Amy Chan’s Husband Puts Her in Heavy Debt
Is Amy Chan (陳秀雯) being too protective of her husband, or is there a bigger story behind it? According to Hong Kong’s Oriental Sunday magazine, the TV actress is still left in charge to repay the million-dollar debts that her husband, former ATV star Lam Gwok Hung (林國雄), had left behind.
Amy Suffering from Anxiety Disorder?
Lam Gwok Hung’s astronomical debt, which included credit card debts, bank loans, and other unsecured bills, have been accumulating since 1997. Lam Gwok Hung immersed in studying Buddhism, while reportedly refusing to take responsibility over his own debts, leaving Amy and their son to struggle on their own.
Exacerbated by the pressures of perpetual debt worry, Oriental Sunday claimed that Amy has developed a form of anxiety disorder. Looking much plumper than usual, the 51-year-old actress-singer was recently spotted going grocery shopping with her friend at the fruit market. Amy looked very weary and seemed to be having hair loss issues.
Despite having to pay off her husband’s debt nearly single-handedly, Amy still remained quietly supportive of Lam Kwok Hung. As a result of her husband’s financial mismanagement, Amy’s close relationships with family friends, Poon Fong Fong(潘芳芳) and Christine Fong (方國珊) became estranged.
An Irresponsible Husband
In 2008, Amy’s office at the ATV Studios in Tai Po was splattered with big posters and blood-red ink, demanding Amy to pay off the million-dollar loan her husband left behind.
On January 10, 2009, Amy’s younger sister, Charine Chan (陳加玲), issued a three thousand-word statement that listed all of the incorrigible deeds Lam Gwok Hung had committed as a husband, father, and a human being. Charine urged her sister to learn how to distinguish true love from blind love and the differences black and white.
That same day, Charine angrily spoke to the press about Lam Gwok Hung and his debt menace. Charine disclosed, “In 1997, he borrowed $3 million HKD from me, but he lost all the money in two months. He never told my sister that he borrowed money from me, and even told her not to respond to my phone calls!” In the next several years, Lam Gwok Hung spent all $30 million HKD of Amy’s savings.
“I cannot violate my conscience!” exclaimed Charine. “This is a warning to all the women out there – when you are searching for a boyfriend and a husband, make sure he is a good man! It is okay if he doesn’t have a job, just be responsible. We all cared for [Lam Gwok Hung] once. When he was in trouble, we would all help him, but he had let us all down one by one. He had betrayed all of us!”
Charine became even more furious as she continued her rant, “What’s worse was that he used religion against us! Soon after he married my sister and got her pregnant, he went to become a monk [figuratively]. Is that called love? He treated my sister like his money tree and ATM. All of my sister’s money was given to him! He even forced my sister to be his loan guarantor! My mom loved my sister the most. My mom was so worried she developed cancer, and she was still worried about my sister when she passed away….”
In response to Charine’s explosion of anger, Amy had issued a brief response to Charine’s statement at the time. Amy responded with the famous poem, “Cooking beans on a fire of beanstalks, the beans weep in the pot. Born of the same roots, why the eagerness to destroy one another?” The poem was written by Cao Zhi to his brother Cao Pi, the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of ancient China.
Sources: ifeng.com, East Week; CQnews.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
What a loser!!!
I especially hate losers that use religion to gain favours on others!!
Sick jerk!!!
Poor Amy Chan. Her stupid husband ruined her and her son’s future.
Amy Chan is a very good actress. She should concentrate in acting, not in paying off her stupid husband’s debts.
Amy Chan should have asked for a divorce. If Lam Kwok Hung decided to be a monk, Amy could have filed a divorce since Lam was not fulfilling his responsibilities as a husband and father.
She’s either blinded by love or a very understanding wife.
Amy should come to tvb. He’s not worth putting up this bs.
What a waste of her life! She is soo talented!!
She is just like her character from fate of clairvoyant, but without the cheating part – except its money and not women. Divorce that man! A real step back from women’s independence. Oh well love is blind!
Haha, the good old days is pretty similar too :p
Divorce that pig! That’s no man.
I miss Amy chan so much!!!!
She had always been an amazing actress!
Although I can’t imagine such a husband would exist, but Amy chan ‘s devotion to her husband, and traditional family-oriented values, honestly feels like some characters she portrayed.
Was she influenced? Or was she portraying her inner self?
Come to TVB
“In the next several years, Lam Gwok Hung spent all $30 million HKD of Charine’s savings.” I’m confuse, did he spend Amy or her sister money? Why would her sister lend him $30 million HKD.
He used up both Amy and her sister’s money.
Shame on Lam Kwok Hung being a man and bread earner of his family.
Amy Chan was very pretty when she was young. I remembered watching a drama series of her with Leslie Cheung or some good looking actor.
