Holy & Dangerous

Image courtesy of yule.sohu.com

Let me repeat: Leanne Li attended Ada Choi’s wedding. Ten years from now this could be a momentous occasion because it could mark the passing of the banner of Hong Kong’s Most Popular and Holy Celebrity from the present titleholder Ada Choi to up-and-comer Leanne Li.

Maybe.

Or it could just mean that Leanne Li attended Ada Choi’s wedding…and that’s it. We shall see…

[Stay tuned as I will soon post pictures from the wedding, and my own commentary.]

Congratulations to Ada Choi, who in December 2007 announced her engagement and imminent marriage to longtime underground boyfriend Zhang Jin. Zhang is a Mainland television actor and martial artist whom Choi has been dating for approximately 4.5 years. According to reports, he is a Christian like Ada.

There had been various tabloid rumors over the years that Choi and Zhang were dating, but such gossip had died down recently. In fact, at the time that Choi announced her engagement and marriage plans, the Hong Kong tabloids were circulating reports that she was involved in a lesbian relationship with good friend and fellow Hong Kong Christian actress Monica Chan!

Whoops! Guess not… Good work, Hong Kong Tabloids! Caught in another lie, you scumbags!

[Sort of. News reports indicate that Zhang Jin doubled for Zhang Ziyi (no relation) and Michelle Yeoh in some of the martial arts sequences in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (1999). So I guess that means he…looks like a woman? Of course, just because Choi is marrying someone who looks like a woman doesn’t mean she’s a lesbian, right? Right?]

Interestingly, this wasn’t the first time that Choi was rumored to be a lesbian. The tabloids have raised the possibility at least twice: once when Choi played Billie, a lesbian bar owner, in Love & Sex Among The Ruins (1996), and again when she complimented a female Cantonese opera singer known for her cross-gender roles.

It was also interesting how Choi kept the relationship secret for all these years and then suddenly announced that she would be marrying Zhang. This is interesting because for years that’s exactly what she told the tabloids she would do: deny and lie to them about if (and who) she was dating, but then promising to announce when she would be getting married when the time was right. As it turns out, Choi is a woman of her word. [If you tell someone you’re going to lie to them, does that still make it lying?]

I look forward to seeing who her bridesmaids will be and who attends her wedding because she’s pretty much the Kevin Bacon of Hong Kong Entertainment Christendom - she’s somehow befriended or connected to virtually every Hong Kong Christian entertainer there is. Her wedding could be the biggest event in Hong Kong Entertainment Christendom this decade. In fact, it could be bigger than that since she’s well respected in the wider HK entertainment industry and has good relations with all her colleagues, Christian or not.

No doubt she will use her wedding as an opportunity to convert them. I predict that there’s going to be at least one altar call, maybe two…and that’s just during the ceremony, itself. Who knows what’s going to happen at the wedding banquet? The over-under on the number of people who will be converted is currently four…at least according to Hong Kong bookies. [Hongkies will bet on anything…]

Anyway, congratulations to Ada Choi, perhaps the paragon of what an HK Christian entertainer should be: a person who loves her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, above all else, and a person who also loves her guns. [Amen.]

Ada Choi: Everything This Website Aspires to Be - Holy, Dangerous & Not A Lesbian.

Congratulations!!

In late May, Dr. Stephen Lai, a Hong Kong dermatologist and the younger brother of actress Gigi Lai, was in a serious car accident in which he suffered major injuries. Even now, two months later, he’s still hospitalized, has undergone brain surgery, and is in a minimally conscious state. Since her brother’s accident, Gigi has taken a leave of absence from filming the TVB drama series Jewel’s Splendor (aka The Gem of Life) to care for him.

The tabloid press made a big deal of this because Gigi was the ostensible star of the series and her absence would cause numerous production complications, including re-arranged filming schedules for the cast and crew. This delay generated some debate on the internet as well, with one side praising Gigi for her devotion to her brother, and another side criticizing her for holding up production, jacking up costs, and inconveniencing the general viewing public. They also criticized TVB for their failure to boot her off the show and re-cast her role.

