[Sing Pao & Ta Kung Pao]

To celebrate the airing of the 300th episode of "Virtues of Harmony II" yesterday, a special party was held in the studios as a group of cast members cut a cake and had a toast to the show in a happy atmosphere. At the event, Nancy Sit seemed rather pale and it turns out that she had suffered mild sunstroke earlier on whilst filming for a basketball scene with Albert Lo. However, Nancy managed to hold out until the end of the party before going to see the doctor, showing her professionalism right through to the end.

By the end of the celebration, Nancy was looking extremely unwell and she sat to one side not taking any interviews, just drinking water and constantly wiping the sweat from her brow as her maid helped to put a jacket over her and many of her colleagues came to check she was okay. After resting for around half an hour, Nancy was taken by her driver to the doctors. Afterwards, Nancy said on the phone that the doctor had confirmed she was suffering from sunstroke and she had very bad sinuses earlier and a headache. The doctor told her she should have gone and sat in the shade and not stayed out in the sun, but she felt that she did not want to delay the filming for the other cast members, especially as they were holding this party.

When the reporters praised her professional attitude for holding out until the end of the party, Nancy said: "I had no choice but to keep going, but as soon as I left the studio, I was sick. I am fine now, just a little dizzy. Thank you for your concern. (Will you be cutting down on your outside location shoots?) I can't, this series is very rushed."

Afterwards, the show's producer Tsui Yu On indicated that originally more filming for Nancy yesterday, but as she has to rest after her sunstroke, these have been moved. He also says that he has tried to cut down outside shoots wherever he can now, especially as the rainy season will affect the progress of this. With Nancy playing basketball in her scene with Albert who had earlier suffered from a heart condition, did he cope alright? He says there was no problem because has has been keeping with his exercise regime and his health has been fine all along.

When Michael Tse was checking on Nancy, he let slip the words: "Surely it didn't do what I said it would! (Why do you say that?) I am talking about myself, I played a game with the sun today and it won." Bondy Chiu was also at the location shoot, but she was just cheering from the sidelines and did not have to play basketball, but she says that even that was hard work.

During the party, Michael and Bondy locked arms in a drink before pretending to have a passionate kiss, seeming just like a real married couple. Bondy laughed later: "We are always like this, Nancy says that we will get married after filming this. There is no chance though, he is not my cup of tea and my own (boyfriend) is great! Michael and I have worked together for three years now and we get on really well, and because we know each other, our act seems very close. However, sometimes we take it too far and it gets cut!" Are you worried that your boyfriend will be jealous? Bondy says that her boyfriend knows Michael and they often go out for meals together. She also knows Michael's other half and her boyfriend trusts her a lot, because she does not like Michael's type.

http://www.singpao.com/20040703/gossip/573040.html
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-7-3/UL-278495.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-7-3/UL-278487.htm



[Sing Pao]

Despite the days when Edward Mok Ka Yiu acted as guarantor for his then girlfriend Amy Chung Wai Yee before she fled to America leaving him having to work himself to the bone to pay off the mounting debt, he has still been willing to lend money to his friends. He says this is not because he is rich, but because he gives in too easily to his friends. As for Kenix Kwok, before she entered the industry, she also lent money to her friend for an emergency, but it was never returned and she even lost her friend, so after entering showbiz, she never lends money to anyone.

Edward, Kenix and Chiu Ching Yee were filming for "Blossoming Hearts" earlier in a scene where Edward swindles money from both the women, but they see him getting his just desserts as his own money is taken from him by Lam Suk Man and decide to seek their own revenge by beating him up and making him run. In reality, it was Edward who was sold out by Amy Chung, but yet he still stands boldly to help his friends as his current loans to friends amass a five figure sum.

Edward laughs: "Maybe the script is following my story, but I have forgotten about the incident now anyway. When you lend money out, then you are resigned to never seeing it again, but I am too soft and end up giving in. From today onwards I will not lend anyone any money!" He also gives advice to newcomers that they should save money when they have it and rather eat it than lend it to friends, because the most likely cause of friends to fall out is over money.

