Hana Kuk is Financially Stressed Due to Covid-19
Although Hana Kuk (菊梓喬) is one of Hong Kong’s most popular singers, the current Covid-19 is causing her financial hardship as she was forced to cancel and postpone her performances. As many people are staying home to avoid going out, Hana has not been receiving any income for months and is struggling financially.
Struggling to Pay Taxes
As one of the top singers in her agency, Hana admitted that her income is not stable and faced difficulties in paying her taxes, “I was stunned when I saw my tax bill. I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know where to borrow money. Since I didn’t save enough money (to pay taxes), I’m in a rough spot. You won’t understand. You need to live with me to see how poor I am.”
Concerned about paying her taxes, Hana shared she will be requesting for tax relief, “I will have to see if it can be done. I need to do it or else I’m really in trouble. The tax is really scary.”
High Living Expense?
With Hana’s rising popularity, she could demand a higher appearance fee to help her financial situation, however Hana disputed the idea, “How much more? Every month, I need to pay for car and apartment rental. Actually my money is used up. My work requires make-up, hair styling, car rental and all of these things cost money. It costs money to eat and these are just the basics. I am very pitiful right now. I don’t have a house. I am still renting. It’s very expensive.”
Hana revealed that her landlord refused to decrease her rent and she will have to move to a cheaper apartment in the future.
How is Hana Staying Positive?
Before the pandemic crisis, Hana was booked to appear in a drama, to open her solo concert in Hong Kong and to have a performance in Los Angeles. Sharing her disappointment with the turn of events, she said, “I was looking forward to going to the United States, but I know that I need to avoid the high-risk activities during the pandemic. I will maintain my positivity and I don’t worry too much. I think money is a small matter, and having good health is more important.”
Adding that her situation is not the worse that can happen, Hana remains optimistic, “Right now, I’m not the only one without anything to do. A lot of friends around me are dealing with work suspension or layoffs. I understand that this hurdle is not easy, but I faced many difficulties in the past. I think I can pass this with patience and with more positive energy. I hope everyone will watch after each other.”
Source: Oriental Daily
This article is written by Sammi for JayneStars.com.
she’s in the same boast as millions around the globe are facing financial ruin.
@msxie0714
Exactly but I truly wonder if she is such a popular singer then wouldn’t she make a lot of money? Therefore, wouldn’t she have quite a bit of money saved up? Unless she spent it all or
maybe she is not as popular as she originally thought she was.
@hetieshou
Likely overspending whether it is the luxurious rental property or other extravagant assets. The Lockdown hadn’t exactly gone on for months and months and she is already struggling. Wouldn’t worry about Hana though. Singers can probably get all sorts of income through hired to sing at rich parties. It would be funny that she is ‘jade solid gold best female singer’ and struggling after a couple of months without work. Obviously not popular enough too…
@jimmyszeto
I think you are right as she probably spent it recklessly or has it stuck in stocks or whatever and cannot cash it out on time. Maybe life has been too good for her that now she is finally struggling so cannot handle even a little problem.
@jimmyszeto Could also be that her company collects a significant chunk of her fees. So she’s getting paid pennies in comparison to what she rakes in, similar to what Korean labels like SM Ent or others do to their artists.
I remember reading articles before about her thriftiness, so this financial fallout might not be due to her spending habits but more due to what her company charges her to manage her work or she’s not getting enough jobs.
@hetieshou
quite a few famous Americans millionaire celebrities and athletes ended up broke due to lack of good economic planning. Spending recklessly into the poorhouse is not an uncommon story.
@msxie0714
I know about all that but I thought that Asian artists would be smarter with their money unlike American artists who spend their millions like water. They then end up living in their car or applying for food stamps. That actually happened in real life with a few American artists.
Feel the pinch – welcome to our world.
Young and pretty.. should have no problem la find rich hubby.. just don’t fall for andy hui or Kathy chows hubby.. hee
@jingxi2943
Not exactly young. She’s 36 or 37. Leftover in Asian standard but still looking good though.
Always plan for a rainy day…
I wonder don’t she have any other family members who can help her out such as her parents? Unless all her family are poor too. Or look for a young rich boyfriend like Zoie Tam, Janice Man, Anjaylia Chan, Whitney Hui and Jinny Ng who married into a rich family
@cutie777
Good point but what if she does not want to ask them as she is a working adult. I definitely would not ask my family unless I became extremely desperate. Parents maybe but not siblings unless they are still single. Ones who are married are a different story as they would prioritize their own family first.
Bad planning or controlling management. Some management companies make their artists live in expensive places and buy expensive clothes. Quite hard to believe a jsg winner would run dry after a few months. Either overspending or tells the true market value of the star
She is quite frugal and only luxuries she has bought were things required for our work and the appearance of success it was supposed to give off (including home rent, car, higher end clothing).
Hana grew up having a rough childhood where her parents got divorced and abandoned her when she was 13. She had to get various odd jobs before someone could legally work to support herself and younger sister and had to drop out of high school to make money at low paid jobs.
Source: https://www.jaynestars.com/news/hana-kuks-rough-past-made-her-who-she-is-today/
Her wikipedia page lists her education as HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education which is likely to finish her high school education she never had the opportunity to finish and have some further training in her 20s before she entered the entertainment industry.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hana_Kuk
She started her career when she was 30 years old in the entertainment industry. She is currently 33 so it is 2+ years of working. The initial years of a contract, the training costs have to be recouped. For an actress or singer, the first contract which can be 7 years in duration barely make anything unless one scores big endorsements. She was just getting more and more popular so offers likely were starting to come in.
Many of the investing skills, family support, saving money etc likely is foreign to her given the above listed reasons.