Eric Tsang’s Sexless Marriage of 20 Years
With strong credentials in almost every aspects in the entertainment industry, Eric Tsang (曾志偉) is a well-respected father figure for many artists in the showbiz. Even Eric’s 60th birthday bash at Disneyland – which aired on TVB Jade last week – was attended by over 600 friends from the entertainment circle.
But popularity and social reputation came at a cost – Eric’s family was sacrificed.
Living in a Loveless Marriage
Eric has been through two marriages. His first marriage was to Taiwanese actress Wang Mei Hua (王美華), also affectionately known as Mother Po in Taiwan. Pressured by his parents, Eric married Wang when he was only 19-years-old. The young Eric was compelled by the idea of setting down so soon, but Wang agreed to give Eric three years of “bachelor” freedom after their marriage.
Wang revealed that Eric was not with her on their marriage night – the outgoing Eric instead spent three days and nights drinking with his groomsmen and close friends. Due to Eric’s hectic work schedule and sociable nature, Wang and Eric rarely spent time together, causing their marriage to finally end in divorce three years later. Wang brought their eldest daughter, Bowie Tsang (曾寶儀), back to Taiwan, while their younger daughter immigrated to Canada.
Eric’s second marriage was to Sung Lai Wah (宋麗華), who had two sons with Eric before they registered for marriage in 1989. In the early 1990s, Sung and her two sons immigrated to Toronto, Canada. Eric, however, was unwilling to give up his career and chose to stay in Hong Kong. Although the couple has not separated, they have been living in a long-distance relationship for the past 20 years.
According to Hong Kong’s 3 Weekly, Eric’s daughter Bowie admitted that she never truly experienced fatherly love. “Now, when I want to see my father, I have to book a time,” she sighed.
Bowie moved to Taiwan with her grandparents when she a toddler. Missing her father, Bowie would send hand-written letters to her father every year; some letters even went over three pages in length. Preoccupied with his business and social circle, Eric did not have the time to reply, but Eric ultimately sent Bowie two words, “Miss You.”
Eric’s eldest son, Derek Tsang (曾國祥), also said, “We have never been really close. His social life always came before his family.”
Source: Pclady.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Wow, what a selfish and horrible father.
Not only bad father and also a horrible boss
Everything comes at a cost. One chooses what is most important to him or her….obviously he picked his.
Wealth and bacherlorhood??? Hmmm can you bring that to your grave and be truly happy…maybe. If I were one of his poor kids I wouldn’t even bother showing up to his funeral….never had a dad anyways. LOSER dad in the end.
You get some and you lose some. You cannot have everything in life. Women can easily say that they will pick family over career since they rely on the man to bring home the bacon. However, for the guy, they usually are expected to bring home the bacon so have to sacrifice family time and all… It is sad and is way too traditional of a way of thinking.
For Eric’s case, yes he is expected to ‘bring the bacon’ home,but that doesn’t justify his actions in neglecting his family completely. We know he’s sufficiently well off and is able to provide more than enough for his family, taking breaks to visit them once in two months in Canada wouldn’t harm his income.
Right now Eric is well off, but who knows if he was back then or not?? Everyone struggles financially at some point in their lives, especially when you are just starting out.
Eric sounds like a party animal, even in his youth. Working hard to provide for his family is understandable, but he’d rather also spend whatever free time he has to play with his friends than be a good husband and father. That is not justifiable. He sounds just like Jackie Chan. Both do not enjoy family life. Look at Jacky Cheung, also a very busy man, but he makes time for his daughters and spends holidays with them every year, that’s a good family man!
“Women can easily say that they will pick family over career since they rely on the man to bring home the bacon”
I don’t agree! When a women gives up a career, it’s not only about the money she brings home. It’s also sacrificing her social life, her contribution to society and her years of education o take care of her family. A father can still work hard and spend time with his family. But after work and he chooses partying, drinking and social time with his friends rather than be home with his children, then that is irresponsible. Just like it warms our hearts reading about father celebrities like Sunny, Chilam, Raymond Wong, Frankie, Jackie etc who put their kids over their social life, it is irksome to read about celebrities who are ireesponsible fathers.
