Jackie Chan Doesn’t Like to Celebrate Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year is one of the most important traditional holidays for many Asians around the globe, but for Jackie Chan (成龍), the New Year can be quite “annoying.”
At a recent public function, Jackie revealed that he director Feng Xiaogang (馮小剛) did not invite him to perform at the CCTV Spring Festival, and that he will not be spending his Chinese New Year holidays in Beijing unlike previous years.
The international superstar said he does not enjoy holidays, particularly Chinese New Year, because holidays are a time when people are on break. “The crew goes on break and I’m left with nothing to do,” he said.
“For them, the Spring Festival is break time. For me, it is very annoying. The company is empty once it’s the holidays. The crew is gone. [I] wouldn’t know what to do for the next few days. It makes me feel desperate.”
Jackie claims that his family also does not like to celebrate Lunar New Year. He said that both he and his son, Jaycee Chan (房祖名), would not call each other on their birthdays. “Actually, when it’s his birthday, I wouldn’t even know,” Jackie said.
It appears that Jackie does not seem to be much of a family man, as the workaholic has emphasized on multiple occasions that he does not like celebrating the holidays with his family. Jaycee also revealed that at one point in time, he only got to see his father once a year.
Asked if Jackie has set any expectations for his son in the upcoming New Year, he said, “I just want him to be good. Don’t cause trouble and don’t get into trouble. If he can make some little achievements in music and film, I’ll be happy.”
Source: Sina.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
lol, he’s pretty much the exact opposite of a family man. He cheats on his wife and scolded his son for wishing him a happy birthday in the past xD
I have a feeling that he doesn’t really care about his son, but that’s just me.
I read in some old articles that Jackie Chan did not even want to keep Jaycee when he found out that Lam Fung Kil was pregnant. He was persuaded by his good friend in Shaw Brothers or Ka Wo(?) to keep Jaycee. What a father he is to me!
good of him for not celebrating the chinese new year.. its a culture thing, not God intended
So you are saying everyone should celebrate christmas instead? lol
sorry, i don’t celebrate christmas , i only adknowledge yom kippur and you don’t need to follow me
Okay? So holidays should only be celebrated if it is “God” intended? What kind of logic is that? Have fun celebrating Easter and Christmas only.
comet,
Personally, I feel Xmas is more like children’s festivals rather than religious festivals despite the fact that it is indeed religious festivals. Many adults do not believe in santa.
Unfortunately for christians, their Xmas celebration already lost its meaning since the day it was commercialized in the last century.
Many people do, did, will do, are doing, and will be doing many things that are not intended by god. One example was the Internet that was used by you to submit your ‘opinion’ here.
What I wrote had no offence to any christians out there.
What a miserable old man. Who doesn’t like holidays? Clearly because he has no one to spend with.
You hit the nail right on the head!
I personally do not like the holidays as much as I used to since the holidays seem to have lost favor. Also, my mom up is so superstitious that it is not funny. I also have to do more work and lunar New Years is really boring in the US.
so true, it IS very boring in the US for LNY
It’s boring in Canada too (for LNY)
Well, of course CNY in overseas countries will not be the same as it is in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Taiwan. Those countries are populated with 99.9% Chinese people. It will be worse if you don’t live in big cities, such as Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary in Canada, or Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston in the States, where tons of Chinese people and Chinese stores are located.
Plus we don’t have 3 days off to celebrate Chinese New Year (as in Hong Kong) and maybe more days off in Mainland China.
Actually, depending on the state or province, Chinatown or how one depicts Chinese culture can be quite different. That’s what I noticed when I went to Chinatown in Boston and Chinatown in New York. The atmosphere is quite different. Amercian Chinese and Canadian Chinese are also quite different, although they are both ‘westernized” Chinese.
Of course, when you compare different regions within a city, the atmosphere is also different. Eg. Crystal Mall (Burnaby) vs. Chinatown (Vnacouver) vs. Aberdeen Centre (Richmond) all have different events to celebrate CNY.
