Luk Ho Ming Apologizes for SARS Mistake
Commenting on the coronavirus outbreak on Young and Restless <#後生仔傾吓偈>, host Luk Ho Ming (陸浩明) accidentally said that the SARS outbreak in 2003 began in Hong Kong. That led to many complaints made by viewers, which prompted Luk Ho Ming to make a tearful apology for his blunder.
During an interview on set for Liza’s Online <娛樂大家10點半>, Ho Ming took the opportunity to publicly apologize for his inaccurate statements regarding the SARS outbreak. He said, “I am aware of my mistake during the program in which I stated the wrong information. I did say that the virus started from a professor in Guangzhou, but I was not clear enough in my correction that it didn’t start from Hong Kong, which led to this misunderstanding.”
On the show, Ho Ming had expressed that he was trying to share that Hong Kong was a heavily impacted location during the SARS outbreak. However, his misuse of words caused him to say the wrong information, which made many Hong Kongers feel outraged by his obvious mistake.
Many netizens targeted Ho Ming online and the ensuing negative press caused him to lose sleep for two nights. He shared, “As an artiste, we often have to deal with these types of news…. I hope this doesn’t affect my jobs, but I would also like to apologize to our advertisement sponsors. I understand the criticism, and hope to learn from my mistakes. As a public figure, I take full responsibility for my actions.”
Ho Ming will take further precautions in what he says in the future. He would like to thank all the medical staff who fought against SARS and the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, which he hopes will end soon.
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Hailey for JayneStars.com.
So he made a small incorrect statement. We are all humans and artists are humans too. No one is perfect. I’m sure everyone has said something wrong in their lifetime. Why do netizens feel the need to throw negative comments at someone for that?
@kokomo Exactly and the irony is, he cried for that? I want to give a facepalm emoji lol
@mi520
Cried like Andy Hui. Probably felt embarrassed by the mistake and in the recent climate worried that his incorrect words may have caused him to be blacklisted. In reality, it’s just a small issue…
@jimmyszeto Actually, this article doesn’t tell the whole story. He cried because of the impact of this mistake on his family, as some netizens actually went as far as sending him death threats and also threatening his elderly parents, causing his mom to be super worried. Gotta understand that it’s a super sensitive time right now and people are crazy…decent people would know not to target an artist’s innocent family members, especially their parents and children, but we’ve got a lot of irrational people in HK right now…
@llwy12 I’m so frustrated and disappointed with how irrational a lot of HKers have become towards people from Mainland China and celebrities as well. I understand that HK wants independence from China, but the rhetoric of “I’m not Chinese, I’m a Hong Kong-er” (我不是中國人，我是香港人) is very extreme.
The demand for democracy has somehow turned into hatred towards people with different view points and opinions. You’ve probably seen the whole celebrity-police banquet news where Chilam Cheung and a whole lot of other celebrities gathered and took pics with the police. Pro-democracy netizens were undoubtedly unhappy and spammed celebrities’ instagram posts. They even went as far as spamming Morton Cheung’s instagram posts with messages like, “I’m so disappointed with your dad” or “I hope your dad dies.” Morton is a kid.
Anita Yuen quickly asked the netizens to leave her son and other kids out of it, but a lot of the responses were so hostile. “你叫人放過小朋友咁邊個放過我地D小朋友？” It’s ridiculous. Kids and family members shouldn’t be harassed.
(Side note: an uncle of mine who is a Hong Kong-er told me that his grand kid’s classmates in grade school are ostracizing other kids cause their dad or mom is in the police. It’s honestly terrible.)
@llwy12 The irrationality from HKers has been so bad. They’re phobic to Mainland Chinese people and deem themselves as “not Chinese.” The whole rhetoric of “我不是中國人，我是香港人” is very extreme. A lot of them are outright violent and abusive to people with different political stances/opinions.
I support their fight for democracy, but cannot stand the hypocrisy of most pro-democracy activists and their actions. Freedom of speech doesn’t give them the right to harass children or the elderly.
You’ve probably seen the leaked pictures of Alan, Chilam, Bobby, and others at a police banquet. Unsurprisingly, a lot netizens were upset to the point of harassing and spamming Morton Cheung’s IG with comments like, “I’m so disappointed with your dad,” or “I hope your dad dies.” It’s horrible. Morton is a kid and doesn’t have anything to do with his dad’s decisions.
As a mother should, Anita wrote a message asking the netizens to stop harassing her song, but it fell to death ears with comments like, “你叫我放過D小朋友，咁邊個放過我地D小朋友？”. It’s so unreasonable that netizens are going after kids with their “fight for justice” when their logic has been skewed. The divide has gotten so much worse.
(Side note: apparently a lot of grade schoolers are ostracizing classmates whose dad or mom is in the police force which is horrible.)
@hazel I completely agree with you! In principle, I also support what they are trying to fight for, but I 100% disagree with the tactics they are using, as it’s evolved to the point of being completely unreasonable, irrational, and downright absurd. I read about how some of the protestors actually opened champagne and celebrated when they found out some cops in HK contracted the coronavirus and I was like, WTF, this is what HK society has come to???
Yea, that situation with Chilam and his son being targeted was totally uncalled for. But in a way, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, as even celebrities who are politically neutral and haven’t vocalized any support for either side are being irrationally bashed now for merely expressing gratitude to frontline doctors and nurses fighting the coronavirus…it’s gotten to the point where donating medical supplies and face masks to medical workers or even telling doctors and nurses to “add oil” will bring about violent reactions from some Hong Kongers, who irrationally equate that to “supporting China”….
The lack of humanity in HK at the moment is absolutely appalling!
@llwy12 Sorry about my double comment! I submitted it the first time and it didn’t go through so I thought I got flagged, but I totally agree with you.
The irrationality from a lot of Hong Kongers have gotten to be so extreme! Where’s the 人情味？What happened to staying united for Hong Kong? Oh right, only those who are pro-democracy are allowed to have a voice; others with different political stances and/or neutral are considered enemies. Like use your brains! These tactics are furthering the divide.
I get livid when I see comments on Facebook posts from protesters or watch the news cause it’s no longer just about the fight for democracy. A lot of them are bullying and pressuring others to justify their actions. It’s appalling.
Also this is off-topic, but do you know what happened to Asianfanatics? I went on the website at the end of last year and it’s no longer there. 🙁
An example of someone who feels the world has collapsed from the slightest setback. Obviously everything had been too smooth previously…
not exactly a small issue given the strong hate that hkers have for mainlander. he probably cried b/c people will slam at him left and right for making the mistake. can’t comment on how it was said but he’s probably getting alot of hate.
@m0m0 I totally agree with you here. Not a small thing at all. There has always been tension between HK and China, even more so in the last few months with HK protesters against the Govt and Police. SARS and now Coronavirus started in China, its a disease picked up and spread by eating of animals (which should not have been eaten), poor handling, poor hygiene, mixing of live and dead animals.
Therefore for him to mistakenly say it’s from HK, a real big no no. HK people see themselves as being separate and dare I say better than those in China? They don’t want to be falsely accused nor be put in the same bag. This may not be the same, but saying Australia is the same as New Zealand or Canada is the same as the US, similar analogy.
@dramafan
It was an error on his part due to ignorance compared to most political statements which are fully deliberate…