I agree with 939393, it doesn’t justify his actions in completely neglecting his family. There are many celebrities who manage to balance work and family. Perhaps leaning more towards the work side, but not to the extreme that Eric has done. He can make time to hang out with his friends but no time to even give his kids a call? What a dead beat dad.
True, but why can’t the guy give up his career? Why does it always have to be the women?? It also depends on what kind of job you have as well. At times, it can be hard to spend a lot of time with family if you have to constantly travel for example, for work and stuff. Of course, I do agree that you should spend time with family whenever you can and it did not seem like Eric did that. However, he seems to be at least on decent terms with his kids and is not estranged from them.
Also, what if there was not enough money to even keep a roof over your head or basic necessities of life?? A woman can do all that she can at home, but if there is not even enough to keep a roof over your head, then all of that does not become much…
In all of the examples given of Raymond, Frankie,Chilam,etc… All of their wives work as well to help bring home the bacon since you really wonder if they will be able to live the life that they do if only the guys worked?? Especially in HK where the standard of living is soooo high.
First of all, women do not stay faithful to men just because they “bring home the bacon.” It’s a conscious decision by both spouses to give up one of the person’s career to care for the family.
Secondly, I think people would blame Eric less if he merely spent all his time at work. The problem here that he spends all his time partying…and he has a reputation of being a womanizer too. I feel bad for his kids.
if he didn’t get some from his wife, he certainly was and is getting elsewhere.
Funn,
“if he didn’t get some from his wife, he certainly was and is getting elsewhere.”
I think so too. Aside from Shirley Kwan and Koni Lui, Eric wasn’t rumored with too many women though. I’m not sure about Shirley, but as for Koni, she seems very happy with her husband so those rumors may have been bogus.
Totally agreed 😛
Derek Tsang turned out pretty good. I enjoyed “Lovers Discourse” and “Lacuna” and I’m looking forward to his next movies.
he probably turned out fine as a person. but we never know how he feels emotionally deep down. maybe he also yearns for fatherly love, but has to “tough it out” in front of others since he’s a guy – shouldn’t show any weak emotions according to society
I can’t stand it when my wife travels for work and I’m without her for a week! I turned down a job opportunity at work because it would have meant 30% of my year would be on the road visiting the client away from my family.
20 years away? Unfathomable.
TVBFanatic,
Travelling for work is very disruptive once you have a family.
Obviously, Eric and his wife drifted apart over the years. They have been leading separate lives and since both may not necessarily not get along, they remained married.
good choice of his wife to stay as his wife.
Since then she can share his wealth.
HA
This is the first recent news article I’ve read about Eric that doesn’t end with him getting drunk and passing out. He must be awesomely talented and a faithful friend because he appears to have been a terrible husband and father.
He should write book on parenting the right way 🙂
I’m glad there’s an article about this.
Eric might seem like a fantastic friend, but you don’t want him in your family.
I remember watching the 60th bday bash and he was thanking all the important males/females in his life and he didn’t mention is family. It wasn’t until the end, when his daughter Bowie thanked her stepmom/his current wife for him.
It’s sad. It doesn’t even seem like family is on his list of priorities at all.
This is somewhat depressing. I wouldn’t be able to handle what Eric Tsang’s kids are going through.
Being popular is good. But from what I am hearing out of this article, I feel that Eric needs to value his family a lot more and balance his work schedule out because you won’t know when one of your loved ones is gone or something among these lines..
Reading this article reminds me of my father. My father is similar to him in a lot of ways…I live in Canada, I rarely get to see my father because he has work in HK. It’s depressing because he feels like a stranger to me whenever he visits me and my mom during summer time. It’s really hard for me to say “I love you daddy” because he just seems so foreign to me…and I can tell he doesn’t even love kids, so it’d be awkward if I show love and emotion to him. I feel so bad for my mom cuz she always seem very depressed…and sometime she takes out her anger on me
Men are naturally not as nurturing and were raised in the past to be the bread provider. The concept of providing more than financial support is foreign to men raised in the asian community.
