[Sing Pao, Ta Kung Pao, Oriental Daily & The Sun]

The PCCW sponsored special event "Community Chest Charity Walking Relay" took place in Kwun Tong yesterday and the stars taking part included Leon Lai, Eric Tsang, Andy Hui, Mandy Cho, Myolie Wu, Nnadia Chan, Yu Kam Kei and Chan Cho Chak among many others who all gathered at the sports ground at 6 o'clock in the morning. The race was won by Bosco Wong and his team that also included Myolie. He beat Juno Mak by a nose at the finish line, but Juno was later disqualified after the judges checked the tapes and found that he was running. Juno said of losing to Bosco: "I was winning at first, but when I saw how hard Bosco was working, I decided to let him win." When asked if he was unhappy at the judgement, Juno says: "It's all for charity, so no matter if I win or lose or am disqualified, it is no big deal. (Were you too desperate?) My team-mates were slow so I had to make up the time." Winnie Yeung was part of Juno's team, but she did not mind being being disqualified or being called slow as she admits that she was not as fast as she would like to have been, probably because she did not warm up properly.

Ron Ng and Patricia Liu's team came last and Patricia explained that due to an earlier confusion, she thought it was just a walk so she wore her leather shoes. To this and coming last, Ron laughs: "Now, that isn't very professional. I am one of the Olympic stars, so I would rather come last than break the rules!"

The top four teams will be taking part in the final at TVB City on 23rd May.



Edmond Leung became the focus of yesterday's event as he arrived with his assistant complaining of stomach pains. When he was quizzed about his condition by the press, he appeared rather agitated and kept hiding beside his assistant. Seeing him constantly drinking water and with an odour of alcohol, the press asked whether he had been drinking and he replied: "Of course I have been drinking, my stomach really hurts." Edmond then went on to talk to the press, but with not much of what he said making any sense and calling out to the reporters not to photograph him. Afterwards, Edmond was dragged into the toilets by his assistant and when the time came to set off, he was still nowhere to be seen and his colleagues were made to wait. Finally he pulled out of the event on the basis of his stomach pains.

The show's producer Ho Siu Wai indicated that she had received notification of Edmond's illness from his assistant and he was resting in his car. She indicated that they did not want to risk him entering the race in his condition in case he got any worse. When it was suggested that Edmond was drunk, Ms Ho said: "I don't know, but I will investigate and request for a doctor's note from him." Later, the variety show and sports department manager Wong Ka Leung responded that they had not asked Edmond for a doctor's note and had arranged for a substitute to take Edmond's place.

In the evening, whilst filming for "Jade Solid Gold", Edmond seemed to be feeling a lot better and he admitted that it was his girlfriend Karen's birthday the night before, so after recording until two or three in the morning, they had been for some drinks and when he arrived at the venue in the morning, his stomach was feeling very bad and afterwards, he had to go and see a doctor and rest. He says: "If I hadn't agreed to do it, then I would not have appeared if I was ill. I feel really bad for causing this trouble and I hope that everyone can forgive me."

As this event was the first of TVB's build up events for the Olympic games, it was a high profile event and Edmond's antics have caused the displeasure of TVB's executives who are considering taking disciplinary action against Edmond. With his past record of swearing on a previous charity show in 1995 leading to his work being suspended, TVB will surely bear this in mind when they consider whether or not he deserved to be punished again for not respecting his position.



At yesterday's event, Rain Li met up with her two former rumoured boyfriends Raymond Lam and Alex Fong (Lik San) but her attitudes to them both were very different. To Alex, she was friendly and amicable, chatting happily to him, but towards Raymond she seemed rather hostile as she joked that he was breaking into a sweat being next to her. When the time came for the blessing ceremony, Raymond made his excuses and walked away awkwardly.

When he was asked as to why he was evading Rain, Raymond denied this, saying: "Why would I evade her? We are both very open about things." When he was asked to have a photo taken with her he responded: "What? Again? Let me wipe my sweat away first." After taking the photograph very awkwardly, he was asked why he felt so uncomfortable and replied: "There was no awkwardness, you all made me feel uncomfortable. (But Rain seemed a lot more relaxed?) Just because I was wiping sweat it does not mean I am not being open, I am quite a sweaty person, so I am not suited to making ancient dramas. (How do you feel when you see 'little sister' Rain?) No feelings, we would say hello to each other when we met in the company." Raymond appeared to be sporting some scratches on his neck and he explained that he was suffering from allergies.

As for Rain, when she saw him with so much sweat, she joked: "It is very hot, wipe your sweat first!" When asked how she felt about her 'big brother' Raymond, she says: "We're friends, but we haven't been in touch for a long time. It's quite spooky, I only said a little earlier that we lack the destiny to meet and then the heavens immediately arrange for us to bump into each other. Next time I wont talk about destiny, I'll talk about the lottery in the hope I will win! (Will you work with Raymond again?) It's just work and even if we are in the same series, we may not be in the same storyline anyway."



Ever loving his sleep, but loving charity even more, Eric Tsang was up bright and early in the morning to join in with the event for TVB and his friends had helped him out the night before, staying up with him to watch football into the early hours so that he did not oversleep, but he did manage a twenty minute nap.

