[Ming Pao 17/01/07]

Stars Pay Tribute to Walter Tso Tat Wah - 1915-2007

Best renowned for his "Buddha's Palm" movies and his portrayal of the Police Chief with the trilby and pipe, Hong Kong film industry veteran Tso Tat Wah (Uncle Wah) passed away in England on 13th January at the age of 92. His funeral will be held today and following his cremation, his ashes will be placed beside those of his beloved wife. Uncle Wah suffered a fall at his home in August and after recovering from this, he returned to England for a health check in November and as many of his friends in Hong Kong saw him off, saying they would see him again, they did not know that that would be their last encounter.

Uncle Wah's student Ander Jen has flown over to England to attend the funeral, which will be a low-key affair at the bequest of Uncle Wah, who did not wish to trouble his friends. His children have complied with this wish. God-daughter Michelle Yim indicates that his family are very saddened by his death, but they know that his fans and friends in Hong Kong are very concerned and wish to show their mark of respect, so they will keep the media informed of proceedings. She will be discussing arrangements for a memorial service for Uncle Wah in Hong Kong with the chairman of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild, Eric Tsang, to allow them to express their grief.

Michelle says that although Uncle Wah's death was rather sudden, he did not have too much pain. She indicates that when her godfather was in Hong Kong, he had been diagnosed with a stomach ulcer, but he thought nothing of it and still had a good appetite before he left. He also visited his daughter in Shanghai earlier as well, seeming to be in good spirits. He fell ill again last week and upon admittance into hospital, it was found that there were complications with his ulcer that resulted in rectal bleeding, causing a heart attack. He died a few hours later.

Michelle met Uncle Wah whilst she was working at Commercial Television and although they have never formally adopted each other, they have been like a family and her godfather was a very lovable old man. From him, she learned how to be generous, because he helped many people in the past and when people asked to borrow $1000, he would offer them $5000. His friends could still be seen to repay this debt of friendship and would always take him out for dinner whenever he returned to Hong Kong. Uncle Wah once lost a lot of money through gambling, so from his experiences, he would warn others not to follow the same path. However, he lived life to the full and felt that he worked hard to earn his money, so he should enjoy it as he wished. Michelle adds that he was a great businessman and during the war, he sold second hand clothes to foreigners to make his first fortune. In her eyes, her godfather was lively and spritely, loved a great atmosphere and enjoyed his retirement years to the full, always saying he had been to the Governor's home and met the former SAR Chief Executive Mr Tung Chee-Wah.

After his retirement, Uncle Wah and his wife went to live with his son in England in 1990. He loved the buzzing atmosphere, so he found it hard to adjust to the quiet life there, but he did this for his wife to have a peaceful life. When she passed away, he returned more often to Hong Kong, where he group of godsons and goddaughters would look after him, insisting on living on a rooftop house in Mongkok because it was convenient to get out and about, despite the stairs being a hazard.



Nat Chan speaks of how he had visited Uncle Wah last year with the Celebrity Football team: "Last July, the celebrity football team visited England and we went for a meal with Uncle Wah. At the time he was still very healthy. When I heard he had passed away, I was not surprised, because this is something that will happen and Uncle Wah was already 91, so this can be called a 'happy death'. He has had many achievements in his lifetime and was happy and easy-going. Whenever there was racing, he would ask me for tips and bet a few dollars. Whenever Wan Chi Keung had a horse out, he would be there. He had no regrets in life."

Nancy Sit responds: "It was all so sudden and I did not believe it at first. Uncle Wah had fallen a few months ago and was admitted into hospital, but I invited him out for lunch afterwards, but he turned me down because he was not feeling well. I have known Uncle Wah since I was young and he often took me out, watching me grow up. He had a very happy personality and loved to chat with people. I will always remember him."