I know it must be hard for you since I also share a similar father figure of Eric Tsang. My father was always more occupied with helping others instead of his own family.
Hopefully your mom’s emotion will stabilize and things will get better for you and your family.
I don’t think our fathers were ever nurturing actually. The face paced growth of the Asian economy required longer hours in the office (eg. salaryman phenomenon in Japan). Furthermore, poor working classes meant that the father needed to go out and work entire days to provide for their family.
dd – I disagree in placing the blame on society.
There’s always going to be the opportunity to provide more for the family. It does not look like there’s a pyramid of basic needs not met but more of a desire to have more over a balance family/work.
Working long hours away from the family is a sort of commitment fathers think they are giving to their family.
I think that that is the past because my brothers are fathers now and they are even more nurturing than their wives are. They work as well so it is not always like that. I have seen some women less nurturing these days then some men are.
Families with maids. The maid pretty much takes the role of the mother while the mother does her own stuff like play mahjong, lol
Very true. Seen quite a lot of mothers and fathers that are like “You maid, do everything”. They can trust their children with the maid but they can’t trust their golds and diamonds with their maid. Funny isn’t it?
Family friend’s maid ran off with the mother’s gold and jewelry one day. I think she worked with the family for 2 years and suddenly vanished into the wind. Your point really hits home for me.
At least it is just material wealth rather than maid goes crazy and hacks everyone to death suddenly one day sort of problem. Indonesian maid?
Filipino I think
Bahaha!
This does not surprise me, what a piece of trash he is. I am still shocked that he actually got 2 females to agree to marry him and into bed though. No amount of money could get me to agree to that.
He is an a-hole in the industry and an a-hole as a father/husband.
He must be competing with Jackie Chan for worst father of the year award. I think he won it, at least he can sway he is better than Jackie at 1 thing.
Couldn’t even write back his children after they spend so much time writing him. Truly messed up.
I hope he enjoys his old age in a home where no one comes to visit him or will miss him when he is gone. His kids are better off without him.
“No amount of money could get me to agree to that.”
Couldn’t agree more. LOL!!!
Yes. Cause and effect. If you didn’t even change a single diaper for your kids or clean up their vomit when they are young, don’t expect them to do it for you when you are old and bedridden.
It seems that some HK men can’t really raise children properly. Jaycee Chan seems like he has had some serious confidence issues in the past.
I think Jaycee turned out okay. I would have confidence issue even in a well raised family simply b/c my father is jacky chan. No matter what I do, I’ll have to live up to his expectations.
I don’t think Jaycee cares what his father thinks. I think that is why and how he turns out ok, with no credit to Jackie. He seems no confidence may be mistaken with perhaps being well mannered, polite and new at the scene. Same goes for Sammo Hung’s children, Eric Tsang’s children, etc
I always felt Jaycee was a little on99.
I think Jaycee does care what his father thinks. He constantly mention his childhood with jackie in interviews while jackie on the other hand, refuses to answer questions related to Jaycee most of the time. At one time when Jaycees was cause with a model, he urged the paps not to publish it as he fears his dad would reprimand him. So yeah.
Oops I meant ‘when Jaycee was spotted with a model’
I think some of the comments here are too harsh and unreasonable. Ppl make mistake. I believe he did make mistake and he might be a better person now. Example he was involve in his son’s wedding, he had a surprise bday party for Bowie etc..Many ppl experience such issue especially ppl in HK where due to 1997 everyone starts migrating. I think he has handle things well as compared to other artist where the cut the ties completely with the first wife and kid eg Gallen Lo?
Eric Tsang is an a$$hole, and this is coming from someone who enjoys his acting.
There was a point in time when he wore a bandana over his head when he showed up to MC. He was beat over the head (by triads they say) for saying stuff he wasn’t supposed to.
Eric Tsang isn’t an a-hole, he’s just a vocal person. I say the triads are the a-holes for not having the balls to accept criticism.
People are going to talk, Mr. Albert Yeung needs to get over it instead of beating up each person that does not do as he says.
Getting beat up by triads just means Eric was speaking the truth. We need more people to stand up rather than coward in fear.