Her acting is very good, too. It is a shame that she is working for the weak ATV, and not the powerful TVB.
I remember reading news about Amy chan, that when she went over to ATV from TVB, she was the key draw that help the good old days achieve higher ratings than TVB. she was very popular..
Too bad ATV didn’t manage to keep the momentum.
I heard about her husband becoming a monk and all, so did he quit being a monk?? I feel bad for her if this is true. I really miss her and hope that she will come back to acting sometime. She should just divorced her husband and raise her son herself. So sad and you truly don’t know who you marry. They can act all sweet and lovely dovey and then become jerks and bad people.
Haha, I was thinking the same thing i.e studying Buddhism and gambling doesn’t go hand in hand normally. Guess he is the kind that is a fake or a monk that drinks, lies and gambles, lol. Poor Amy 🙁
Well Exiodus, you know all of those people who use religion as a cover up. They preach and go on and on about it, but yet their actions show otherwise. I have seen that some people that are religious are the most annoying people who drink, gamble, make up stories, lie,etc… They just use religion to cover up their bad deeds…
Haha, the Vatican comes to my mind. Glad I’m not religious.
Me too and religious people freak me out. Sadly my mom and my annoying aunt are both religious as heck that they often clash with my and my brothers since none of us are religious..
Amy has been with TVB, and she was best known in the uber famous ‘File of Justice’ series. (For me, I grew up watching her ‘The Good Old Days’ NONSTOP, lol.)
I am interested to know why she hasn’t come back to TVB though. Bad relationship or something? Or maybe it’s just that TVB hasn’t asked her to return?
Addy,
With Amy’s fame, the best way to earn fast money to repay her husband’s debts would be through acting. She sounds very low-profile, so perhaps she doesn’t want to act again and be in the limelight due to family situation?
I heard that Amy was blacklisted from TVB years ago, but is now back into being on good terms with them. I also think that the best way for her to earn money is to act again. It is hard to not stay out of the spotlight once you join the circle. Once you join, you never truly leave… With her talents, she can easily earn a lot acting again. The last time I saw her was in Shao Nian Yang Jia Jiang which is a mainland series. That was in 2006 and have not seen her since then… I never knew that she was stuck in this big mess. So sad…
“For me, I grew up watching her ‘The Good Old Days’ NONSTOP”
I plead guilty. Lol
I don’t really understand, Cherrie Chan said about Lam Kwok Hung on 2009 but why it is only mentioned now, in 2013? Or she complained about the bro-in-law again? Or the issue has never been solved in 4 years?
No, the reporters caught her at the market, that’s why they are bringing it up.
yammie lam gets brought up once in awhile too.
I think Amy Chan is being stupid to be loyal to her so-called husband who does not fulfill the responsibilities of a husband, and don’t ever mention about the responsibilities of a father.
Don’t understand why she keeps working for ATV. Even being the very top actress at ATV, she will not make much money and gain popularity. She does not have many drama series to act. She looked old in the very last ATV legal drama series.
I think many people said they make a lot more at ATV. The last was elena kong or alice chan recently.. Can’t remember, it’s like 2-3 times more.
Maybe that’s why she stuck to ATV.
I hope it is true because Amy needs money to pay for her stupid husband’s debts.
But we all know ATV’s status now and plus I heard that they did not even pay Amy one single dollar for a series that she made. They owed a 7 figure sum but never paid her and claimed that they do not owe her anything…
Yeah, but is she still at ATV now????? She said the contract wasn’t signed so what happened
Uh, so did she marry her husband a long time ago or was this when he lost all her money in 97? I’m confused.
Does anyone have a good pic of her husband? I found one on google but I’m not so sure.
Amy Chan married Lam Kwok Hung in 1987. They met in an ATV drama series “驟雨中的陽光” and Lam Kwok Hung was one of the lead male roles.
Ok, I thought he was one of the leads or sons from a series in the 80’s. I can’t remember what it’s called but it’s title had “family” in it, she was a maid that comitted suicide when they were going to marry her off to an old guy. Anyone know the spelling of this serise?
Btw, this is the photo they took of her at the market.. :((
http://ent.ifeng.com/idolnews/hk/detail_2013_04/02/23810178_0.shtml
It stuck a big watermark about exclusive rights, so I’m just gonna link it.
“This is a warning to all the women out there – when you are searching for a boyfriend and a husband, make sure he is a good man” guys should be careful also when searching for gf/wife 😀 that’s why there’s no need to get married unless there are children in the picture, do the proper due diligence and sign a prenup 🙂 The husband is such a douchebag and Amy should’ve left him already. Amy’s wife mentality is so “ancient” don’t know if she should be considered a good wife or just being stupid 🙁
Both ……… good wife and being stupid!
