai Bing Yan" (Better Halves) on the same day as ATV present "Ngoi Ching Pak Pei Shu" (White Paper of Love).

"Better Halves" tells the story of three matchmakers, including the recent queen of slimming products Maggie Cheung, whose character has a story behind her that she is jilted on the day of her own wedding by her husband whom she has never met before, causing her to run away and start up her business of matching up couples under the title of "The Golden Fan". The one who left her that day was "Chuen Ka Fook" who is played by Steven Ma who also enters the trade of matchmaking. As Maggie and Steven compete in the same trade, they learn to respect each other's merits and join forces to form a matchmaking business.

Joyce Coi is the busy body match maker "Linghu Hei" who is the official matchmaker, but tricks the government by pretending to be a man and taking on the high ranking role. Linghu Hei meets with famous constable "Ko Fei" and the two become friends and have an unusual relationship. Fei doesn't know that Hei is a woman and thinks he has fallen in love with another man, leaving him confused and not knowing what to do.

http://hk.news.yahoo.com/030628/12/sms1.html



Moses Chan, Maggie Cheung, Joyce Coi, Cerina de Graca and Auguste Kwan were among those who appeared at a promotional event for "Gam Pai Bing Yan" (Better Halves) at Shatin yesterday, however the lead male Steven Ma was absent due to illness. Afterwards, Moses indicated that he is very confident in the ratings for the show because comedies are more readily accepted by the viewers and feels that the minimum will be around 30 points.

"Better Halves" is the third time that Moses and producer Mui Siu Ching have worked together on a series and the two previous occasions have produced high ratings, so it would appear that Moses is one of Siu Ching's favourite warriors. Moses says: "Not just me, Steven Ma has been in them as well." Working so well with Siu Ching, will he adopt her as his godmother? He says: "It doesn't matter whether I adopt her or not, I will always listen to what she tells me."

When Siu Ching was asked if she would adopt Moses as a godson, she says: "I only have one son, I've never thought of adopting another one." But when Moses was brought up in the conversation, Siu Ching cannot stop singing his praises, saying she not only admires him, but finds him of a very high standard, very well mannered, has great potential , very hardworking, has great artistic ethics and is very friendly to people before him and behind their backs, also to his friends. She adds: "He won't be like some people where he shows a different side to his fans and he will certainly not steal the show, even if he has rumours, he will still have a good relationship with the female artistes involved and will not have any confrontations. (Who do you mean by some people?) You should know who I am talking about." When asked if she meant Steven Ma, she denies this: "Definitely not! 100% not Steven, I am very good to Steven and one of my best loved artistes!"

Apart from this, Siu Ching's new production "Ching Chu Yu Nam" (From Blue rises Green) originally had a specially written part prepared for Moses, but because he has to film another show at the time, she can only change the script again and have another artiste take his place.

http://www.singpao.com/20030630/gossip/401077.html



Maggie Cheung was earlier photographed with her former boyfriend and businessman Tung Bo, triggering rumours that they had reunited, but Maggie has already denied this. At the promotional event for "Better Halves", Maggie explains that originally she was going on a trip with Tung Bo, some friends and their dog, but they decided to cancel it in case they were photographed. She says: "I don't mind, but because Tung is the chairman of a public company, so he needs to keep a low profile. (Will you get back together with Tung Bo?) No chance, we treasure our current relationship and I would rather he is my good friend for the rest of my life."

Are you single? She says: "Go with fate, it's not that I don't want to date, its just not right at the moment." Recently Steven Ma has asked her to take on the lead in his latest Music Video, maybe she can consier Steven? Maggie laughs: "That pig Steven, he has met with setbacks before, surely he's afraid by now? But I'd be more scared, we are good friends and there wouldn't be any chemistry, I don't want to muddle our relationship."

http://www.singpao.com/20030630/gossip/401079.html