Lawrence Ng Dislikes Living in Mainland China
Lawrence Ng (吳啟華) split his time between Hong Kong and Mainland China after marrying actress Shi Yangzi (石洋子) in 2007. Although Lawrence’s main home was in China where Yangzi resided permanently, he plans to move back to Hong Kong after his divorce and get in touch with his old roots again.
No Place Like Hong Kong
Unable to handle the lifestyle in China, Lawrence disclosed, “I always felt that Hong Kong is my actual home. The longer I’ve been living in China, the more I dislike it there. Besides the differences in culture, the most important thing is that there seems to be a lack of justice and discipline in China. I know that my daughter will have her own opinions when she grows up and will be able to tell the difference between the two places. Then, we can let her choose where she wants to stay!”
Relocating to China in 2007 after the birth of his daughter, Lawrence admitted that he never adjusted to living in China. Besides recalling the time Yangzi was a victim of a online shopping scam, Lawrence said he once witnessed a man urinating in public who then threatened to hit him because he simply glanced over.
Having stayed in England during his studies, Lawrence also does not recommend living overseas. Firm on enrolling his daughter at an international school in Hong Kong, Lawrence refuses to send her anywhere else. Recalling his experience on being bullied in England, Lawrence angrily explained, “I used to get bullied overseas because people in England really cared about seniority. Since I was a junior, I was a slave to the upperclassmen. I got up every morning to buy food and serve drinks to the bosses. At night, when everyone had two blankets, I only had one. And sometimes they would hit me with a towel and ask for snacks. I couldn’t tell my teacher because the outcome would be worse. I was crying internally at that time, it was unbearable!”
From Villain to Lovable Doctor
Before joining the entertainment industry, Lawrence’s initial plans were to become a police officer. However, Lawrence’s father, who was ironically a police officer at that time, told Lawrence to pursue a career as an actor because officers did not make enough money. In the early days of his acting career, Lawrence had to unhappily accept minor villainous roles that tarnished his image from the get-go. Although he was displeased with playing rapists and murderers, it was his hated role in The Feud of Two Brothers <流氓大亨> that propelled Lawrence into the limelight.
Lawrence’s recognition increased when he filmed Category III movie, Sex and Zen <玉蒲團之偷情寶鑑>. Unfortunately, Lawrence was tricked into filming Sex and Zen – the director misled him into signing onto the film. When Lawrence found out about the sexual nature of the movie, he was asked to pay $20 million HKD in compensation should Lawrence refuse to film.
Finally breaking out of his typical villainous role, Lawrence went on to becoming a “lady killer” overnight with his role in Healing Hands <妙手仁心>. Laughing at his title, Lawrence revealed that he is indeed quite popular with the ladies in real life. Lawrence remembers a time where various women at a bar surrounded him even before he rose to fame.
Source: stheadline.com
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
Living in England myself currently, i am very surprised about his experience there
Being bullied,experiencing racism,etc…happens everywhere and is not limited to any place. I was born and raised in the US and was picked on a lot and experienced sexism and racism a lot growing up and even now. The world and life is never going to be fair and equal.
Also Lawrence Ng should have lived in England when he was young, which was more than 30 years ago. Life was different then in England.
Even locals get bullied, and yes there is racism there however multi-cultural it is. Im surprised you’re ‘surprised’ about his experience.. and you also have to think when he was studying there was a different time to recently.
White racism is quite rife in most of these western countries. What’s worse is that this ‘phenomenon’ has deep colonial & cultural roots when white people were raping, stealing, killing & lording over non-white countries the world over. Unlike racism from other races, white racism is deeply institutionalized & carries with it significant implications for minorities growing up or living in their host countries. It’s always PC to say ‘racism is everywhere’ but that’s not just ludicrous (would you say rape is okay since there’ll always be someone raped somewhere?) but also marginalizing the true problem when the young of the ‘dominant’ race, grow up thinking it’s alright as per status quo & continue to perpetuate the cycle from their position of societal privilege & power. Just look at geopolitics today.
“White racism is quite rife in most of these western countries.”