Amy responded with the famous poem, “Cooking beans on a fire of beanstalks, the beans weep in the pot. Born of the same roots, why the eagerness to destroy one another?” I don’t know Amy’s sister also said their mother developed cancer bc she was so worried which is kinda weird. I assume Amy responded that way to protect her monk hubby, lol
I was wondering how can you get cancer from worrying too much??? Strange… I feel bad for Amy. Is she that blinded in love?? I guess only she would know…
Stupid = good
Depends on how you want to say it.
That’s how most people see things, since we value smarts and astuteness these days.
Clever = astuteness (aka cunningness, shrewdness…… Or worse)
If I like you =
He had a keen sense of astuteness and perceptiveness in regards to optimisation, cost savings and efficiencies of scale in the industry.
If I hate you =
He is a wily old fox with a canine’s nose for sniffing out opportunistic advantages against vulnerable mom-and-pop businesses with years of loyal patrons in our community.
Words, don’t trust them.
Yeah, just words but you are allowed think yourself. The main goal is to maximize shareholder wealth (excluding NPO) and any rational person would realize that no matter the wording.
Shareholders and stakeholders have different goals after all. The first may be in a company’s prospectus, the other, a local newspaper, revealing motives of said company in their community.
😛 it’s nothing to reveal the company is in a specific community bc it’s beneficial in terms of costs, strategic location, supply of raw materials etc. I.e the company is not there to provide and secure employment that’s the Government’s job!
Lol, go tell that to the people whose jobs are taken away by outsourcing to china. You might just get lynched 😛
I guess you would like to see that? Well in that case I will pull a Ip Man ala KC i.e 1 vs 200 or more likely run away, haha
Well, I posted my lack of faith in his Ip man in the recent KC article. After much consideration, my recommendation is to simply hold your position, you’d be knocked out irregardless. 😛
Yea, I wonder the same thing exiodus. My mom is old school but even she would not consider it being a good wife, but is just being blindly supportive of her husband. On the same token, a guy needs to be careful or he can end up with a bad wife too. Not be sexist, but a gambling woman for example is twice as bad as a gambling man…
Yeah, gambling women are the worst, lol. I suppose worrying too much might be a contributing factor but I doubt it’s a significant one with regards to getting cancer.
I know and have never heard of worrying too much becoming a cause for cancer. If that were the case, then I would get cancer easily since I worry a lot…
Don’t worry la virtually zero correlation. Btw I find it funny that your mom failed to convert you into a religious being 🙂
Actually, my mom did succeed in the past and I used to really believe in religion, but as I got older… I began to question it all as well as everything she said and believed in. I still believe in it, but not even half as much as I used to. I have discovered what a religious fanatic my mom and aunt are. My mom is not as bad but boy my aunt is soooo annoying.She lives and breathes religion 24/7. My mom luckily takes a break from it. I used to be really obedient to my mom and got more rebellious which is why I don’t believe in all that religion stuff anymore, especially ever since the day I lost my dearest 6th brother. I used to really believe in karma for example, but now I question that too… There are many that are great people but are living a sad but some are so selfish and live in their own little world, but are yet enjoying their lives… Therefore, I really wonder and question everything now…
Well, some might call her ‘blinded by love’ but the bad term that’s fitting would be ‘stupidity’. Omg, never knew her old school ancient wife mindset is so strong and it seems to be reflecting on her on & off screen life as well. She has always been very pretty in my book and also quite smart and wise from the look of it at least. I mean, at least she has picked some very good scripts from TVB or ATV on some of the roles she portrayed. Who knew she can be so extreme and old school in sticking up to a husband who is not responsible for the family and yet when you sister even couldn’t stand it and yet she is still trying to be defensive? No wonder, those friends of hers became estranged. I mean, if your friend has such a douchebag of a husband and they are probably trying to help you and she refuses to listen to reason…SIGH, a shame b/c she is so talented and yet to hear her real life as such…awww…sad
Well no one can help her beside herself and she might not even see a problem at all. Ancient wife mindset is such aturn
…a turn off. If I want someone who is obedient I rather get myself a dog, lol
Oh Amy, wake up!!
Well, it’s Amy’s life and her choice how she wants to live it. If she wants to work hard, only to let her husband burn through her money, that’s her prerogative (stupid though, we may think she is). Love can make people make amazing sacrifices and do stupid things for the sake of the one we love.
Amy Chan was a very good actress with a sweet face, but she’s way past her prime now at 51. It seems like she will not listen to anybody who tells her to leave her husband due to her own stubbornness or pride or whatever reason, so I don’t feel sorry for her at all. Only pity her son for having such an irresponsible father.
I don’t think that she is past her prime. There are many actresses older than her like Liza, Gigi Wong,etc.. who are still acting and are well liked. I am sure if Amy came back to acting, many will love it and will support her. It is not just about age.