Talking of TVB's recent policy changes, Eric says that they have not affected him because he has very few shows anyway. As in the past, he will still be hosting TVB's "Miss Hong Kong Pageant", anniversary show and the Tung Wah charity event. He says: "I hope to take part in the Tung Wah show every year as this was one of my ambitions entering the industry." He also reveals that he will be returning in September to do another series of the "Super Trio Show" and when it was mentioned that one of the show's 'elders' Jerry Lam was currently being frozen, Eric says: "It's nothing, that's why I am eager to do the show again to bring Jerry back out." He adds that Jerry is like a naive child and when he met him earlier, he had said to him: "Jeung Mun Yan [Eric's title in the show], I am dead!" Eric had told him to think clearly about the situation. When asked whether he would put in a good word for Jerry with TVB, Eric says: "TVB is a company with clear regulations and they will freeze him for a while, but the weather is warm now, so if they don't put him in the freezer, he will start to go off!"

Also, Johnny Tang's estranged mother 'Cheung So' appeared at an earlier event announcing that she has suffered from an emotional disorder and Johnny was asked whether he knew about this yesterday. He says that there are many different types of mental disorder and he has many symptoms himself. He was then asked whether he had noticed anything when he was living with her and he says: "I have forgotten now, but these things can be made out to be as bad as you want. I have asked the doctor and he says that these conditions should not be treated with drugs as this can make the symptoms such as insomnia worse. (Have you had stress-related illnesses?) I will not let myself have these illnesses but I would like to have acute demensia so that I can forget the things I am asked by the press." He says that many people will lie blatantly to the press.

http://www.singpao.com/20040517/gossip/552377.html
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a01cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040517/20040517004036_0003.html
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-5-17/UL-261341.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a11cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040517/20040517003434_0003.html
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-5-17/UL-261335.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a12cnt.html



[Ta Kung Pao & Oriental Daily]

Bowie Lam and Charmaine Sheh were guests at the opening of a sofa store yesterday and as well as receiving a fee, they also received vouchers to use at the store. Charmaine says she is very fanciful about sofas and she likes to change hers very often. She will buy a warm coloured scheme for the winter so that her friends can come and visit or eat steamboat. Charmaine says that once, her friend accidentally broke her fake antique lamp at her home and this made her very upset, but she had also broke another friend's crystal and was made to pay for a very expensive meal in return. Charmaine says a lot of the furnishings in her home are sponsored and she is just lacking sponsors for electrical goods. She says that if all the items in her home could be sponsored then that would be the best. When asked whether she wants her apartment itself to be sponsored as well, she laughs: "I shouldn't be so greedy and I have bought my own place in North Point last year anyway."

Later, Charmaine will be heading to the mainland to film for forty episode ancient martial arts drama "Tossing Rain Turning Cloud" and will be working with Sonija Kwok, Sharon Chan and Raymodn Lam. Having had a record of much gossip, Charmaine is pleased with this arrangement because there will definitely be no rumours. As she will be stayin in the mainland for four to five months, she is currrently worrying about who will look after her home. When the reporters suggested she should ask 'Mr Chan' to help her out, she laughs playfully: "Which Mr Chan? (Benny Chan) There are a lot of Mr Chans and I think he will not be in Hong Kong then. Maybe I will employ a maid to look after the house for me."

Also, Bowie Lam has recently spent over $6million on a property and he indicates that he had wanted to buy a place last year, but the SARS epidemic broke out and now the prices have gone back up. Originally he had planned the new home as a surprise for his parents, but the reports spoiled his surprise. As well as buying an apartment, Bowie reveals that he has also bought a new car because he has just renewed his contract in March with TVB for three years, so he can allow himself to be a little extravagant. When asked if he has received a pay rise with his new contract, he says hesitantly: "It's not that good to talk about payrises just now, but I did get one and it is okay."

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-5-17/UL-261332.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a19cnt.html


L-R: Contestant with English name "Devily"; Esther Kwan lookalike and reported rich girl, Jaymee; 24-year old Tsang Ka Yee who took a bit of a fall

[The Sun & Oriental Daily]

The "2004 Miss Hong Kong Pageant" is well and truly underway and the first meeting of the eighteen finalists, including five overseas contestants, took place at TKO TVB City yesterday, where they underwent number allocation, official measurements, shoe fittings and costume fittings.

The standards of this years contestants are very ordinary and there are few with 'outstanding' figures. Even those who appeared in sexy outfits for the second interviews appeared in very reserved clothing and looked in need of repackaging by TVB. The contestants will be meeting with hair stylists today to design their new looks and then they will be meeting officially with the press and the public tomorrow.

When asked whether the girls needed 'major renovation', the event production manager Rosa Chan says that the quality of the contestants is already quite high, so she believes that after some packaging, then their best points will be emphasised. Although their looks are in need of some 'improvement'. their educational standards are in line with Miss Hong Kong traditions and most of them are of university standard or above.

Also, during the procedures, there was a little commotion when 24-year old Tsang Ka Yee who was the first to step out of the car slipped and fell to the floor. Maybe it was her heels or maybe she was too nervous, but her little accident did not cause her to forget the teachings of Miss Hong Kong as she stood up keeping her poise, composure and smile and continued to pose for the press.

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a03cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040517/20040517015201_0003.html