bigsale
May 1st, 2008, 11:44 AM
Is Cheng a biased father?
He is said to favour one daughter over another, when he recently turned up to see his girl Winnie make her debut on the catwalk, but was absent from his other daughter's fashion debut. -TNP
http://www.asiaone.com/a1media/news/04Apr08/20080430.213852_adamcheng.jpg
HONG KONG actor-singer Adam Cheng has often been labelled by the media as a heartless man, the bad guy, the biased father.
But it doesn't seem to bother him.
The 61-year-old, who was in town yesterday to prepare for his upcoming concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday, dismissed the recent reports as 'dramatised' and 'overly sensational'.
He was said to favour one daughter over another, when he recently turned up with his family to see his girl Winnie make her debut on the catwalk, but was absent when his other daughter Joyce was strutting her stuff at an earlier fashion show.
Adam had Joyce, 21, with his ex-wife, the late Hong Kong comedienne Lydia Sum, and Winnie, 18, with retired Taiwanese actress Guan Ching-hua.
Lydia and Joyce were seen as the neglected ones, as he focused more on his current family.
So, was he really being biased?
Adam didn't answer the question.
Instead, he spoke of how he usually copes with such reports.
'Just take them all with a smile, and not bother with them. Like Joyce once said, as long as we ourselves understand (the truth of the matter), that's enough.'
Still, he conceded to The New Paper that he is not a good father - not just to Joyce but to all his children.
He blames it on his TV filming work, which can keep him away from home for months.
Adam, who joined showbiz in the mid-1970s, also considers himself the old-fashioned kind of father who is the breadwinner while his wife stays home to look after the children.
Before marrying Lydia in 1985, he already had a daughter from his first marriage. He and Ching-hua have a second daughter, Cecily, 14.
Adam, best known for playing suave swordsman roles in Hong Kong TV serials in the '70s, said: 'I feel I'm not doing enough as a father, I didn't take good care of all my children.'
One may think he has pocketed enough millions to last a lifetime, but Next Magazine did the sums last month and found his expenditure far exceeded his income.
The magazine reported that he earned HK$7.5 million ($1.3m) in the past three years, from shooting three dramas and hosting other shows.
But it was not enough to pay for the new HK$11.4 million house that he just bought. That's not counting his new HK$857,000 car and the HK$150,000 a year school fees for his two younger daughters.
Perhaps it was an excuse for poor parenting, but Adam complained about spiralling prices and said he has to work hard like any other man, in order to give his family the same quality of life.
'In this society, especially when the economy is booming and life becomes more competitive, lots of dads don't do their job well and they leave it to the mothers to take good care of their children,' he said.
'I'm already so busy with work that I have no time to rest.'
Even though his Singapore show is on Saturday, Adam had arrived on 26 Apr and he starts rehearsing daily with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra from today.
The star said that his wife Ching-hua is the one who plans important celebrations like Mother's Day and his birthday.
He fondly recalled how his youngest daughter Cecily recently made him a flip-book style cartoon for his birthday, after he explained the concept to her.
'She's quite creative, and she really put her heart into it.'
While he spoke about his daughters, Adam clammed up when it came to his ex-wife Lydia.
He declined to comment on the saga over Lydia's funeral.
When she died on 19 Feb, he was in Hengdian, China to film the remake of his hit drama The Legend Of The Book And The Sword.
He only showed up two weeks later at her memorial service, and got chided by Lydia's god-brother Alan Tang Kwong-wing for shirking the responsibility of watching over Joyce.
Does Adam feel misunderstood, especially given all the negative public opinion about him?
'Those who understand (my stance) will understand, while those who don't understand, won't.
'I don't care about other people, I'd just do what I should be doing,' he said.
Despite his wealth of experience in showbiz, he had no advice either to offer to his daughter Joyce, the budding singer.
'Joyce wouldn't want me to dictate to her, and she has her own manager.'