As you can tell, netizens can be a fairly hard-bitten lot.

TVB was probably in a Catch-22 situation because Gigi had filmed enough scenes that re-casting and re-shooting would be just as costly as delaying production and re-scheduling the filming of Gigi’s scenes. Plus, over the years, TVB has promoted her to such a degree that she’s now one of TVB’s most popular actresses, and they would boot her from the series at their peril. As powerful and monopolistic as TVB is, it’s still a good idea to maintain good relations with powerful/popular actors and actresses.

TVB executive Virginia Lok has kept close tabs on the situation and has been saying all the rights things, trying to downplay the cost of delays, asserting the concern of the entire cast and crew for Gigi’s situation, and stating that the most important thing is the recovery of Gigi’s brother. Over the past few months, this has been how TVB was spinning the circumstances to its advantage. Interestingly, amidst all this damage control, the name of one of Gigi’s co-stars kept popping up in the press coverage of the situation…

1. TVB Executive Virginia Lok: “Without everyone’s support and SMS text messages, [Gigi] would not have been able to hang in there. Co-star, Ada Choi Siu Fun will also be praying for Gigi’s brother.” 6/15/07 Oriental Daily (Translation by Jaynestars)

2. Lok again: “Due to Gigi’s family situation, it was necessary to readjust her onscreen time. Ada Choi Siu Fun met with Gigi to give her support through this difficult situation.” 7/21/07 Ming Pao (Translation by Jaynestars)

3. [Lok] expressed that Gigi has lost quite a bit of weight recently, but emotions wise she is slowly returning to normal, and had met up with Ada Choi. 7/27/07 The Sun (Translation by blotty)

4. Gigi, herself: I received numerous SMS and calls, especially [from] Ada Choi. She called me as soon as she found out, and then onwards, on every other day she would call me. She is one of my little angels. 7/27/07 Apple Daily (Translation by Paige)

This would not be the first time Ada Choi has proactively reached out to friends/colleagues in the industry to offer them care and comfort in their times of need. When Stephen Ma’s mother was suffering from cancer during the filming of Healing Hands, co-star Ada Choi was there to help him bear his sorrows. When Catherine Hung was struggling over her decision to keep her baby and raise him as a single parent, Ada Choi was there to offer support and guidance, subsequently becoming the child’s godmother. And now, when Gigi Lai’s brother, a rising young doctor whom Lai put through medical school, was seriously injured in a car accident, who do you think was there, reaching out with concern and kindness? That’s right: Ada Choi.

Now I’m pretty sure there were other family members, friends, and colleagues that reached out to Gigi and her brother in this time of need, but for some reason, the name that was most often highlighted in news reports was Ada Choi’s. Why, I have no idea. All I know is that Ada Choi simply has an enormous capacity for compassion, which was deepened through her own personal sufferings. These difficulties were so great at one point that she contemplated suicide before timely divine intervention pulled her back from the brink (at that very moment, no less), revolutionized her existence, and unleashed a wellspring of practical kindness that has flowed to those in need ever since.

It’s now flowing to Gigi Lai, which is somewhat ironic since the HK tabloids had tried to imply that Ada harbored some animosity towards Gigi. I think this rumor was fueled by a number of things: (1) Gigi’s rise to popularity at TVB; (2) Ada’s lowered profile/prominence in Hong Kong due to increased filming in the Mainland; and, perhaps relatedly, (3) Moiselle’s decision to “dump” Ada, who had served as the HK fashion label’s main spokesmodel since the late 1990s. Instead, Moiselle retained Gigi, who had only been with them for the last three years, as their sole HK spokesmodel.

But whatever animosity or jealousy Ada Choi may have felt towards Gig Lai (if any), it apparently dissipated after the tragedy that befell Gigi’s brother. All that was left was a colleague - a human being - in need, and Ada Choi, exemplifying the best qualities of a true Christian, responded accordingly.