Yes, it is her choice but many just feel bad for her and hope that she will just leave him or that he will change for the better. I guess if you are Buddhist,then you would think that she owed him in the last life and is paying him back now. That is what overly religious Buddhists would think…
Sounds like he has “no conscience” and will likely not change so long as someone (like mommy Amy) is there to fix the mess.
Of course one can still act at any age. I am not saying that Amy Chan is too old to act. What I said was Amy Chan is past her prime, but her acting career is far from over. A woman’s prime years are 18 – 40 (for an actress, when one is past 40, good roles are much harder to come by), and for most actresses who’re past their prime, they won’t be as sought after anymore, unless they’re willing to play supporting roles (such as mothers, aunts etc to the main lead characters) in TVB drama. The exception are those big family melodramas where the lead roles are the older characters – which is where actresses like Michelle Mi Suet, Liza Wang, Lee Sze Kei etc thrive. I can see Amy Chan playing similar characters as them in big family dramas, but she won’t ever be cast as the ‘romantic lead’ in a major drama anymore, as she’s too old for that. She can still play professional roles like lawyers, but she won’t have the same appeal as say, Myolie Wu these days. (FOJ days are way behind her and people want to watch attractive young leads fall in love, not middle-aged professionals.)
But then, even when Amy Chan was in her prime (her 30s) she already played a lot of mature women characters (mothers and ‘si lai’/housewive roles), so she never really was popular for being an attractive/sexy leading lady type of actress in the first place. Her most famous role was the long suffering wife Sau Hau in ‘The Good Old Days’. So I agree that she can easily come back to TVB and regain the support of TV viewers (especially the legion of housewive fans).
Agree with the above post. Amy was never the one acting those romantic and sexy roles. She impressed people with her good acting not with her pretty face and sexy body (like Christine Kuo). She is a fantastic actress.
I agree she has past her prime , if prime means young or young-ish. But like Helen Mirren and Judi Dench proves, you can still be that age and still gorgeous and still command respect and better yet, still be the lead or co-lead. It is just a matter of whether a script is written with that age in mind. Not all shows should be or could be about young adults but for HK who worships youth, maybe Amy Chan’s career is sort of over.
My concern for her is not her acting credentials or ability. She can act. Her problem is her husband is making her look bad in the eyes of the public and in the end in the eyes of producers who may want to hire her. If her career is over, it is because of her association with her husband. No one will want to hire someone with such a baggage.
If you are indicating prime as that, then yes she is way past that. Of course once you get older, you should play motherly roles or auntie type roles and I don’t see anything wrong with that. However, you can still be involved in a love story, but just not as the young lead. I really enjoyed her as the mother in Shao Nian Yang Jia Jiang which was the last series of her that I have seen. That was made in 2006. I wonder what she has been doing since she has not acted for awhile now??? I hope she comes back because that would help her earn income as well as ease the audience’s yearning for her to come back.
The most memorable part is on screen couple with Bobby Au in the law series back in nineties, she look great in the lawyer outfit. Everybody will remember her. Hope she come back to tvb for series soonest Fully support her acting
Poor Amy. Worked so hard and have a bad husband. She need to let go. Focus on the son instead.
if amy wants to be supportive of her husband then its her life, at least she had HK$30 million /a good career before, some people are far worse off than her, people who are homeless or living in orphanages or even the blind, maybe she feels vulnerable without her hubby? or is still with hubby because of her child? some people feel uncomfortable getting into a new environment
Agree. Amy should let go of her husband. She still has a son with her.
dont’t worry about her son, he will have his own life, he is not carrying the burden of his dad’s debts.. that is what i hope, amy and hubbby must settle all debts so as not to pull their son into it as well
When you are a kid of a father who owes a debt, it is hard to not get involved. You know the saying, the debts of a father are often paid by the children. I feel bad for their son…
This happened to my innocent aunt – she and my other aunt who survived breast cancer both deserve compensatory trust funds set up in their names – their lives have been just a blind vulnerable attempt to survive being ill equipped to survive in this world.
Does anyone know about Lam Kwok Hung before he decided to become a monk? How did he end up having so much debt? Gambling or business failure? I can accept more if it was business failure, but definitely not gambling.
Oh…so sorry to hear this. Amy is my absolute favorite actress. Hope she wakes up! I would watch a series if she’s in it despite her age. She’s got what most actresses doesn’t these days.
They burned through 30+ years of her earnings as an actress (from 1979 to present). How many more years does Amy (now 51-yo) have to work? Life is “not” good (for her).
Really really like her acting. Didn’t She act in one drama with Felix Wong, Ma Chang. Her role in that movie quite similar to what happen in her real life I guess.
Btw is any way Macy Chan related to her? Both of them really look a like. or is it just me?.