I guess the irony of your first sentence is lost on you? pretty racist comment. The fact is that racism IS everywhere. I have lived in Asia, and I have experienced racism first hand myself, both socially and in the office space. It was really an eye opening experience for me, and I think I’m better for the experience.
Racism knows no borders.
But you won’t see me making comments like “Yellow racism is quite rife in Asia” because I able to separate a race of people from the acts of a few individuals.
@tvbfanatic:
Tell me about yellow racism again when the countries of yellow people disproportionately control a majority of the world’s wealth, media, geopolitics & engages in neocolonialism.
—
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2818968/Banker-booked-prostitute-1-000-night-chopped-hid-body-suitcase.html
Yet another bunch of poor asian women butchered by a white guy in HK. Now lets see the slap-on-the-wrist sentence the HK Courts will be pressured by the UK to give this murderous pig just because he’s also white.
This is on top of another white-on-asian crime, even the Asian transgender wasn’t spared.
http://www.womensagenda.com.au/talking-about/top-stories/why-the-courier-mails-offensive-headline-is-telling/201410074721
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australian-newspapers-shemale-headline-about-murder-victim-mayang-prasetyo-draws-outrage-9779703.html
Westerner media routinely marginalizes Asian victims of dastardly white crimes. Oh yes, white privilege & racism are institutionalized – you can’t run away from them & they exist to the detriment of non-whites. Asia didn’t pretend to be the moral compass of the world, the west did, much to the shock of once deluded white worshipers when they endured the humane hospitality in western countries.
you are comparing present time to 30 years ago, that’s like comparing apples to oranges. People are more acceptance to cultural differences now compare to 3 decades ago, but racism still exist.
Is it that bad in China? Many if my students from Mainland all wanted to stay in the US when they came here to study. I heard many stories about China but not sure how true it all is. I heard HK is better which is why many Mainlanders want to live there and so many have came to Hk.
Hope Lawrence finds happiness and great that he loves HK so much.
Do you teach Engrish?
Yes, I do.
HK too crowed,thousand southeast Asian like Vietnamese/Filipino toilet cleaning maid want live in HK too.I’m not sure does HK gov’t allow permit residence for foreign toilet cleaner like Vietnamese,Filipino and indonesian.
You also should have mentioned those illegal mainlanders staying in HK without any legal documents.
Maybe the Hongkies don’t wanna cleanup after their doodoo
No, HK governmeny does nnot allow them residence permit.
Remember the court case where a filipino maid sue the government for a HK ‘green card’ on the context that she has stayed in HK for 10 years.
The high court ruled she can stayed, but the appeal court ruled she is not an expat and has to leave once her work permit is over Case closed.
I’ve only visited big cities in China, and I don’t think I’ll survive living there. Pollution, massive traffic jam, oily and salty food.
I always enjoy the visit, but not longer than a week. Now I also love chinese shows (the ancients series, not modern one) and varieties/ reality TV.
Puff,
Nice seeing you post again. Really missed seeing you. Is it that bad in China? One of my former friends liked it in China and even wanted to live there. I guess she only got a glimpse of what life is truly like and does not know what reality is.
By the way,some of the modern series from China are actually pretty good now. I just saw some that I really like and recommended some to you in the other thread.
Thanks HTS. Really appreciates your welcoming and warm words!
The air pollution is very bad, I could cope for a few days but by the end of a week it becomes suffocating. Food is very oily and salty, so it doesn’t suit my taste. Traffic is heavily congested, I still remember the 2 hour crawl, merely a 10km drive back to the hotel, it was horrible. Other than that, I like Beijing and Shanghai. It’s wonderful to visit forbidden city and summer palace as I’m a fan of so many ancient series with that backdrop.
Thanks again for the recommendations. Will watch that after I finish a Taiwan idol drama 🙂
HTS, that was really my reply… Had a typo in my email. Sorry for the confusion
Sound like ever since lawrence getting bully in England,the nightmare is still in him.