God bless her for that.

(Thoughts and prayers to the Lais, too.)

Inspired by the subject of her pastor’s sermon this past Sunday, Ada Choi writes about the Holy Spirit in the April 17th, 2007 entry on her blog. She talks about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, mentions her weaknesses as a Christian contrary to public perception, quotes some Scripture, and then describes the joy she experiences when attending church. She ends the entry with a triple-exclamation-point statement: “Thanks, Holy Ghost!!!”

That’s pretty much the first time I’ve ever seen a celebrity thank the Holy Spirit publicly for, well, anything. And to think it was some random TV actress from Hong Kong doing the thanking. Love that.

Meanwhile, fellow Christian TVB actress Maggie Cheung - on hiatus fighting disease - blogs about Proverbs on her own web page.

TVBspace reports that the ratings for the four episodes of “On the Road” (aka “Going to the World”) that featured Ada Choi’s visit to Israel dipped slightly below the average for the travel documentary series.

Sad.

The immediately preceding episodes featured Eric Tsang visiting Brunei, a country which is known for its oil wealth, in order to attend the birthday gala of its Sultan, one of the richest men in the world.

Hmm, Hong Kongers more interested in riches than in holiness? Stunning.

Or maybe Hong Kongers are just burned out on Ada Choi and her incessant chatter about her Christian faith and testimony, which were interwoven into the Holy Land episodes.

Well, maybe in Hong Kong…but not here, baby!

In fact, since I’ve managed to watch the relevant episodes, I’m seriously considering generating an episode-by-episode recap, including in-depth analysis of every single moment that Choi broke out into tears. Maybe it will happen, but probably not.

Until then, one observation: in packing for this trip, Ada Choi made some seriously bold fashion choices. Especially for the Holy Land, a region of the world where a significant portion of the population dresses so conservatively that they make the Amish look trendy. Since it was winter in Israel, Choi packed a lot of scarves and neckware, as well as a huge hairy turtleneck that must have been jacked up on steroids. The material that went into the neck alone must have denuded an entire flock of sheep. Also, it’s kind of incongruous to see a tall Chinese woman click-clacking around the cobblestone streets of Jerusalem’s Old City in stiletto boots. If I ever get around to a recap, it should be interesting. Stay tuned.

(BTW, remind me to write about Leanne Li’s performance at the evangelistic Yeah Show 2007, and to compare/contrast her with Fala Chen, who was the runner-up to Li at the 2005 Miss Chinese International Pageant. Remind me also to write something about Marsha Yuan and Men Suddenly in Black 2, a movie whose casting director appears to have simply run down the Home of Artiste’s roster when filling cameo roles. Ugh, too much to do…)

Shalom!

In December, Ada Choi and a TVB camera crew went off to Israel for ten days of filming for On The Road, TVB’s celebrity travel program. Previous installments have featured notables such as Karena “The Canadian” Lam visiting a children’s acrobatics academy in Mainland China and Helena “The Catholic” Law visiting Vatican City.

Ada Choi’s Israel installment had long been planned, but often delayed for a variety of reasons, including the outbreak of a mini-war between Israel and Hezbollah during summer 2006. However, in December 2006, Choi’s dream of visiting the Holy Land was finally fulfilled. It can’t be overstated that going to Israel was a raging passion of Choi’s. In a newspaper interview given just prior to her departure, she said something to the effect of, As long as I make it to Israel, you can kill me before I even get off the plane!

Whoa, eeeeeeasy, Ada. Let’s not go crazy now.

For whatever reason, I, myself, have never had the burning desire to go to Israel for a visit. I don’t think it has anything to do with being incinerated by a suicide bomber with visions of 70 virgins dancing in his head or the threatened outbreak of another mini-war or whatever. There are just other places that are a higher priority for me. Like Hong Kong…Australia…Edmonton…the Greek Isles.