Bubblez:
Don’t forget Canada promotes multiculturalism while U.S.A. does not. Therefore, ethnic groups are more grouped together in Canada vs. the ones in the States. Furthermore, I believe that it is easier for Chinese (both from Hong Kong and Mainland China) to immigrate to Canada than to the States. As a result, we have more and more Chinese people living in Canada and more Chinese supermarkets, stores and restaurants in Canada. We can easily find all kinds of CNY foods, cakes, pastries, decorations, flowers, clothes, etc. in Canada and, therefore, the CNY atmosphere is stronger here than other places elsewhere.
Yes I agree as well. D:
USA tends to promote nationality first.
It is good, and it is bad …… to me anyway.
Bad …… many 2nd or 3rd generations don’t think highly of their country, Canada, where they are born and raised here. It will be hard for them to mix with the “majority” (local people) here especially when they go to work.
Good …….. the younger generations still learn about Chinese culture and can speak Chinese language (either Cantonese or Mandarin).
I guess it is hard to achieve both.
It is hard to maintain and balance both. But it can also be an individual’s effort to maintain that cultural identity and persistence to keep that going.
It is very possible for Chinese to move and live in Canada without ever having to speak a word of English… this is especially true in and around Toronto.
I, personally, love it… because the food you can buy is authentic cuisine. And it’s not just Chinese… there are several ethnic communities in Toronto each with their own areas. Who needs to go to Korea/Japan/Greece/Italy/China for food when the real thing can be found right in the city!
TVBFanatic
Agree with you “there are several ethnic communities in Toronto each with their own areas. Who needs to go to Korea/Japan/Greece/Italy/China for food when the real thing can be found right in the city!”.
However, it is also sad for those born or raised Chinese kids who cannot speak and write good English if they have to make a living in Canada. Forget about those newly (and older in age) immigrated Hongkongers and Mainland Chinese who can’t speak a word in English.
It is very possible for Chinese to move and live in Canada without ever having to speak a word of English… this is especially true in and around Toronto.
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It should be same in Vancouver beside in Toronto.
“It should be same in Vancouver beside in Toronto.”
^ I think it depends on the situation and the part of Vancouver that person is living in. (:
I have only one word to describe what he had said. He is a MORON not fit to be called a father.
he is just a miserable old man. he probably like funn said, has nobody to spend it with (at least nobody meaningful), so he pretend he hates holiday. what an idiot !
What a scrooge. He seems like the opposite of Chow Yun Fat. Chow Yun Fat is humble, down to earth, a family man, and proud of Hong Kong and supportive of its entertainment industry.
You are quite right, especially Jackie Chan’s article is posted right after Chow Yun Fat’s.
I feel sorry for his wife. His son may not mind because he will have his own family sooner or later. But his wife lives in Hong Kong by herself and her family should still be in Taiwan. Jackie and Jaycee are her only immediate family members in Hong Kong.
Not a good family man but Jackie has also said he will donate his fortune to the needies.
people who have never been loved as a kid are like this. They don’t know how to express their love, and they find it awkward to express themselves.
True that
I think you are absolutely right. Jackie Chan probably did not have a happy childhood when he was young.
I have a feeling that may be true. I remember him mentioning that. My late father hated the holidays too and it was because of his sad childhood and life. Your experiences truly does affect how you are.
He didn’t have a good childhood (Jackie actually talks about his childhood in detail in his autobiography). His family was poor and his parents spent most of their time working and didn’t have time for him, so they sent him to Yu Jim Yuen’s Opera School when he was 6 so he could learn martial arts. It was actually quite rough growing up in that environment — though I do have to say that his other apprentice brothers and sisters (Sammo, Yuen Wah, Yuen Biao, Yuen Chao, etc.) also grew up in the same environment and they seemed to turn out fine…
Now you say that I am starting to pity him.
Another reason can be that he is just a very boring person. My parents never liked the holidays and never celebrated any of our birthdays or anything either. It does not make them bad people but just very boring people.
your parents sound like mine
He is an @#$ hole, your typical hypocrite, he used to be my role model until he talks the talks but can’t follow through with it. Once a cheater always a cheater. No respect for this hypocrite whatsoever. His son seems to be another @#$ hole, like father like son.