Lawrence getting bullied in a England ”college”?LOL
You do know college in England refers to junior-highschool level right? Not university level/post-secondary education…
really? college in Singapore is for ages 18-19. so Lawrence was studying in England at an earlier age then…and he got bullied. poor guy.
It was nice to read this article since I don’t know much about Lawrence’s personal life and what he went through. He only recently came back to acting and it was hard to find information about him during the years he wasn’t acting.
I’ll have to be honest that much of what I read here about him his pretty new to me other than the fact that he played many villain roles when he first started out. I can understand how bad it feels to be a good villain, lol. He reminds me of Deric Wan in this case as well. Both actors have been able to show themselves as good actors with a more positive role.
I wouldn’t want to live in China either, but he sure did go into the specifics of living there. Eww.
What I found most shocking was his experience in England. He definitely has my sympathy for what happened, but at the same time, I’m not sure if I would let my bad experience affect my daughter’s education. It’s understandable, but many HK celebrities send their children overseas to study and they all have good experiences of freedom. They also get to experience being independent and living on their own. I just want to believe that Lawrence was at the wrong place at the wrong time perhaps.
It seems like his past experiences living overseas has left a deep impression on him, so it’s very understandable as to why he is firm to have his daughter educated in Hong Kong than elsewhere. I’m sure it wouldn’t be the same living and schooling overseas nowadays, but everywhere has it’s positives and negatives. As long as his daughter is happy and healthy, than it’s all that matters in the end.
I also have friends who are international students from Hong Kong and China, and they tell me how competitive it is over in the homeland, and how they find studying over in a western country a lot easier and not as stressful. But some also stated they’re still not adjusted to the western culture because of language barriers, and sadly encounter racism every now and then. So yeah, it all depends!
The private college I went to had TONS of rich international students, most can’t even speak or understand a word of English. They paid someone to take their TOFEL test and in the US paid people to do their projects, papers, exams.
One reason why some think less of international students or is rude to them is because most lack manners and etiquette to behave properly in public. You do not hack up your junk and spit in public, plus when they talk its like they’re on a microphone set a the highest volume.
True @Crow .. Lol. I knew a friend. Half Chinese Half English. Her dad is SUPER DUPER RICH. no offence but maybe thats the reason why her mom is SUPER GORGEOUS. She got the genes from her mom. Lol. She can speak 12 languages fluently tho. But i dont think she pays people to do her project and so on. She literally did all of her stuff on her own infact she doesnt really like to rely on other people. Interesting thing is she can actually cook and do other normal things. ( most rich heirs dont even know how to wash dish+ other simpke/normal things that people do) Rich+Gorgeous+Smart : Perfect? Lol. P/S her father is from Mainland. Shanghai/Beijing i think. She visited there alot, she didnt bad mouth mainland though. I guess it just depends on the person.
I feel pity for him. Hope he will start over & live well.
My friend is married to a Hongkong’s white colar and she says life is so difficult there. You can’t afford to buy a bigger house and schools are difficult to enrol. I have another friend who lives in Beijing, and she loves the big city. Well, different people may have encounterdifferent experience.
May I ask what nationality your friend is? Due to being crowded and having such a high standard of living,living in HK is difficult so you need to have a pretty high income if you want to live well.
Yes,each person is different. Some like a more quiet community and a smaller city while others like bigger and noisier cities. It just depends on each individual.
She is a Malaysian married to a
hongkong guy.
most people, not just hongkongers will not get adjusted to china’s culture.
Lawrence is really a lady-killer. i’m still crazy over him after all these years…maybe it’s the charisma he has plus all the gentle tender scenes as a doctor in Healing Hands.
in any case, I wish him happiness one day.
I enjoyed many of Lawrence’s performances back then. I think one of his most memorable performances was as Yang Guang in The Grand Canal. My family always thought that he was more suitable to play villains,but I enjoyed his performances as a good guy too. He played some good roles back then too,but yes most of his roles were villain roles.
I also wish him happiness and hope that he can start anew in HK again. Hope to see him in more HK series as well as Mainland series.