Kenix also has an experience where she lent a friend a six figure sum before she entered showbiz. She says: "I am a person who will help when I can and I used to sell insurance so I made some money. A friend needed an operation, so I lent them the money I had worked so hard to save, but not only did they not give it back, they even decided not to be my friend any more. Dodo (Cheng) is right, chasing a debt is harder than asking for a loan, so after entering the industry, I have never lent anyone any money because no-one will believe that artistes can be poor. Although people have asked, I have said no because this is my principle."

http://www.singpao.com/20040703/gossip/573057.html



[Ta Kung Pao & Oriental Daily]

Model Sofie Rahman (Lee Ka Wai) and Joe Ma took part in a promotional event yesterday and revealed their rather racy advertisement with Sofie dressed in a very sexy outfit and a topless Joe placing his head on her chest.

Already having a remarkable figure, Sofie has signed as a spokesperson for a breast enhancement product and she says she has always been envious of the foreign models and their larger breasts. When asked whether as a model, it is better to have a flatter chest, Sofie says that this is not the case because a more balanced body looks better. She also says that she dare not wear low cut tops before but she will even wear them on the catwalk now because she has increased her confidence. She is happy to have gone from a 31A to a 33B.

Joe Ma has reduced his waist from 38 inches to 33 inches and he hopes to be able to lose another seven to eight pounds. When asked if he was embarrassed about his ads with Sofie, he says that he was not really leaning on her, so he was not embarrassed, but he was more scared about her revealing herself. When asked if he had to run this by with his wife before making such a daring ad, he says that he does not need to as she used to be a model too and understands the nature of the work.

There were reports yesterday that after Lawrence Ng, Joe Ma is the most likely male TVB artiste to attract rumours, but Joe points out that he has not had many rumours and is not afraid that this will affect his image. When asked if he will be keeping his distance from female artistes in the future, he says he will not because the magazines write these things all the time and if they are not spreading romantic rumours, they will say that I have fallen out with my co-stars.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-7-3/UL-278492.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a66cnt.html



[The Sun & Ta Kung Pao]

Mggie Cheung was a guest model for a designer watch label yesterday and as well as her fee, she was also given a watch worth $32,000. However, the watch that she was modelling was worth a staggering $290,000 and she says that she was overwhelmed as soon as she put it on and she hopes that she can convince the PR to give her the watch as a gift!

The watch that Maggie was given was flown in especially from Switzerland and has her name engraved on the back. She says that this style of watch suits her age and she is very fond of very unisex watch designs. She has over ten at home and when she has money, she will buy watches to collect. However, as her wrist is quite small, she will never share watches with her boyfriend.

Maggie has just returned from Wuxi, where she has been filming and she will shortly be heading out to Shanghai to film for mainland production "Chang Hen Ge" (Song of Everlasting Hatred). As this is a modern series, it will not be as hard work as an ancient costume drama, even in the hot weather. She says that she will be away for six months on this trip and she has been looking for a place in the Shanghai area where she can stay in comfort. As her good friend Elaine Ng lives in the suburbs, she will not be staying with her as most of Maggie's filming will be in the centre of the city.

The series will begin filming in August, but she will be setting out soon to prepare for filming. She will be learning to speak Mandarin with a Shanghainese accent and also some gestures of a 1930's lady. She has sixteen episodes worth of scenes that will take six months to film. When asked if she is giving up a lot for this show, she says that there are many offers of work in the Mainland for her, but she is very choosy about what she accepts and so this is the first Mainland series for her. This series will also be entered for a film festival so she feels it will be worth it. Asked if she thinks she will win at the Golden Rooster awards with this show, she says she has not thought about it as she just hopes for a good start and entry into the mainland market.

The thing that Maggie will miss the most with her departure from Hong Kong will be her dog. She says: "This dog has been with me since it was born and it has been fifteen years, I am most afraid that it will suddenly die. He is like my son because I don't have a boyfriend or a friend that I have shared fifteen years with. For him to live so long is down to the care I usually give him, feeding him chicken and lingzhi."

Also, Maggie was not named by the HK International Filmart as one of the top ten overseas export television artistes despite coming top of the most popular artistes polls earlier. She is not disappointed about this because the different organisations have different criteria for their polls.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-7-3/UL-278486.htm
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040703/20040703005852_0003.html