Liza Wang says: "Uncle Wah made a great contribution to the film and television industries and he was very bold, like his chief roles, very just and had star quality. I will remember this senio. When the football team visited England last year, we met Uncle Wah for lunch."

http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20070117/saa01/maa1.txt




[Ta Kung Pao & The Sun 17/01/07]

Bosco Wong Gains Young Fans with Keroro Song

Bosco Wong was filming at the Tamar Site Universal Carnival yesterday for the music video to his third cartoon theme song for "Keroro Guncho 2". He says that he will take this chance to win some more young fans. With the song for the first series being sung by Kevin Cheng, does this mean that he is taking over Kevin's position? He says that this is not the case, because this song has been recorded for a long time and has already won him a Children's Song Award. It had been agreed that he and Kevin would have one each. When he was younger, his favourite cartoon character was Doraemon.

Despite being at the carnival, Bosco indicated that he daren't go on the rides because he does not like the pull against gravity and the most he will ride is a rollercoaster. He says: "A lot of my friends invited me to come and try them, but I turned them down . I can accept if I don't have to go on them myself."

Many members of the public surrounded him for photographs yesterday and Bosco indicates that when he went to watch Rain in concert earlier, he was also surrounded by his fans. When it was suggested he was stealing fans from Rain, he says: "I did not mean to, maybe because 'Dicey Business' has been aired recently, so there were a lot of people who wanted to photograph me." He will be heading out to Nagoya today with Natalie Tong to film on location for "The Seventh Day".

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/17/UL-679534.htm
http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/ent/20070117/20070116231624_0000.html



[Ta Kung Pao, Ming Pao & Wen Wei Po 17/01/07]

Back to Foshan for Final MCI Rehearsals

The 2007 Miss Chinese International Pageant will be taking place on Saturday and the twenty-one contestants have headed out to the venue for the final in Foshan for their final preparations. Before they set off, a blessing ceremony was held at TVB City to pray for a successful performance. Probably due to the early start and the tight schedules, all the girls seemed rather tired and some were yawning away with their hands on their hips, whilst others were exchanging massages. Among them, Number 10 He Mingzhu from Chicago seemed to have a breakout of spots on her forehead and she explained that this was because she was not acclimatised. Is she worried that this will affect her performance on Saturday? She syas she is not worried because there are not too many activities planned for the next couple of days and she will have some time to rest.

Although the contest is looming, many of the girls were still not holding back on the roast pig and younger sister of last year's winner, number 20 Ivy Lu ate from beginning to end. She smiles: "I am just eating slowly and giving the illusion of eating a lot. (Are you not worried about getting fat?) No, because the schedule has been very rushed since the start and I have actually lost weight, so this is not a problem. (Is it hard work?) It is not personal, everyone else is finding it hard, but working their best. It is very moving and I will work even harder to be myself."

As for Hong Kong's Aimee Chan, she daren't eat any roast pork, choosing an apple instead. Asked if she was afraid of getting fat, she explained that she had already eaten breakfast and she prefers to eat fruit. Talking of the tired faces, is she finding it hard? She says graciously: "This is a rare experience , so I am happy to have the chance to take part." Her parents have just arrived in Hong Kong for a wedding banquet, so they will also be showing their support for her in Foshan. Asked if her rumoured boyfriend Ray Chan will be supporting her there, she says: "I don't think so, because they only gave two tickets to each contestant and my friends will just watch me on the television. (Has he sent you an SMS to support you?) All my friends have."

Also, Number 8 Pearl River's Carol Li indicates that she has not informed her family of the date of the contest yet because she does not want them to appear at the event to support her and would rather they watched her at home on teleision. This is because they will put pressure on her and she hopes to have a calm approach to her performance. Currently living in Guangzhou, just an hour away from Foshan, does she feel that she has the advantage of being a local? She feels that the focus is on the stage, so it does not matter where you are from.

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/01/17/UL-679531.htm
http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20070117/saa01/mch4.txt
http://www.wenweipo.com/news.phtml?news_id=EN0701170004&cat=011EN