Alan Tam’s Son Graduates from Oxford Masters’ Program
The veteran entertainer encouraged his 22-year-old son to further his studies instead of becoming a singer like himself.
Cantopop legend Alan Tam (譚詠麟) was married to wife Sally Yeung (楊潔薇) for many years, but the two did not have any children. His lover Wendy Chu (朱詠婷) later bore him his only son, creating a public uproar at that time due to his infidelity. Now 22, his son Howard Tam (譚曉風) has since graduated with a masters’ degree from University of Oxford last year and now works at esteemed Canadian tech company Axiom Zen, with a bright future ahead.
Always an Outstanding Student
Other than his esteemed position in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, Alan’s proudest achievement is having an outstanding son like Howard. He has excelled in numerous areas despite a low-profile life with his mother Wendy. When he was five, he emerged second runner-up at a nationwide children’s drawing competition. When he was just eleven, he attained level 6 in piano examinations and also plays guitar and drums. Equally athletically-inclined, Howard also dabbled in sports such as basketball, soccer and canoeing.
In 2010, Alan sent Howard to England for further studies. He did not disappoint his father, winning a scholarship to enter the prestigious University of Oxford with an impressive score of 12 As in his GCSE examinations.
In a rare occasion, Alan publicly praised Wendy for bringing up Howard well, saying, “His Mom has taught him very well! But I also want him to understand that happiness is not given, so I brought him to poorer countries since he was young. I don’t give him too much pressure. Although I want to be a stringent dad, but it’s really not possible. I have beaten him only once when he was two,” recalls Alan.
Spent Millions on Relatives’ Expenses at Graduation Ceremony
After a four-year Master’s of Engineering program, Howard graduated with honors, and Alan attended the ceremony despite being busy with concert preparations with Sam Hui (許冠傑).
The generous Alan had willingly paid for the travel expenses of many relatives, such as Wendy’s family and friends as well as his good friends Deborah Lee (狄波拉), Kong Yiu Sing (江耀城), Chow Man Hei (周文曦) and others, so they can all come and share in the joy of his only child’s graduation in England.
Although photos posted by Alan were mostly of his son’s back, it was clear that Howard was a head taller than his father with a fit, six-feet tall physique. Hugging him excitedly, it was obvious that his son is Alan’s source of pride and joy. Howard, in his LinkedIn profile photo, also looks the spitting image of Alan in his younger days.
Following his internship at Axiom Zen as a software engineer, he successfully secured a full-time engineer position at the prestigious company. The company’s clients include NASA and Microsoft.
Anxious About Son’s Romantic Life
As Alan was often away from home and busy with work, Wendy, a university graduate, was Howard’s primary caretaker. Since he was young, she had supervised his homework personally. An insider revealed, “Wendy is knowledgeable and patient. She had spent much effort and time on Howard; but he didn’t need much coercion on his studies. Alan and Wendy have also remained down-to-earth and have always told their son that hard work is needed if he wants to be rewarded.
“Although Alan did not care much about Howard’s studies in the past, he became more concerned as Howard grew up since many in the industry are interested to sign (his son) on, seeing that he is rather talented in singing. However, Alan told him that it’s hard to make a living as a singer nowadays and advised him not to think about it and to study for a master’s degree while he is young.”
While Alan said he is not concerned about Howard’s love life, he secretly told Wendy to keep a close watch on their son. Alan also bought a big apartment in the Oxford district for the pair, as Wendy flies over five to six times a year. Keen to find out more about the women Howard goes out with, Alan is secretly resistant to his son dating Caucasian girls. A traditional man at heart, it is said that Alan prefers his daughter-in-law to be Chinese.
Source: Yahoo HK
This article is written by JoyceK for JayneStars.com.
4 years is not a master degree, it’s a bachelor degree in the US & Canada. Wonder why they kept saying others like Kate tsui & fala Chen got master in just few years. Master is 6 years.
@joyce 4yrs in UK is Masters for most subject. 3yrs for Bachelor. He is studying in UK not US/Canada. Do your research first…
@hohliu Argh! I have to do 5 years for Masters! Not fair! =(
@elizabeth The educational system is very different in UK from the ones in North America (USA and Canada).
In UK, Hong Kong, Australia and maybe some other Commonwealth countries, you get admitted to any university programs from the Advanced Level of GCE (matriculation graduated).
In North America, you need to get your first degree (B.A. or B.Sc.) first before you can get admitted to any professional programs, such as Medicine, Dentistry, Law, Optometry, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, etc., and 1 to 2 years to get a Master’s degree after the Bachelor’s degree.