During Christmastime, I purchased a bundle of Rick Steves’ PBS travel shows on DVD, and was much more intrigued by his show on the Greek Isles than on Israel. In fact, I was mesmerized by Greece. White stucco villages nestled into cliffs that overlook the azure Mediterranean! Absolutely lovely.

Anyway, speaking of Chinese people going to Jerusalem, apparently there’s a movement underway by Christian elements in China called “Back to Jerusalem.” If I’m not mistaken, the movement is not specifically targeting Jerusalem for evangelism, but more broadly focusing on sending Chinese missionaries to various countries and nations along the Silk Road, from China to the Mediterranean Sea, within the 10/40 window. Which is cool. Chinese Christians are evangelizing countries along the Silk Road. Americans are evangelizing China. And the Koreans are sending missionaries to America. (Does anyone want to evangelize their homeland?) As for Europe, Australia, Siberia, and every place outside the 10/40 window, they can just burn. Burn, baby, burn!

(A joke!)

Uh, let’s move on to some of Ms. Choi’s travel pictures…

Courtesy of Ada Choi / ACFC

“Can I offer you a pita?” Yes, nothing says “kosher” like the pork-loving Chinese. After I saw this picture, I immediately ordered take-out Israeli food from one of my favorite local restaurants. Mmmm, turkey shawarma… And pork…

Courtesy of Ada Choi / ACFC

Here, you have Ms. Choi holding a frightened Israeli child, who’s dressed up like a Swiss Guardsman. (The Pope! Who’s protecting The Pope!?!)

“Hi, I’m Christian Hong Kong television actress Ada Choi, and this is one of my souvenirs from my recent trip to Israel…an Israeli child! Duty free! Haha! He (she?) may not look very happy, but trust me, this is his ‘ecstatic face.’ You’d lose the ability to appear genuinely joyful, too, if you had to face the daily threat of violence and suicide bombings…or imminent adoption by Angelina Jolie.”

Courtesy of Ada Choi / ACFC

I’m guessing that this is on the way to the Dead Sea.

Courtesy of Ada Choi / ACFC

Here’s Ms. Choi with the Temple Mount and Jerusalem’s Old City in the background. The gold thing is the Dome of the Rock, a.k.a. Mohammed’s Launch Pad, the third holiest site in Islam. Beyond that is the Western Wall, a.k.a. The Wailing Wall, the holiest site in Judaism.

Recently, I read a New York Times article about Americans and foreigners buying vacation homes in Israel, a recent trend that has fueled the high-end real estate market there. One of the major amenities that ratchets up the price of any house/condo/apartment in Jerusalem is a view like the one above of the Old City and the Dome of the Rock (minus the Hong Kong actress). Other pluses include designer reinforced-concrete bomb bunkers and machine gun-wielding security guards with shadowy special forces backgrounds.

Anyway, the Israel footage TVB shot in December has now been edited down into four episodes of On the Road and Ms. Choi has recorded the voice-over narration. The episodes are scheduled to be broadcast in Hong Kong in late March, most likely to coincide with Easter.

Okay, that’s all for now. Until next time (if there is a next time), be well!

So it’s been over six months since I posted anything on this site and nobody noticed. Sad.

In any case, we’re back for the moment, so let’s get caught up on those missing six months with a cursory look at some of the more notable events that took place in Hong Kong Entertainment Christendom since my last post.

First, in September 2006, Ada Choi & Company came to evangelize North America…and I was there! I went to see their show in Pasadena and even dragged my parents along. Ada Choi talked about her gambling-addicted mother. TVB actress Esther Wen talked about beating cancer. Singer Angela Pang talked about getting knocked on the head, losing consciousness, and then ending up in the hospital for six months. TVB character actor Wong Cho-Lam talked about being a short, unattractive teenager who couldn’t get chicks (until he started doing impressions…and found Jesus…and started doing impressions of Jesus). And veteran actress Tomi Wong pretended to be even older than she already is by performing as a geriatric grandmother in some skit with Wong. Interestingly, one or more members of my immediate family could directly relate to the experiences of four out of the five entertainers who spoke. Afterwards, we went to Monterey Park and ate dinner at a Chiu Chou restaurant.

