[Ta Kung Pao 18/12/04]

Ron Ng was invited by a casualwear brand to appear at their "Celebrity Gourmet Banquet" event where he joined a group of prizewinners of the Tourism Development Board's "Best of Good Food Awards" in tucking into some of the honorary gold and gold award cuisine as well as playing games in what was a very enjoyable evening.

Ron admits that he is currently negotiating a spokesperson contract with the company and of course he hopes this will be successful. As the other spokesperson for this company is Andy Lau, then will he be in direct opposition if the deal goes through? Ron says that they have very different images as Andy is mature and stable, whereas he is younger. Although he is not yet the spokesperson, the company still let him choose some clothes from the range and he selected some items for his mother and niece, meaning this job has had benefits for his family as well.

With Christmas coming soon, Ron has prepared some presents for his relatives and as he feels this year's work has gone well, then he will be a little more generous. He also plans to reward himself and maybe buy a phone or some hi-fi equipment. As for some artistes 'borrowing luck' from the gods, Ron says he does believe in this practice, but at the moment his career is going well, so he does not need to do this for now. He does go and make offerings to the gods, but he is not superstitious, he just does it for peace of mind.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-18/UL-343322.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 18/12/04]

As the KCR's (Kowloon-Canton Railway) Safety Ambassador Nancy Sit took part in an event yesterday at Tsimshatsui East Station, handing out leaflets and souvenirs to passengers before heading to Hung Hom Station to appear in the opening of the safety campaign along with other guests such as Dayo Wong and his Happy Band, Hins Cheung, Vangie Tang and Lee Chi Yan.

Accompanied by Santa Clause and two security personnel, Nancy handed out souvenir packs to the passengers at TST East station and was welcomed by the public. She then went on to chat up one man, asking him if he was 37 because her boyfriend has been reported as being 37 years old, leaving the man rather embarrassed. Afterwards, Nancy explained that she has to open herself up now, but there are some things she is yet to think through and that is whether or not to go on holiday with her boyfriend. When asked if there is a chance of having a baby, she laughs: "No, it is just a holiday and we are both adults anyway."

It turns out that Nancy plans to go on holiday after the ending of "Virtues of Harmony" in January and coincidentally her boyfriend will be attending a meeting in Shanghai and has asked her to join him, but she is worried she will meet some familiar faces there. Although they both have nothing to hide, but misunderstandings would not be good. Just as she was undecided about this, a charity organisation in Singapore invited her to take part, so the Shanghai trip was cancelled. Nancy laughs: "I still have to gradually open my mind, so we'll see how I get on in two years time."

Also, Nancy's eldest daughter Yau San is currently studying in America's UC Davis and there was a shooting at this college earlier and Nancy was shaking so hard when she heard the news that her earring fell off. She says: "It turned out that a young person had entered the university halls to take drugs and when students reported him to the police, this man fired over ten shots at the police, but was eventually shot dead by the police. Luckily San San has moved out of the halls and she ended up comforting me." Although San San will be graduating in a year, she may be staying on to study for her masters and Nancy's son will be heading back to the states to study next year, so Nancy will be taking a short break to earn more money for her children's fees.

Dayo Wong appeared at the event with the band "Happy" he has formed with three of his friends, but one of the band members was missing yesterday. Dayo explains that as it was this friend's grandma's 98th birthday, he was allowed the day off to celebrate with her.

Many artistes do not use public transport for fear of inconvenience, but Dayo is an exception because he feels that you can see more by travelling on public transport. He says: "When I was filming in China last year, I travelled on the KCR and tried to sit in first class once, but because I did not pay extra, I was kicked out."

When Dayo was on the MTR a few days ago, he was not recognised at all during the whole journey, so he says excitedly: "I can be a ninja. (Have you never met with tiresome people?) No, even if they recognise me, they will just call out my name or recently, they say: 'Detective Mok has died!'"

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-18/UL-343326.htm
http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-18/UL-343323.htm



[Ta Kung Pao 18/12/04]

Sheren Tang has some cosmic ties with Wong Jing because she made some movies with him many years ago and now she is returning to the movie scene, she is working with him once again. As an artiste, Sheren likes making movies more than TVB series because you can improvise more in a film and be more open with your performance and the most important thing is that there is no need to go without sleep. In response to the current poor market for movies, Sheren feels that this may not be the right time to start a movie career as she did negotiate several projects earlier, but they did all fall through. Sheren also says that she met with Eric Tsang who had a meeting with Derek Yee earlier and out of curiosity, she asked then what they could do to rescue the industry, to which Derek replied to her telling her not to put her fee up, but Eric immediately added that she is priceless because if she finds a project she likes then she will do it for no fee.

In the new movie, Sheren will be playing a married couple with Anthony Wong and this is the first time they have worked together, but Anthony is full of praises for Sheren, saying that as well as having a great talent, she is not an awkward person. He says: "She is not like other female artistes who pretend to be precious when they film bathing scenes and she has a lot of experience." Sheren says that as she knows Anthony quite well, then they have some chemistry and she feels that filming this kind of movie means that you need to have confidence in your co-star.