Students in the UK are luckier than the ones in North America. They don’t need to go to university for such a long time and have more time to make money.
@orchid123
I was schooled in BOTH systems:
1) Singapore up to O and A Levels (ie junior college or pre-Uni)
2) Canada (ie the NAmerican system) for University.
The NAmerican system Yr 1 and 2 are very very easy – it’s akin to even O Levels = mildly A Levels. I
I also took Piano beyond Gr 8 level, up to Teacher’s Diploma (UK – ATCL)level back home, It’s only the Associate Diploma, not the Licentiate Diploma (harder to get).
And I would say even at Gr 8 and ATCL level (UK) … their Theory and History knowledge expectations are higher than the Gr 10 Toronto Conservatory expectations, and higher than Yr 1 and 2 University Music Dept expectations.
Which is why – a UK degree (they only have that many Uni) can be held in higher esteem than US degree back in my time. Esp those from Oxford and Cambridge (2 cohorts made it to Cambridge).
Even if you don’t make the grade for Uni in NAmerica; it’s so easy to slip into a community college, boost your grades to As (also very easy) …. transfer, and still get into a decent NAmerican uni.
Or there are tons and tons of US colleges and unis … all of which award degrees.
Which makes it all kind of ‘dubious’, since standards so far LESS stringent.
@nomad822 I don’t disagree with you. Year 1 in university in North America is very similar to A level in the UK system, but not quite in Year 2.
For piano examinations, I cannot comment on them. It is true that we have 10 grades in Royal Conservatory Examinations, plus Performance and Teaching Certificate, while there are only 8 grades in the UK system.
In a way, why does the North American educational system waste extra years of a kid’s precious time to stay in school for a longer time studying the same subjects while kids in UK/Australia can start working and making money at the age of 22. All graduates in professional programs in North America are at least 24 years old and up and 33 for a neuro-surgeon when they start their first full-time job in their professions.
When he has countless resources, it’s easy to excel
@coralie Bet u can’t say that about Richard Li. the 2nd son of Li Ka shing, who lied that he graduated in computer engineering from stanford. He was hit by a class action lawsuit in New York that claims his Stanford University false credentials formed part of bogus or deceptive statements used to woo investors for a Nasdaq-listed dotcom.
He got caught lying and was an embarrassment to his father even though his father donated millions to stanford.
Here are two links below for those who want to read about it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/22/news/richard-lis-company-removes-web-site-reference-to-degree-from-stanford.html
https://www.scmp.com/article/344799/richard-li-sued-over-false-stanford-degree-claims
@mihk1994 a few exceptions doesn’t mean it’s the rule. most successful people who become successful due to the resources they were born with, tend to not brag & boast about it, unless they happen to be the Trumps.
also, richard did attend Standord U as part of daddy’s rich offerings to the school. if you don’t call that having resources, i don’t know what will.
@coralie Although you are right that most Oxbridge graduates are from wealthy families, it’s still not good to undermine people’s achievements. I’m sure Howard Tam worked hard to get in such a prestigious university, and in an STEM subject too.
I know how hard it is to get into an Oxbridge since I was an applicant myself.
@birdy2415 @kuks it’s the same situation with celebrities having incredible skin or amazing bodies. yes, they definitely put in effort for their achievements and no one can take that away from them, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t get a ton of help along the way. help that most regular people don’t get and don’t have access to. a lot of people overlook this fact and think they are naturally perfect, hence lots of insecurities among the populace who aren’t able to achieve the same.
i’m not bitter or trying to undermine anyone’s achievements, but if you had all these resources at your disposal, it’s much harder to fail. and no one should dismiss this as fact.
my point being, don’t put people on a pedestal when you know they’ve had lots of support & assistance & resources along the way. he’s impressive for sure, but he didn’t get there without help from his wealthy parents. i would be way more impressed if he had come from an impoverished background & really had no one behind him supporting him, a la jack ma.
@coralie Yes he was able to get in but he never finished the degree even though his dad is the richest man in HK and have all the resources. Unfortunately for Richard, he didn’t have the brain to excel and complete what he started. Then again, why he goes and lied about it, and listed himself as a Stanford grad on his company website. The dude lacks integrity.
@coralie easy to get in, hard to get out. Sure he attended but resources only get you so far.