In October, news emerged that TVB actress Maggie Cheung Ho-Yee had converted to Christianity while taking an extended break from acting to recuperate from Graves disease. If you can read Chinese or are adept at snatching coherency from the snapping jaws of obtuse translation software, then check out her blog here.

As most observers of Hong Kong pop culture know, this is the “other” Maggie Cheung, not the more internationally renowned film actress who was severely miscast as a recovering wannabe punk singer/addict opposite a raggedy-looking Nick Nolte in Oliver Assayas’s Clean. Perhaps Nolte and Cheung should have switched roles. Ironically, both Maggies spent their formative years in England, both participated in the Miss Hong Kong Pageant, and both were/are actresses for TVB.

December was a huge month for news and happenings. First, after numerous rumors and tabloid allegations, Sammul Chan pulled a Mike Piazza and announced that he is NOT gay. Well, then.

Second, former TVB actress Fiona Leung was injured in a car accident while in Australia to film a program for The Media Evangelism, Ltd. Reports indicated that Ms. Leung suffered broken ribs, as well as a broken face. Thankfully, the most recent reports indicate that she is more or less on the road to recovery.

Third, a December news article revealed that former TVB actor Kong Wah and his wife had become Christians within the last year…although their kids did not, which is interesting.

Fourth, actress May Kwong got married. Christian artistes in attendance included Angela Pang (she of the bopped head and six-month hospital stint), Gary Chan, Noel Leung, and Leanne Li.

Finally, after several aborted attempts over the last year or so, Ada Choi managed to make it all the way to Israel to film a travel program about the Holy Land for TVB. More on this in another post.

The new year has also brought news of babies, babies, babies. The following Christian actresses are either pregnant or have already pushed out a kid: Noel Leung; Cecilia Cheung; Eugenia Lau; and Pauline Yeung. (Wait, is Cecilia Cheung still Christian? Or was that just a phase? Uh, will have to get back to you on that one.) Also, Boston-bred Catholic Flora Chan got married for the second time, to her manager.

Alright, now we’re pretty much caught up with what’s gone on in Hong Kong Entertainment Christendom during the last six months or so.

Next time: “Ada Choi in the Holy Land…” Or, “Who Took My Pita?” Or, “That Sea May Be Dead, But I’m Alive in Christ!” Or, “Kiss Me, I’m Israeli!”

The word on the street is that Ada Choi will be appearing live in San Francisco for a “Musical Religious Concert and Sermon” on Saturday, September 16, 2006, at 7:30pm at the Nob Hill Masonic Center. Also scheduled to appear is singer Angela Pang - whoever she is - “and others.” Tickets are $5. More info to be had by calling Chinese Christian Mission USA at 415-398-5457 or 415-398-2398, or Harvest Christian Bookstore at 415-665-9672.

Also, a “Vintage Clothing Expo” will be taking place at the Masonic Center earlier that day (as well as the next). Come for the vintage clothing, stay for the Chinese musical religious concert and sermon.

Courtesy of TungStar by way of ent.sina.com.cn (obviously)

Recently, Sheren Tang and Ada Choi made a joint promotional appearance on behalf of the Hong Kong Christian Council. They were promoting and raising funds for a charity project aimed at repairing damaged schools in the mountainous regions of Mainland China. Apparently, the Chinese name of the project can be roughly translated as the “Rebuilding Collapsing Schools Project.”

Indeed. Brutally descriptive and bluntly literal. Very Chinese.

Ta Kung Pao published an article about the event and solicited Tang and Choi’s thoughts on Chinese mountain folk (read: hillbillies). Here’s the relevant excerpt from Em’s translation at TVBSpace News Roundup:

After the event, Ada and Sheren went to a mock up of one of these schools to experience for themselves life for these children.