You can’t just assume that his son is as “bad” as he is. He never spent time with his son, therefore, his son was never influenced by him/his experiences. Also, his son is not his exact clone or twin so you also can’t assume that their personalities are the same.
Maybe due to the fact that Jaycee never had a loving father growing up has affected him negatively, but again with JC as a dad it probably wouldn’t have made a difference.
oh wow ~ completely changed my thoughts on this man hahaha hope this better be rumors
So many people seem surprised when they learn the truth about him. Definitely not rumors.
The quintessential Freudian ID manifested.
What a prick. He should really learn to keep his mouth shut. Every time he opens it he makes himself sound even worse.
If he weren’t such a communist ass kisser, I would expect him to say he supported the Japanese occupation in ww2.
The comments he makes about his family are so passive aggressively evil. The fact that he says it with a smile or like it’s no big deal just is sociopathic.
His wife must be a saint to put up with that crap and know that she will probably get nothing when he dies. She is like a virtual prisoner in a gilded cage.
Sociopathic haha, first time I heard that. Sounds about right
He sounds like an idiot, as a human.
This was reinforced by an appearance I saw of him on Jay Leno, where he was really relegated to performing monkey turning tricks on the floor, and who couldn’t hold his own verbally (UN-like enigmatic intelligent Mr Chow on the same show).
Other than being a poor excuse as a husband and father. In childhood apparently JC only saw Jaycee once every 2 yrs – what use is his kind of ‘success’ when he’s such a failure as a father.
I used to pity his wife too, until I realise she was his CFO holding all the financial reins to 90% of his money. Ok then, her choice of lifestyle.
If Jaycee partly like he’s turning out like dad, it’s partly bec his mom endorses this lifestyle (very traditional first wife matriarch household)
Work is narcissistic. The dude gets attention, and he gets to command teams of people who has to listen to him … and also hang around hot babes who would do anything to be in Big Brother’s favor.
All his emotional and social needs are met.
Being home is of course boring in comparison. He’s never been in that role – no adoration there either.
Father of the year, needs to be the center of attention. Son is a total carbon copy that only needed dad to get him into the field and left afterwards. Like father like son; epic douche-bags!!!
He is a great candidate of Father of the year award.
hahaha. the western world seems to be oblivious of his flaws tho, and adore him.
LOL…so true! That’s because all the Western world cares about is his martial arts — they could care less what kind of father he is or whether he has tons of affairs (especially since the affair piece is such a common thing among Hollywood celebrities). The ironic thing is that Jackie has criticized filming in Hollywood and American audiences in general on several occasions — he pretty much thinks that we have it too easy over here and it encourages laziness…
In any case, Jackie probably still enjoys working in Hollywood because he gets criticized less over here, since most Americans don’t know about his past and don’t really care, whereas in HK, most people don’t respect him anymore.
Jackie is not just the only one that’s selfish. He live with a selfish wife. I don’t think she forgave him for the cheat that also produced a daughter. I don’t think he trust his wife and son very much that’s why all the don’t like this don’t like that when it comes to his family. When will he acknowledge his daughter and be a father to her. I guess we must ask Joan Lin.
Agreed, they’re so rich anyways and the daughter is his own flesh and blood.
Fat Gor even donates to charities/orphanages…
http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/en/celebrity/buzz/asia/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4533917
he needs more hobbies; hangout with non-asian friends/friends that dont celebrate the holiday
Haha I think it’s too late to fix this guy, no matter what he does.
Wow, After reading so much different comments about him, I never knew he was this type of person. I can’t believe he doesn’t like Chinese New Year… I think Chinese New Year is awesome! I get so happy during this time. Yeah, the states isn’t as exciting like in China, Hong Kong etc.. But it’s still Lunar New Year. I don’t like why he doesn’t like it. He should be happy at least for new year coming in for good health,prosperity etc. He also doesn’t seem to fond of his son either.