@kuks it doesn’t matter. the fact he got into stanford U already gave him a leg up against others. he already has an unfair advantage, thanks to daddy dearest. from his online bio, he seems to have dropped out of comp sci so he could work for an investment bank instead, without ever having to graduate. resources in this world gets you very, very far.
@mihk1994 Is that the dude that impregnated 19 yo Isabella Leong and popped up more kids w/o wedlock? hahah damn…What a disgrace!! Lol haha
@wm2017 Yes that’s the dude. But Isabella leong is not her real name though, her real name is Luísa Isabella Nolasco da Silva. She is part Portuguese. I guess the Li’s family wants to have cute grandkids. I don’t blame them, just look at Richard Li. If it wasn’t for his father’s wealth, I doubt Isabella would have eyes for him.
I am hunch the guy got into Stanford because of his father. Unfortunately, he dropout after 3 years, probably because he wasn’t that good of an engineering student. But why lie about it on his company website listing him as a Stanford grad. Some employees at Stanford came out told the media he lied about his credential. I guess he never thought people would confront his lie even though his dad is the richest man in HK. What a disgrace and an embarrassment to his family.
@mihk1994 Holy crap!! Yeah, what a loser. lol…I can never understand ppl like that as well. You had to nerve to brag it when you never had it? OMG Disgrace to Asians. lol
@mihk1994 it’s really embarrassing to claim to be a Stanford graduate when he didn’t manage to complete the degree. looks like the 2nd son of Li Ka Shing is a failure and skirt chaser. if not for his father, I doubt any woman would look at Richard. he doesn’t have the looks nor the capability…quite similar to Michelle’s husband.
as for Isabella Leong, she doesn’t have to worry about her future since she bore 3 SONS for the Li family. a pity she is a single mum.
Alan Tam’s son Howard has a very impressive resume and portfolio. According to his company’s profile, he co-founded the St. Anne’s College Startup Incubator, Oxford’s first-ever college-based incubator program during college. Also, he co-founded his own startup, Silo, a web-based platform built to simplify the search and application process for graduate funding. No wonder his father is so proud of him.
https://www.axiomzen.co/about/howard
I’m a little confused about his marriage and had a lover who has a son with? So his wife doesn’t mind he’s cheating on her with another woman? I am wonder too is this why he cheated on his wife because they don’t have any kid together? And that he wanted to have a kid with someone else? I’m really not sure what’s behind his story between his wife and his lover who have a child with him.
@cutie777 Cutie…. Sigh…Think Jackie Chan? What about the wife? She knows very well that Etta Chan is his illegitimate daughter w/the mistress but she never divorced the loser. Some women likes being the trophy wife; whether it’s the money or status. They probably don’t care as long as she’s holding some of the money. I did hear from my mom or aunt long ago that Alan Tam is probably one of those archaic man who thinks there has to be SON to be carrying the family name. In fact, younger generations probably don’t care as much if it’s a BOY or GIRL but I am pretty sure some are still living in the old ages and thinks BOYS make all the difference or do they just call them being a traditional man? I am not sure or know WTH is AT’s wife but it’s being a known fact a long time ago that it’s revealed he had a son w/the mistress as well. It’s shi**y world. ahha lol
@wm2017 well I guess you’re right about that but at least he’s being a responsible dad unlike Jackie Chan who doesn’t want to have anything to do with Etta.
@wm2017 the difference is that alan having a mistress is because his wife’s infertility and jacky did it just for the sex. moreover jacky never acknoledge his daughter while alan not only care about his mistress but also a top notch father.
@kolo True. No one can negate the fact that JC is a top notch Ahole of a dude who does not even deserved to be called a father. It’s sad that Etta Chan let that affected her so much that she’s became such a loser in life while she’s still so young.
@cutie777 Alan tam’s wife is a vegetarian…his mistress was his fan. read about his wife handles all his finances but she is childless. don’t know how his wife tolerates his infidelity.
@janet72 wow just a fan and became his lover? I remember back then Andy Lau who has some crazy fans who wanted to be with him bad then they ended up mentally because they couldn’t get together with him? There’s one who even saved her virgin just for Andy can you believe it? I guess Alan lover who got lucky to be with him as his fan. I guess some fans are really lucky to be with their idols it’s like dreams comes true.
@janet72 She probably minded a lot, if not there would not have reports saying that she was becoming a nun. Didn’t follow up with that report if she really did become one in the end. Regardless, it is known that she has turned to religion and this is probably a way for her to find inner peace from the heartbreak in the marriage.
Wonders why she did not divorce him, especially since when she manages his finances.