Sheren says that she visited the mountainous areas of Xian in 2004 [with World Vision] and it was very inspirational for her because it changed her outlook on life. During that time, it was at the peak of popularity for her ‘Yu Fei’ character [from War & Beauty] and the press were often asking her if [she] had made a lot of money, but there was also a lot of gossip. After hearing the stories of the people from the area, she felt that the people there are full of [vitality] and compared to the many miseries of city dwellers, it made her cry as she was overcome with emotion.

Although this is the second year that Ada has taken on the ambassador role, she is yet to go and visit the people in the hills because she does not have time. She can only listen to the stories from those who have been there, but she is often moved to tears by what she hears.

Some of my own thoughts…

Is it me or have Sheren Tang and Ada Choi been making more joint public appearances lately? They’re two of Hong Kong’s most outspoken and prominent Christian entertainers, but I can’t recall them publicly appearing together all that much in prior years. Yet now they’re hanging out together in collapsing schools.

I think it began in April 2004, when they were both bridesmaids at Kitty Lai’s wedding. Then, earlier this year, they and two other HK actresses embarked on a three-week evangelistic speaking tour of Europe, that Old World bastion of humanism, skepticism, fascism, Nazism, etc. Otherwise known as Agnosticism’s Mead Hall.

They visited London, Manchester, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Lausanne (site of the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization), Paris, Amsterdam, and Maastricht. (Another source of unknown dependibility listed Rotterdam and/or Tilburg instead of Maastricht. Frankly, my money’s on Rotterdam. Maastricht? Come on.)

In London, they spoke at All Souls Church, where John Stott, a prominent figure in evangelical Christianity, serves as Rector Emeritus. Hopefully, they met Stott. Hopefully, they hung out with Stott. Hopefully, they partied with Stott.

How crazy would that be? John Stott, author of such books as Basic Christianity, The Cross of Christ, and The Incomparable Christ (as well as the chairman of the draft committee that produced the Lausanne Covenant, “one of the most influential documents in modern Evangelical Christianity”) chilling with four Hong Kong actresses whose collective filmography includes such sketchy-sounding cinematic masterpieces as Rape Trap, Love & Sex of the Eastern Hollywood, Love & Sex Among the Ruins, Bloody Friday, Angel or Whore, and my personal favorite, Tsimshatsui Floating Corpse. John Stott partying with four HK actresses in swingin’ London. I can’t think of anything else that would advance the cause of Christ further than that. And at 177 years old, I hear that Stott can still drop it like it’s hott.

Interestingly, after England, Choi flew back to Hong Kong, purportedly to participate in some promotional events for her latest biennial TVB serial, which happened to be concurrently showing during the European evangelistic tour. Personally, I thought Tang and Choi were purposely separated because if they had gone down in a plane together, there’d be a 70% chance that the Gates of Hell would have prevailed against Hong Kong…or something like that. However, Choi only skipped out on Barcelona and eventually rendezvoused with the tour in Rome in what must have been a crazy marathon of plane flights boomeranging between Asia and Europe.

And now Tang and Choi are hanging out together in collapsing schools.

Still drafting something about Lok Lok. What to say when a five-year-old dies? In the meantime, here’s something to keep you occupied.

This is a transcript of a November 2003 interview with Ada Choi mainly, but with some Adrian Kwan thrown in. The interview was conducted for The Media Evangelism, Ltd.’s five-part series From Stars to Rainbows, which focuses on various Hong Kong personalities who happen to be Christian. This interview was Part Three.

There are three sources for the following transcript: (1) the program’s own English subtitles (terse, abbreviated, and of questionable accuracy); (2) an English translation made by “Angela” for the old adacache.com website (much more wordy and expansive than ME’s translation, perhaps too much so, but spot on in capturing Ada Choi’s effusive tone - if you read it really fast, you’ll get a sense of Ms. Choi’s conversational tempo); and (3) my own select re-translations of certain sections, hopefully for accuracy’s sake. (more…)