Awwww, poor guy. I hope TVB treat him good and let him film more. With all the stuff he been through, I hope he’ll find happiness again.
I have a friend. She’s half american half chinese. ( Dads chinese and moms american.) She was born in New York and lived in England until 6 , she moved back to New York at 7 and is currently living here ( well, this is her home.lol) Her father is quite wealthy, not to sound perverted but her mom is really really gorgeous, well to be honest her father is quite good looking too. She went to Beijing and Shanghai for a few months. She was quite happy, havent heard her complain anything. She said people were really nice to her and helped her if she didnt understand ( She only speaks semi fluent mandarin )p/s based on her looks, she looks 80 percent caucasian 20 percent chinese.really gorgeous. So in all honestly it just depends on each person’s opinion and taste.
………….. and what kinds of environments you live in and what kinds of people whom you deal with. Beijing is a super big city with huge population. If you live in some rich people area, it could be very different if you live in a poor or not-so-rich area.
( i forgot my email…)
Her father is worth 2.5-3.5 Billion USD. Has tons of property estate. And i mean TONS. He has about 35 in US alone. Lol. So of course his daughter would live in a great enviroment with rich heirs.
P/S i dont live in China.
Maybe people were nice to her be amuse she dressed nicely due to her background and plus she looks more Caucasian. I heard that locals can easily tell if you are a foreigner even if you are Chinese/Asian versus a local due to various factors.
Meant to,say because
now that he is getting a divorce, I hope tvb will give him more roles. I would really love to see more of him.
He looks like a ham sup uncle now. He used to look like a villain when he was younger. So you dig this kind of men, hahahha
I can’t stand his face too, both when he was younger and now. On Call2 was ruined by his addition. I avoid watching any dramas with him in it. Awful actor.
Well he is 50 so what do you expect? I think he looks good for his age. There is more to anyone rather than just outer apoearance.
It’s amusing how some people must always be so preachy and politically correct every time someone makes a comment like that. Chill!
Actually, i think Lawrence looks good for his age. He loks quite gentlemanly and he says his words with emotion rather than pure screaming. I prefer his subtle acting compared to other male leads. And he is quite versatile and very good at either goid or bad roles. Hope tvb gives him a dark role like roger.
Lawrence stated he dislike living in China because of “cultural differences”, i am having a problem understanding the differences. Isn’t HK and China = Chinese, therefore sharing the same culture, values and beliefs? Other than the obvious fact that Mainland China lacks etiquettes, manners etc and etc … some shed a light, as i can’t connect the dots.
Probabably he couldn’t make it in China.
Wonder will he sing a different tune if he is famous in China.
Haha. Agree @Irene. If he was making big bucks in China like Jackie Chan. He’d probably say : ” China is like my second home, my ancestors are from China too. It feels like home. ” haha.lol. I think HK-ers are being TOOOOO proud to be from HK. Always saying that they’re from HK and HK is their roots. Calm down. We know. we know. Lol
Winnie,
From what I have seen and heard the culture,values and beliefs seem pretty different in HK and China,which is why people from Mainland and HK seem to clash so much. But then again,not sure so I hope someone else can answer the questions for you.
i think many of us are aware how Mainland China Chinese behave. i cringe when they open their mouths to talk.
LOL 🙂
The same can be said about HK’ers. Some are so loud and obnoxious with superior airs. They tend to judge a person by clothing labels. And this was their reputation back in the 70s.
HKongers do not like Mainland Chinese…but they still welcome them because of the money spent in HK.
Do HK’ers also dislike their ancestors who originally came from the mainland?
Every country has it positive and negative aspect. However, China is definitely not a country which is on the desired list for most people. The general income disparity, pollution and people etc.
yes, i have many mainland chinese friends come to australia to study and want to stay here as they also said that they really dislike living in china.
So this middle-aged “ham sup lo” got dissed by his former “teen-aged bride” who finally had waken up and ended their absurd union. So now he was all upset and took it out on the whole country of China by spinning some tale about some guy who almost pissed on him and then got pissed off at him. Next he recanted that nonsensical story about being tricked into making Sex and Zen, notwithstanding that would mean he got tricked again and again as he would make a few more soft-core porn after that.