Isabel, One of the recent articles I read was about a birthday party for Bowie. There’s a photo of her standing up to thank all her friends and guests and Eric is already passed out in a chair in the center of the room. Great father – can’t even stay sober and not embarrass his daughter. Although by know she is probably used to it.
Success comes from hardworking and sacrifices alot of things like families and love ones at the same time not many celebrities have reached the level like Jackie Chan and Eric Tsang these ppl are extrovert and they just love their jobs.
In your definition of success maybe but everyone has a different meaning of success.
Only a selfish person will sacrifice his family and love ones for success. What if you are the one being sacrificed? By your father or husband? Will you say the same? That it is only success they are going after?
@primrose
Can’t you see all his grown up children are attending his party..this is the chinese saying “bitter in the beginning enjoyed your sweetness later”
But you do not know the real reason why they attend.
I think it ended up pretty good for Eric. Reading this makes me think of Eric as a person with the mindset of men from Three Kingdoms. Friends are like limbs, and wives are like clothes. I can’t imagine what it was like for his children growing up but it looks like the have a pretty good relationship now. Not like he’s estranged from his children.
Some admire his actions since you called it a sacrafice. I think he’s self-fish and will probably die alone. If your kids feel disconnected with you and you’re a stranger to them what kind of a success are you? Money and fame only last for so long but love it stays in people’s heart forever. He could still bring home the becon cause he knows people to do business with. He just didn’t make do…his kids are all grown up and he missed every steps of it and there is no turning back either. That’s pretty sad!
Varies from person to person. Some see family and kinship over all else, others see their individual successes above all else. As outsiders, we can shake our heads all we want, but it won’t change this man’s view on his beliefs, priorities and already made decisions.
and i just saw this old programme of him speaking about his religion and all.
what a hypocrite.
a real man always makes time for his family.
In the early days, Eric did have it quite tough in the industry…. he wasn’t anywhere the ‘big brother’ that he is today.
I can understand that mistakes have been made. But they have been made a long time ago…. surely all people have their good and their bad sides.
He might not take home the ‘best parenting’ prize; but he has dedicated his entire life to the showbiz of HK. It just depends on where priorities are…. we can’t really judge people’s priorities/life either…
what was that line in The Ref that Judy Davis delivered with such hysteria and agony?
“because she has money that’s why we bother with her”
I guess Eric Tsang was never hurtful enough to his daughter for her to refuse to even make an appointment with him – unlike Leslie’s character in Days of Being Wild who refused to allow his birth mother a glimpse of his face – tit for tat – you have to have standards.
if this story is true – he won’t miss his children’s presence in his life – it won’t matter and it’s inaccurate of his children to expect or wish otherwise – they’re not friends and how do we treat people who are actively not our friends?
Oh well, Eric needs to do a lot of pimping in order to put food on the table. Like you know, work hard for the money?
I was laughing at the title of this article. Sexless?? Yeah rite. His main meal is in canada, He probably will ngo sei by now if didn’t have some snacks in between.
I view Eric as an insecure person who has a Napoleon complex who feels the need to control the situation. He has to surround himself with “friends” so that he feels important. Being a husband and a father to a family ties him down and give up all the social events and limelight he enjoys. He does not want that and objectively and consciously chose that decision to put himself, his social life, work first before anything else. Those who are related to him would have to work around his schedule and not the family’s. As for his “sexless” marriage topic, he may not have sex with his legal wife but I am sure he is getting quid pro quo from female stars, models or other entertainment related postions “wannabes”. In actuality, I think that Eric and Virginia Lok of TVB are “bosom buddies” made on the same cloth.
Ewww! I have to get my memory bank scrubbed of the awful image your last sentence created! LOL
What I find interesting about the whole thing is that despite the lack of fatherly guidance in their lives, Bowie Tsang and her brother turned out to be pretty confident and well adjusted adults who have made something of themselves. They did not turn out as problem children, lacking self-esteem or resenting their dad. Again, this proves that mothers usually play a far more important role to their children’s lives than fathers. Bowie must have a great mom, giving her all the guidance and love she needs to make up for her useless father.
he picked his career over his family. pretty sad for his family..