How Evergreen Mak is Using His Paycheck from the Artistes Guild
To support artistes who have lost jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild announced last week that it would pass out stimulus checks to guild members. Organized by the guild’s current and former presidents Louis Koo (古天樂) and Andrew Lau (劉偉強), eligible guild members would receive a $9,000 Hong Kong dollar paycheck.
Many artistes have already shared online that they have received their checks, including former TVB actor Evergreen Mak (麥長青). “This sum of money will definitely assist many grassroots filmmakers and artistes,” he said.
The actor praised the guild’s efficiency, saying, “I didn’t have to wait very long before my check was approved and sent to me. I have already expressed my gratitude and thanks on social media.”
As for how he was using his HK$9,000 stimulus check, he admitted, “Of course it’s going to my children’s school tuition! Tuition is truly very expensive. Any little help is great.”
The former TVB actor and his wife lost their life savings in an iPhone scam in 2014, which the couple is currently contesting in a court battle. Evergreen suffered a harsh fall from Best Supporting Actor and was relegated to minor roles at the station, before deciding to work for ViuTV last year.
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
$9000hkd isn’t a whole lot of cash. Converted to Canadian dollars, it’s probably as good as $1500.
@tinlunlau
Yes it is even less in US dollars but at least it is something. Great that Evergreen is putting it to good use.
@hetieshou It’s not a lot of money, but it really shows how tough it is financially for Evergreen and his wife, since they have to pay legal fees for their iPhone scam court case. He probably doesn’t get paid a lot working for ViuTV.
@jayne
That is true as he just lost a really big amount of money due to that scam. I feel bad for him as I got scammed recently too but my amount is nothing compared to what he lost. They actually took that case to court? Will he get his money back? I have a feeling ViuTV does not pay much and he does not get paid much and his wife does not work. I wished he would let his wife work and do not get why he does not let his wife work. It is hard to live on one income.
@hetieshou Probably no skills but she should really try doing something about it, especially since she was the one that lost their savings and caused him to lose his job.
I did wonder why he wasnt on any shows in recent years.
9000hkd handout doesnt seem to be enough for much but better than nothing.
@hetieshou Since the iPhone scam took place in 2014 and Evergreen is only now attending the court hearings…the proceedings seem very slow. Even if he can prove the other party guilty, Evergreen may not be able to recover the entire HK$4 million he lost.
I always find it unbelievable that well known actors such as Evergreen Mak, who has worked in the industry for over 30+ years, get paid so little money. At the start of their acting careers, it is understandable that it’s a low-paid profession, but it is very discouraging to be famous years later but still financially unstable.
@jayne
Yeh. You would think that 4 million is not a lot For a celebrity and it would have been settled years ago instead of dragging out affecting Evergreen’s reputation and career.
@jayne
I forgot that that scam took place years ago. Wow, they are taking their sweet old time. I have a feeling that he will not get his money back or all of it, but hopefully he can convict those scammers so they cannot scam others. They need to be punished too.
I heard about Yuen Wah who is even older than Evergreen have to work so hard for so little money. I have gotten into a Kpop a bit lately and realize it is the same way. They can train for years and not even debut so making big bucks is an even bigger dream. It is sad but kind of expected especially if they work for TVB who is very cheap and pay as little as possible.