SHOW INFO
WHAT: Adam Cheng & Singapore Chinese Orchestra - A Mother's Day Celebration
WHEN: 3 May, 8pm
WHERE: Singapore Indoor Stadium
TICKETS: $98, $128, $148 and $168. Available at Sistic (6348 5555/www.sistic.com.sg)
Source: http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BNew%2BPaper/Story/A1Story20080430-62726.html
He is said to favour one daughter over another, when he recently turned up to see his girl Winnie make her debut on the catwalk, but was absent from his other daughter's fashion debut. -TNP
http://www.asiaone.com/a1media/news/04Apr08/20080430.213852_adamcheng.jpg
HONG KONG actor-singer Adam Cheng has often been labelled by the media as a heartless man, the bad guy, the biased father.
But it doesn't seem to bother him.
The 61-year-old, who was in town yesterday to prepare for his upcoming concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday, dismissed the recent reports as 'dramatised' and 'overly sensational'.
He was said to favour one daughter over another, when he recently turned up with his family to see his girl Winnie make her debut on the catwalk, but was absent when his other daughter Joyce was strutting her stuff at an earlier fashion show.
Adam had Joyce, 21, with his ex-wife, the late Hong Kong comedienne Lydia Sum, and Winnie, 18, with retired Taiwanese actress Guan Ching-hua.
Lydia and Joyce were seen as the neglected ones, as he focused more on his current family.
So, was he really being biased?
Adam didn't answer the question.
Instead, he spoke of how he usually copes with such reports.
'Just take them all with a smile, and not bother with them. Like Joyce once said, as long as we ourselves understand (the truth of the matter), that's enough.'
Still, he conceded to The New Paper that he is not a good father - not just to Joyce but to all his children.
He blames it on his TV filming work, which can keep him away from home for months.
Adam, who joined showbiz in the mid-1970s, also considers himself the old-fashioned kind of father who is the breadwinner while his wife stays home to look after the children.
Before marrying Lydia in 1985, he already had a daughter from his first marriage. He and Ching-hua have a second daughter, Cecily, 14.
Adam, best known for playing suave swordsman roles in Hong Kong TV serials in the '70s, said: 'I feel I'm not doing enough as a father, I didn't take good care of all my children.'
One may think he has pocketed enough millions to last a lifetime, but Next Magazine did the sums last month and found his expenditure far exceeded his income.
The magazine reported that he earned HK$7.5 million ($1.3m) in the past three years, from shooting three dramas and hosting other shows.
But it was not enough to pay for the new HK$11.4 million house that he just bought. That's not counting his new HK$857,000 car and the HK$150,000 a year school fees for his two younger daughters.
Perhaps it was an excuse for poor parenting, but Adam complained about spiralling prices and said he has to work hard like any other man, in order to give his family the same quality of life.
'In this society, especially when the economy is booming and life becomes more competitive, lots of dads don't do their job well and they leave it to the mothers to take good care of their children,' he said.
'I'm already so busy with work that I have no time to rest.'
Even though his Singapore show is on Saturday, Adam had arrived on 26 Apr and he starts rehearsing daily with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra from today.
The star said that his wife Ching-hua is the one who plans important celebrations like Mother's Day and his birthday.
He fondly recalled how his youngest daughter Cecily recently made him a flip-book style cartoon for his birthday, after he explained the concept to her.
'She's quite creative, and she really put her heart into it.'
While he spoke about his daughters, Adam clammed up when it came to his ex-wife Lydia.
He declined to comment on the saga over Lydia's funeral.
When she died on 19 Feb, he was in Hengdian, China to film the remake of his hit drama The Legend Of The Book And The Sword.
He only showed up two weeks later at her memorial service, and got chided by Lydia's god-brother Alan Tang Kwong-wing for shirking the responsibility of watching over Joyce.
Does Adam feel misunderstood, especially given all the negative public opinion about him?
'Those who understand (my stance) will understand, while those who don't understand, won't.
'I don't care about other people, I'd just do what I should be doing,' he said.
Despite his wealth of experience in showbiz, he had no advice either to offer to his daughter Joyce, the budding singer.
'Joyce wouldn't want me to dictate to her, and she has her own manager.'
SHOW INFO
WHAT: Adam Cheng & Singapore Chinese Orchestra - A Mother's Day Celebration
WHEN: 3 May, 8pm
WHERE: Singapore Indoor Stadium
TICKETS: $98, $128, $148 and $168. Available at Sistic (6348 5555/www.sistic.com.sg)
Source: http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BNew%2BPaper/Story/A1Story20080430-62726.html