Benz Hui Moves to Singapore After Leaving TVB
Since his TVB contract has already ended this past February, it’s speculated that veteran actor Benz Hui (許紹雄) will be permanently moving to Singapore to live with his wife and daughter.
Although the news didn’t come from Benz initially, Singapore’s District Councilwoman in the Nee Soon district, Lee Bee Wah (李美花), shared a photo of herself with Benz, captioning the photo, “Guess which Hong Kong TVB star will be our resident soon?”
Many netizens were wary about Benz’s choice of residence. The crime rate in this area is fairly high in contrast to other parts of Singapore. Apparently, many strange occurrences have happened in the Nee Soon district, including a series of unsolved cat murders. In the fall of 2015, a total of 7 cats were mysteriously killed in the span of 12 days, making residents believe that the place is cursed. Even BBC covered the mysterious case of cat murders.
When interviewed about his reasons in relocating to Singapore, Benz commented he met his wife in Singapore in the 1980s while working there. Their daughter, Charmaine, was also born in Singapore. Benz had split his time in Hong Kong and Singapore before, and owns properties in both cities. He is very familiar with Singapore, and is not bothered by rumors about the Nee Soon district.
In order to clamp down on the negativity surrounding the area of Nee Soon, the city disclosed statistics showcasing that the crime rates have been steadily declining in the last couple of years. The city also explained that Nee Soon was ranked on the lower end in comparison to other cities with the highest crime rates.
Source: HK01
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
Looks like Benz will no longer be acting. What a shame! He’s a great versatile actor that has captured many memorable roles for decades. I highly doubt that Benz will have a difficult time finding work after leaving TVB. As he said, I am sure this was a family decision. Best of luck to you, sir! Enjoy your retirement!
@anon
It’s a shame but I think it’s the correct time for Benz to retire since he is already 70. Not worth working till health deteriorates without enjoying the relaxing nature of retirement.
Singapore more Asian feeling and dont feel like 2nd class.welcome to spore.Benz
@rwes67r
I will miss Benz but he is older now and needs his break as he has been working hard for many years. HK and Singapore are close by so he can still act occasionally if he wants to.
I wonder if Benz has Singaporean citizenship or is he just living there as a resident? I heard it is hard to get Singaporean citizenship. He must be decently well off as it is expensive to live in Singapore. But hope he enjoys it there as Singapore seems like a good place to live.
Good for him. Time to settle down. He should be able to get gigs in local stations if he wants to. Or just come back occasionally to do a series like other ex tvb artists do when they immigrate to another country such as Canada.
@mike hopefully he does come back to TVB every now and then to do a drama. Benz is a great actor. We’ll miss him on the screen.
@kokomo
I have a feeling he will if he gets bored. Many celebrities have emerged from retirement to act occasionally.
I can’t see Benz retiring for good. He can be like Patrick Tse or Bowie Wu or Law Lan and just film when he feels an itch :).
@coralie
Benz loves acting otherwise would have retired decades ago. He came from a rich family and did not need the money. I still expect him to fly back and participate in movies.
@jimmyszeto He seems to come from a prominent family via Wiki, but how do you know his family is rich?
@coralie
I’ve not researched because I don’t know Chinese but Benz was nicknamed ‘Benz’ was already driving a Mercedes Benz to work when he was an extra/minor support back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He did not join the entertainment circle for money. I think his family’s past generations are linked to powerful figures of the imperial family.
@jimmyszeto @coralie Benz is from a prominent family (with connections to the Qing dynasty imperial family and also one of China’s most famous literary figures Lu Xun), but not necessarily a rich one (though his parents did own a jade and jewelry shop back in the day, but doesn’t necessarily mean the family was wealthy — they probably made enough to be comfortable but not rich to the point where he would be set for life). Benz himself has said in previous interviews that all the prominence in his family was from back in his great-grandfather’s day and pretty much the family’s fortunes went downhill from there. The Mercedes Benz that he bought in the 1970s was actually the result of him saving up his hard-earned money. It’s true though that he didn’t join the entertainment industry because of the money — he joined because he got bored working in his dad’s shop, lol.
I remember I had translated an interview he had done with Mingpao a few years back where he talked about his family life and also the Singapore thing so I went back and dug it up for those who might be interested (this interview is actually from 2012). Aside from his acting, it’s interviews like this one that make me love Benz so much as a person too, lol: https://llsmusings.blogspot.com/2013/01/mingpao-interview-with-veteran-tvb.html?m=0
@llwy12 Wow I didn’t know about the prominence of his family.
Moving to Singapore is nothing. Many did way back in 1997 anyway. Nothing new. But significance is gotta be well off to move to singapore.
Singapore crimes rates even if high in a area is still much lower then many Countries. What is there to worry about? HK is worse…
@hohliu “HK is worse…” – Nah…try NYC. The worse parts of HK can’t even hold a candle up to NYC’s.
@pocky
Wow is NYC that bad? But yet it is still one of the most expensive places to live in the world.
Awww I will miss Benz!