As for reports that Anthony has been flirting with Gigi Lai backstage, he says flippantly: "That is quite funny and forced, why would I do that? When we meet, we are very happy and if this continues, then I daren't hug or touch any women in the future, just look at them and the best thing would be if there were no members of the opposite sex in the world, that would be very good!" During the interview, Anthony showed off his German Mechanical Watch to the press worth over $200,000.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-18/UL-343333.htm



[The Sun 18/12/04]

[Em's note: If you have a nervous disposition or don't want to see the seedier side of your favourite stars, then don't read the first part of this article. Hahaha!]

Leading stars from TVB series "Yummy Yummy" Raymond Lam, Kevin Cheng and Charmaine Sheh were filming a scene where they had to climb a 70 ft rock face earlier on location at Tung Lung Island. Wearing the rock climbing equipment, Raymond showed off his 'lunch box' and everyone was shocked at its size. Having previously played 'castration games' with Raymond, Kevin was asked whether he had felt the urge to attack Raymond and Kevin laughed: "We daren't play any more, in case we can't have kids in the future!" Raymond also announced a truce, saying he would not attack Kevin: "I am afraid that we will lose the function if we keep playing it and can't even go to the toilet."

When the filming started, Raymond, who suffers from vertigo was a very frightened, but still wanted to do the scene himself: "Even if I am scared, I will do it because I can't care about so much." Kevin on the other hand seemed rather relaxed: "This is easy compared to when I was filming abroad and had to dive off the top and plummet down the cliff, now that was scary!" Charmaine did not have to do any climbing like the male stars.

Having previously been rumoured with Sheren Tang and Sharon Chan, Kevin was asked if he would be buying them Christmas presents. He says: "The most important woman in my heart is my mother and even she may have to go and choose her own present. I will then pay her back for it!"

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20041218/20041217234605_0003.html



[The Sun 18/12/04]

Boyz have been busy rehearsing for the 'TVB Concert' tomorrow night when they will be performing in a 'flying' routine, but during the rehearsals, Kenny accidentally fell and hit his head. Luckily, he was not injured seriously and Steven laughed at him saying: "He is alright, but the floor has a bruise." Apart from this, Kenny will be playing the saxaphone.

When asked if their great effort for this event was in the hope of winning an award at the end of the month, they reacted with surprise, saying: "Can we do this? How can this be? This is a problem for the record company executives, we don't know anything." As for the other guest stars Twins, they will be singing "Female Aroma" with Isabella Leung and Charlene says: "Maybe I have not danced for too long, but my waist is very stiff. I am getting old now and have to eat restorative remedies because a woman's hips and pelvis are very important!"

http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20041218/20041217234801_0003.html



[Oriental Daily 18/12/04]

Since the craze driven by "War and Beauty", TVB's prime time ratings have been rather unimpressive and this is troubling the executives, especially during the TVB low period over Christmas and the Chinese New Year, where TVB can only keep the ratings as stable as possible. As a result, they will be airing Bosco Wong's "Kung Fu Master - Wong Fei Hung" and Alex Fong (Lik Sang)'s virgin performance "My Family" (aka "Treasure in the Family" and "My Sweet Grandpa") as the heartwarming new year productions.

TVB's recent grand productions such as "Split Second", "The Conqueror's Story", "The Last Breakthrough" and even "Kung Fu Soccer" has not met with the satisfaction of the viewers, especially "Split Second" that was particularly disappointing and this has led to TVB stepping carefully to avoid reaching new lows.

"My Family", (starring Chung King Fai, Hawick Lau, Sam Chan, Shirley Yeung and Belinda Hamnett) will begin airing in January after "Shades of Truth" (Water Margin Infernal Affairs) and this will be the first appearance in a series by Alex. As he has a healthy image that is well liked by the viewers, TVB will be building on this to try and rescue it's dismal ratings, but with such a heavy burden, Alex does not feel pressurised. He says: "I know the show will be aired in January and having only finished filming it in July, I never would have thought it would be aired so soon. I am not really the star of the show, King Sir (Chung King Fai) is the real star. As this is a heartwarming family series, then it is very suitable for the new year period when the family can all watch together. Even though the ratings around that time are traditionally low, I don't mind because to have a show aired is already a happy thing for me and I am not too worried about the results."

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a54cnt.html

ATV News



ATV's new situation comedy "Cross Border Daddy" will begin airing on Sunday and this show tells of the pains of being a man. A group of cast members including Gilbert Lam, Joey Meng, Ng Ting Yip, Elena Kong, Andrew Yuen and Eva Shu took part in a promotion on a tram yesterday, riding from Sai Wan all the way to Causeway Bay, being cheered along by the public on the streets. Later the stars handed out souvenir notebooks to the people on the streets causing quite a commotion.

"Cross Border Daddy" is a satirical reflection on society and the class of the cast is quite high in this groundbreaking trial. The story tells of the difference in marital values between people in Hong Kong and the mainland and the changes in lifestyle since the return of Hong Kong to China. The story will be in the format of a sitcom that will have joy and laughter as well as anger and frustration so that every viewer will chuckle to themselves as they watch it.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-12-18/UL-343324.htm