[Ming Pao & Ta Kung Pao 06/12/06]

Sammul Refuses to Find Girlfriend to Quash Rumours - Shirley takes Mother on Location

Shirley Yeung was accompanied by her retired mother at the recording of a road safety show for TVB yesterday and was showing great care for her. She smiles: "My mother has retired from her administrative job now, so to avoid her getting too bored at home, I let her come to work with me." Is your road safety knowledge quite good? "You could say so, I have only had tickets for forgotting to pay the parking meter and going through a red light by accident."

At the same event, Sammul Chan revealed that he is currently negotiating his contract with TVB and apart from some minor details, he is close to signing, but it will just be an artiste contract because he has worked with his own manager for so many years now and he does not want to change this relationship just yet. He says: "I have decided to extend my contract with TVB and they have increased my salary a little, but I will still stay with my current manager." How are plans for study in the mainland? "Some work will be postponed and I am still looking for a Mandarin teacher in Beijing." Why don't you find yourself a girlfriend in the Mainland as a teacher and to avoid rumours? "I don't want to do this purposely because it raises people's suspicions even more."

http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20061206/saa01/mcc1.txt
http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/06/12/06/UL-661104.htm



[Ta Kung Pao & Ming Pao 06/12/06]

Charmaine Sheh says she has Never Dated Benny Chan

A magazine report indicated yesterday that Charmaine Sheh reputedly dumped Benny Chan in a tearful rage, selling their jointly purchased apartment in North Point and moving into her new $30,000 a month rented home in Robinson Road. Charmaine took part in a promotional event for her series "Glittering Days" yesterday together with Liza Wang, Roger Kwok and Sharon Chan, and was asked about this by reporters after being interviewed earlier on a radio show. Charmaine indicated that she has lived in North Point for two or three years now and the home in Robinson Road is her friend's, moreover the rent there is not $30,000 a month. Asked about her split with Benny, she says that they have never dated and that crying photograph is an old one. As for suggestions that the apartment was bought for her by Benny to make her happy, she immediately said: "Wow, I have not seen that. There was no such thing."

Asked if she would put up with her boyfriend playing away, Charmaine says she will worry about that when the time comes, but if that is the case, then she is just unlucky and she does not want something like that to happen, so she will hear what people have to say but not believe things if she has not seen them with her own eyes. She adds that she does not want to be linked with Benny any more because she does not want this to be an obstacle to any other dating opportunities. She says: "I have spoken to him and told him to hurry up and find himself a girlfriend. I am just good friends with him." Asked if she will urge him not to play around so much in the future, she says she does not know the extent of his partying, but when she sees some of the paparazzi shots, she does feel that there is a darker side to him, but as a friend, she does not want to interfere. Asked if she believes the earlier news about Benny, she says that she has not seen it, so she has no feelings about it. She says that she just lets her own news pass and if it is not true, she will not look at it.

Charmaine also reveals that apart from her home in North Point, she has other properties in Hong Kong. As for being dubbed as a 'Little Rich Girl', she smiles: "I am okay! I would like to buy more properties, but I do not have so much money." Asked if she is afraid of her family mistaking the sale of her apartment as her meeting with financial difficulty, she smiles: "It was more sensational when they said I was selling my body. Selling property and cars is nothing really."

Charmaine says she would like to find a boyfriend next year and asked if she would like someone that she can reveal to the world, she smiles that whether or not she will reveal it she does not know, but she hopes he can look after her. Whether he is rich or not does not matter so much, because she has her own ability to make a living. She also says that in the past nine or ten years, she has been on her own as her family are not in Hong Kong and she has wanted to have a boyfriend, but she admits that finding a boyfriend is difficult and although people says she is quite flirty, she says it is just her voice and prospective boyfriends will not just fall for her voice. She emphasises though that she will not fall for a married man.

Sharon on the other hand is quite the opposite to Charmaine and despite being photographed earlier with a male companion, she says that she is in no rush to start dating yet. She says: "I will be 28 years old soon and I want to continue focussing on my work. I will think about it when I am 30. That man is a friend I have known for a long time and if I do start dating, I will tell everyone."

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/06/12/06/UL-661107.htm
http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20061206/saa01/mca1h.txt



[Ta Kung Pao & Ming Pao 06/12/06]

Claire Yiu - Being a Wife is not Easy

After getting married last month, Claire Yiu has been hosting a new cookery show alongside Theresa Mo and Chow Chung called "Trainee Chefs Serve Up". Filming yesterday, she learned how to make 'Siu Lung Bau' (dumplings) and Tea-infused Chicken to say thank you to her bridesmaids Tavia Yeung, Natalie Wong and Rabee'a Yeung. Afterwards, the girls all complimented Claire's cookery and scored her as a 'human', that is just one below a 'god'.

It turns out that Claire's mother is a great cook and over the years, Claire has managed to learn a lot from her by watching and listening, but she is rather lazy and impatient, so when they were dating and husband Thomas Lam asked her to make dinner, she will just cook some simple Western dishes to humour him. Now she is married though, she feels she ought to work harder at making dinner, so she has started to take lessons from her mother in the hope of learning her skills and how to cook delicacies such as abalone, fish maw and delicious soup.

Claire smiles: "I am really not a bad cook, I even made the pastry for the dumplings myself, but I just don't have the time to nurture my talent. (Have you cooked a meal for your husband after your marriage?) No, I have not had time. I feel that being someone's wife is quite a pain because you have to look after your own work, keep your looks and learn to cook. However, keeping busy can be quite fulfilling."

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/06/12/06/UL-661114.htm
http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20061206/saa01/mcb1.txt



[Ta Kung Pao & Ming Pao 06/12/06]

Aimee Chan Makes Cookies for Charity

Miss Hong Kong winner Aimee Chan was invited by the China Hong Kong Trade Association to visit a rural school in Beijing earlier on a four-day goodwill tour and as well as joining the ladies on the visit in baking some cookies to sell, she also helped to design the packaging. When the students saw her, they were very excited and as she handed out some of the cookies to the children, she wished them a very happy Christmas with their families, to enjoy the lovingly made cookies and work hard at their studies, so that they can make links with Hong Kong in the future. Although the classroom was very simple, the warm welcome and enthusiasm from the children everything seem very homely. As they received the cookies from her, the students all smiled widely and asked her for her autograph and when it was time to say goodbye, they all didn't want her to leave.

Later, Aimee took part in the Trade Associations Annual Dinner, where she conducted the sale of the Charity cookies. She encouraged the support of the delegates to bring happiness to the children and successfully sold all of her cookies. She feels that this trip has helped to promote links between Hong Kong and the mainland and to take part was a great honour. She hopes that she can take part in more activities like this in the future and spread the message of love in China.

http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20061206/saa01/mch4.txt
http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/06/12/06/UL-661103.htm