I always thought he was such a good role model and a good person until I read about the illegitimate daughter.
JC claims his family doesn’t like to celebrate lunar new year. Birthdays come and go but all are forgettable. Nobody in his family cares to remember let alone celebrate.
JC just wants it be known he’s an workaholic. The gist is he’s totally lost when people take time off to celebrate CNY. What is he supposed to do with himself as he can’t even lose himself in work? He’s pissed off…
As for his personal life, how much do we know about it to pass judgment on him? People who are badly treated/affected by him have the rights to think badly of him. He’s douche bag to them….
Jackie Chan is just a very weird guy to me….. he doesn’t care about his wife, his son, or other family members. I hope he can work until he is 80s!
As for his personal life, how much do we know about it to pass judgment on him?
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Um, we actually know plenty about his personal life, as it’s not like he makes tremendous effort to keep it a secret (plus his own son has revealed stuff about their personal lives and how their father-son relationship works)…and all the affairs plus illegitmate daughter part are not secrets either (he’s talked about both of those himself on several occasions). With all the stuff out there about him (most of which came out of his own mouth), I don’t see a problem with people who weren’t badly treated by him still passing judgment on him, especially on the stuff that aren’t rumors….
What I cant tell is if he is truly happy with just having work, and no family time.
I feel sorry for him. He doesn’t even know his son’s birthday?? Jaycee called JC on his birthday and got chewed out for it. JC deserves to be annoyed and desperate. I will continue not watching his films.
Not surprising that Jackie doesn’t know his son’s birthday, since he was rarely there for most of his son’s life. I still remember Jackie telling the story in a past interview of how he showed up at his son’s school for his graduation, but didn’t see anyone there, so he called up his son and angrily asked him what was going on — turns out Jackie showed up at the wrong school, as his son was already in high school (he had showed up at the elementary school instead). The way Jackie told the story was so nonchalant, as though it was something to be proud of…
Honestly wtf…he can’t call himself a father. Theres a huge gap between elementary and high school…
I recall the story of the wrong school too. And yes he thought it was an entertaining anecdote to relate. Nothing to be sad about or have some redeeming epiphany of what his poor son/family might have missed out on.
The baby girl (the one the public knows about anyway) didn’t ask to be born.
Whether he got conned by Etta or not … he still has HALF the responsibility to do something about her well-being and welfare.
This ‘highly respected Big Brother’ so doesn’t deserve his title from a human from this point of view.
It doesn’t matter what one achieves in career or does for high-profile, highly publicised charity/society purposes … if you suck as a basic human.
Work, other than being a big achievement and attention getting outlet with him in the limelight is an ongoing ‘party’.
The party (his crew, the JC worshippers the hot girls, going places with them)seems to be all this dude can relate to.
“It doesn’t matter what one achieves in career or does for high-profile, highly publicised charity/society purposes … if you suck as a basic human.”
Very well said!
@Darling: Yup…and the sad part is that Jackie seems to constantly be ‘flaunting’ the fact that he is a poor excuse for a father (he tells stories like that about his son all the time, it seems)…and the way he laughs it off as though he had just relayed some funny story is truly pathetic. I feel sorry for Jaycee for having such a father….
Honestly,he should have been better off being single. My oldest brother is the same way and just wants to work and all so I am glad that he did not get married or had kids because he would not have been responsible for them.
Look at him shrugging in the picture like it’s no big deal…that combined with what I’ve read about him disgusts me.
There are many ways to look at his situation. Jackie grew up in an environment where he and his parents knew very little of one another. He probably felt his opera classmates are more like family to him than his real parents. Therefore as an adult, he probably don’t know how to be a father/husband figure to his real family, and treats his working crew more like one. And although he have a few children, Jackie probably never intended to have them. Either way, I seriously don’t feel sorry for his kids, as they have a better chance of doing well in life than a typical person would. Whether they use it to their advantage is up to their individual character.
he is a workaholic? I call bull****, he’s just a selfish ass that only loves himself and no other including his wife son and daughter.