Samuel Kwok Still “Talks” to Wife Every Day 3 Years After Her Death
The veteran actor renewed his wedding vows to his late wife.
Hong Kong actor Samuel Kwok (郭峰) shared about his recent trip to Israel, where he renewed his wedding vows to late wife, actress Susanna Au Yeung (歐陽佩珊), who passed away in 2017.
Feeling something amiss in his life ever since Susanna’s death, he decided to make the trip to Israel in October last year to renew his matrimonial vows. His younger brother, a pastor, also especially traveled from Chicago to accompany him on the journey. Samuel said, “What inspired this pilgrimage was how I gained a different perspective of love after my wife passed away. I read the Bible often, but have never visited the places mentioned in the stories, since there was an opportunity I decided to come for the experience.”
At the altar, he read out his promise to his late wife, “Joyfully, I accept you as the perfect gift from God. I will love you, respect you, appreciate and honor you with my life…. By His Grace, I hereby promise: That in this life I will not have dream of others, but be by your side wholeheartedly.”
Accepted Religious Faith Before Demise
Susanna was a free-thinker, and Samuel was a Christian. Their wedding was held in a church, but she did not attend any church activities over the years. Two years ago, Susanna was diagnosed with cancer and was hospitalized. During her last moments, Samuel’s sister, the pastor and others recited prayers by her side. That was when she acknowledged her acceptance of the Christian faith, giving Samuel a great sense of relief, as it signified they could reunite in heaven after death.
Married for over 40 years, Samuel felt devastated by Susanna’s death. To him, his wife “left while she was still very young.” Even today, when he sees something interesting or feels down and emotionally underwhelmed, he gains comfort from the knowledge that “she is by my side and shares my feelings.” The actor also keeps all of her possessions at home, rearranging them for her and prays for her daily.
Four-Decade Marriage Bond
The pair first met in 1975 when they played a couple onscreen in a RTV production. Later, they played a pair of poverty-stricken mutes who had no dialogue throughout, but had to use sign language to carry the drama.
With time, the two became closer until Samuel finally gathered courage to ask Susanna to be his partner at a friend’s Christmas party after work. Susanna, who was then 24, asked her family first and at the point, Samuel had been really afraid he would get rejected. Thankfully, she agreed.
Bringing her out for dinner on his motorbike, Samuel secretly worried about having to fork out for an extravagant meal. He was surprised when she replied that she wanted to have street food, and ordered cuttlefish rice, “She had no airs, looked after the family well and was easy to care for,” he recounted his impression of her.
While the loving couple who got married in 1977 rarely quarreled, Samuel recounted how he had once made her worry due to his love for adventure through activities such as car racing contests and diving when he was in his thirties. Although his wife would disapprove and admonish him about the dangers, Samuel felt that one should take risks so as not to have any regrets.
It was only later when he heard from Susanna’s students and friends that she could hardly concentrate at work from being bogged by constant worry that he felt guilty about neglecting her feelings. After that, he decided to change himself. “I love taking risks, but I love my wife more. How could I do something which she doesn’t like me to?” he reasoned.
Even today, Samuel still has a beautiful photo of Susanna set as his cellphone wallpaper. To him, “Loving someone forever means your love doesn’t disappear when the other party leaves. So I love her with my life–even when she is no longer here, my love will forever remain.”
Source: hket
This article is written by JoyceK for JayneStars.com.
What a beautiful couple. Loved them both!
Not too many people can have this kind of relationship nowadays. Worth respects & admire.
Makes me cry just reading this. Samuel and Susanna have always been one of my favorite real-life couples…they were already married by the time I started really “following” the entertainment industry in the 80s and I loved watching both of them onscreen, whether they were performing together in the same series or separately on their own (obviously both are also amongst my favorites in terms of actors). Theirs is the type of relationship that transcends death and yes, they are one of the few couples in the industry that make me still believe that true love can exist.
Such a wonderful couple. Very touching.
Such a rare and beautiful couple! This is what true love is. The fact that their love goes beyond her death is just beyond touching. I am sure Susanna is always with him in his heart. Hope he stays strong. They made me believe that true love actually exists in this world.
It’s not easy to find devotion in love, let alone after one spouse has passed on. It is sad that they could not grow old together but they have been very fortunate to find each other and have shared a marriage of 4 decades.
The love and memory will always live on…
Respect him for his devotion! Good husband
They had no children? So very sad to read. But he looks at life optimistically and I suppose his faith helps heal the pain.
@funnlim
Yes they did not but they raised an adopted son together.
I wonder if his wife are a former tvb or atv actress? Such a wonderful man but question is he going to stay single for the rest of his life?
@cutie777
Answer is both. Also it is an insult to question if Samuel will be single for the rest of his life. It doesn’t matter. There is only one woman in his heart no matter what…
@jimmyszeto
Not really an insult to wonder if Samuel will be single for the rest of his life. He may love his wife but that does not mean that he cannot move on and find happiness again. I am sure Susanna would want him to be happy for the rest of his life. I have talked to widowers with children who loved their wives deeply. But they were lonely and wanted to remarry and find love again. I do not find anything wrong with that since it does not mean that they no longer love their late wife. However, they need to be more realistic and find happiness for themselves too instead of just mourning over the loss of their late wife.