What an incredible article and even more incredible that some would actually buy it.
You’re too funny but spot on! I couldn’t stop laughing lol!
LOL 🙂
Yup, excuses, excuses (are tools of incompetence).
he is one of my favorite leading actor for tvb dramas, he was perfect pairing with gigi lai.
Guess it’s difficult to adjust living in such a big country like China especially when you had your education from England mannered and cultural country, in most of Asia countries those things like urinate in public places is ordinary behavior not sexual offense. Lawrence’s life style looks like different with his very young wife can a woman this young being understanding to her much older husband guess it’s difficult.
between hong kong and china, there is already a difference in culture…so if Lawrence compares England and china, that would be worst!
anyway, his very young wife obviously didn’t know what she was getting herself into marrying someone 21 years older. Lawrence himself should also have known better that one who is SO YOUNG would not have much in common with his ideas and expectations.
with a big difference in generation, Lawrence should’ve known that there wilk be generational gap in thinking and needs further in their marriage. the wife also should’ve known better but she might not realize that over time their difference will be trouble to the marriage.
In addition to the cultural difference (living styles in Hong Kong vs. the ones in Mainland China), I think Lawrence Ng has an age difference with his wife. A 21-year age gap is a big age gap for a married couple, especially both of the them are in the glamorous entertainment industries.
So the dream came into nightmare and they both realized what they were getting into but it’s never to late to start a new life.
He’s a snobby person, so it’s no wonder he got picked on.
even though their relationship has turned sour, there is no need to be vocal about the mainland Chinese habits. to choose such a young wife and expect her to be a housewife for the rest of her life…obviously the young wife also didn’t know what she was getting herself into. sigh…
now fighting for custody of the daughter.
I think he’s too protective of his child. If he’s saying that England is serious in seniority, then he better not take a step into Korea.
It seems like he’s turning his daughter into a 井底之蛙 if he never allows his child to experience the world themselves.
Blimely what school did he go to??
I was born in Hong Kong and raised in the UK, I have never seen anyone treated that way. I have relatives who came over during high school and they never got that type of treatment …. I think he is short sighted to think that his daughter should only venture to Hong Kong to study because of his own experiences. Times have changed and I am sure his ex-wife will have something to say about that, as many mainland Chinese kids study in the UK and they are more affluent than many locals here!
his daughter is only 6…getting a proper education now is crucial. as for going overseas to study, if he can afford, I think it is a good experience.
I wasn’t even in school in England and I got quite uncomfortable with the locals staring at me excessively in Cheltenham a few years ago when my spouse and I had a summer sabbatical in the area. The staring locations include the Local library, convenience stores, pubs, etc. I felt like an exotic animal on the loose. One afternoon, when I was reading a scientific journal article quietly on my own under a tree outdoor, 3 boys around age 7-8 approached me and started saying obscenities to me out of the blue. I was freaked out about 10 days. Avoided going out on my own. It was weird since there is a university in Cheltenham with seemingly diverse student population. Our cottage came with weekly maid service every Saturday. The maids did very little (changed 1 bath mat, wiped kitchen floor for 1 minute) and were very rude, insisting that North Americans are much less hardworking than Brits etc. One time, the maid even took the quilt we were using on our bed and gave it to another tenant, without washing it first. They used the washing machine next to “my cottage”, so I knew. The maids seemed much nicer to Caucasians. I avoided starting any conversations with them.
I have been living in England since 1970, so I came when I was very little. Yes back in the days racism was everywhere…
Getting called names at school and in the streets…
But last 15 to 20 years or so it has all changed. Of course there will still be the racist ones but this is in all cultures..
I remember watching Lawrence back in 1990 filming in Manchester….for some adult film I was told…
I think he will find England a lot different now.
Also the Asian population has now grown..those from India and Pakistan.
Even now I do not need to step a foot into the Chinese Supermarkets…a lot of Chinese foods can now be found in the big supermarkets..ie.. Tesco and Asda…