@cutie777
She acted for both TVB and ATV. One of her final series was for ATV which was The Reincarnated and she played the leader of an evil sect.
I also wonder if he will remarry or will he stay single? Time will tell and hope he finds happiness again. Chan Wing Chun was devastated over his wife’s passing and wanted to commit suicide but luckily got through it. He has found love again and is happily remarried now. Hope Samuel can do the same. Susanna would want him happy.
@hetieshou
It’s a pity that plenty of TVB veterans Lau Dan, Chun Pui, Susanna Au etr has to move to ATV for likely better pay but played wasted on unmemorable roles in late 80s/early 90s.
@jimmyszeto
Yes, I heard that ATV paid better but I would not say that all of the roles they played on ATV were not memorable. Actually, I thought many series from atv back then were very good and a number were even better than TVB. I enjoyed all of their series and roles with ATV.
@hetieshou
I liked Reincarnated II and watched it hundreds of times thanks to the amazing performance of Eric Wan. In interviews, Eric still says that it is his favourite role. Other notable good series ‘who is the winner?’ ‘Kung fu Master’ ‘my date with the vampire’ etr. However, there are far more terrible quality series littered all over the years which ensured ATV to be a ratings loser.
@jimmyszeto Reincarnation II was one of my favorites too. Such an underappreciate but awesomely fun series.
@hetieshou I’m not sure about that drama but her face seem familiar from the atv drama Shanghai godfather? Yes time will tell about Samuel rather he choose to remarry or not like you mentioned I’m sure his wife wants him to be happy too.
@cutie777 not an insult at all . Yours is a fair comment. I don’t really see Samuel interested in dating again. If he does date or remarry, it would not be a great love story, like the love and connection he had with Susanna. No other woman will ever come close to taking her place in Samuel ‘s heart, or his life.
@renren
Not necessarily as Chan Wing Chun was deeply in love with his late wife and almost committed suicide after she passed. But years later, he found new love and is now happily remarried again so you never know as anything is possible in this world. Time will tell all.
@hetieshou I remember Chan Wing Chum being so sad after his wife passed. Time can ease pain but never take it fully away. It is not wrong or insulting for a spouse to remarry after their loved one had died. In fact , a lot of times the dying spouse asks their partner to find happiness again. They do that because they know they have been loved unconditionally and wants the remaining spouse to be happy with someone else. A lot of times , a spouse will choose to remain single. If a living spouse does decide to remarry, it is no insult to their departed loved one. Samuel Kwok may or may not remarry down the road. One thing is clear though, if he does remarry, his wife will never take Susanna’s place in his heart. I hope my comment is not insulting.
@renren
Think people have misunderstood my comment. ‘Insulting’ if people base Samuel’s loyalty or lack of loyalty to his deceased wife on whether he finds a new partner in the future. The future does not define his character at all whatever path he chooses so I found the anticipation on his future relationships irrelevant….
Yeh like I said ‘it doesn’t matter’ whether Samuel finds another partner or not. It’s correct that many do look for another partner later in life whether it’s through loneliness or losing some senses but Susanna will remain number 1 in Samuel’s heart no matter what. I thought the question was insulting because the member is questioning whether he will remain single but whether he does not does or not does not define his loyalty towards susanna. Similarly If a family member or friend passes away just because we treat someone else well does not mean we have forgotten or fully replaced the deceased member. No one can explain how deep the feelings apart from the person himself..
@jimmyszeto
I do not agree that just because you move on and find a new love means that you forget or are trying replace the deceased member at all. That is such a wrong way of thinking of it. Everyone is unique in their own way so no one can replace anyone else. But the most important thing that people need to realize is that the deceased member can never come back so you can never be with them again. I have talked to a few men who widowed and loved their late wives deeply, but they wanted to move on. They had kids too and wanted their kids to have a new mom as well. Just because you move on does not mean that you stop loving or will forget your deceased spouse. Sorry but loyalty is when the person is still alive. But Susanna has passed away, so he has the right to move on and find new love and happiness. I am sure Susanna would want him to be happy and have someone accompany and take care of him. If Susanna loved him that much then she would definitely want him to be happy instead of just trying to remain single and mourning over her passing for the rest of his life.
@jimmyszeto I don’t find such a question insulting but I do think that Samuel will remain single based on what I know of his relationship with Susanna after following this couple for more than 3 decades. The relationship the 2 of them had was beyond husband and wife — they were soulmates, which is a bond not easily broken no matter what happens in the future.
@hetieshou. I agree with you, though I also feel it comes down to what Samuel’s definition of happiness is. If he’s most happy staying single, that’s great…by the same token, if he is able to find love again with someone else, then that’s great too. Great example you brought up with Chan Wing Chun….he found love again, but that didn’t diminish his love for his wife who had passed.
@llwy12
I found the question insulting because I thought it was trying to test Samuel as a person whether he can hold on without a wife. Whether he remains single or not will put a mark on his devoted love to Susanna nor define him as a loyal husband…
@llwy12
Thanks I can see why jimmyszeto said that although I do not agree 100%. You are right as it will be up to Samuel and what happiness is to him. But I do not think that just because he moves on and finds new love means that he has forgotten Susanna or will no longer love her. He always will love her but he knows that she is physically gone forever and will never come back. Yes, just like with Chan Wing Chun. He loved his late wife dearly but he moved on and found new happiness again and I see nothing wrong with that.