While celebrity weddings are headline-hogging events in the West, here in the East, the stars are quite reticent about making their big day a public affair.
Such is the case of Hong Kong pop star Andy Lau who kept his relationship with former Malaysian model Carol Chu a secret for a long time. Some say he did this so that his fans would stay loyal to the “heavenly king”.
And then there’s Negri Sembilan-born mando-pop singer Fish Leong who is keeping details of her wedding to fiance Tony Zhao, a wine expert, a secret.
Kedah-born actress-singer Angelica Lee Sinjie is also keeping the press guessing about her wedding date, as are Ipoh-born international actress Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng and her fiance Jean Todt.
The media in Taiwan and China reported that Leong, 31, and her fiance initially planned to have an island wedding in Boracay, the Philippines, in January but the venue was later changed to Koh Samui, Thailand. So far, this has yet to be confirmed.
Leong met Zhao at a dinner in 2007 and found they shared a similar interest in red wine. They started dating soon after.
On June 14, a day after Leong’s concert in Malaysia, Zhao proposed to her with a one-carat diamond ring worth S$34,350.
At a concert in Hangzhou recently, Leong revealed some details about their wedding plans, which included holding three ceremonies. One was to be on a tropical island (in January), another in Negri Sembilan (in February) and the last in Taipei (in March).
She said they would probably spend at least S$215,000 for their wedding but refused to disclose the name of the island.
When contacted by The Star, Leong replied through her manager that she did not want to discuss her wedding plans.
A close friend, Lee Sinjie, claimed she had yet to receive Leong’s wedding invitation. Will the two friends hold their wedding in the same month next year, as there is talk that Lee, 33, is also getting married in January? The Chinese media reported that Lee was pregnant and that the wedding was likely to be held on Jan 29 in Kuala Lumpur.
Lee, who won the Best Actress award at the Hong Kong Film Festival and Hong Kong Golden Bauhinia Award, is engaged to one of the famous Hong Kong Pang brothers, film director Oxide Pang Chun, 44.
They started dating seven years ago after Lee starred in the movie The Eye, which was directed by the Pang brothers in 2002.
In March 2007, Pang had said he would marry his girlfriend (Lee) in 2008. But at a press conference during the launch of the song for the movie Fung Wan II (The Storm Riders II) recently, Pang said the wedding would not be so soon. He declined to say when it would be and also kept mum when asked if Lee was pregnant.
Lee was taken aback by talk that she was pregnant and was heading for a 'shotgun wedding'. She brushed it off as “mere rumour” and said she would not resort to a secret marriage.
“Marriage is a happy event that I would love to share with everyone,” she said during a tea party at her boutique in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Fodder for gossip
Lau, 47, managed to keep his love relationship with Carol, 43, a secret for more than two decades. It was finally exposed in August when both of them attended Carol’s father’s funeral in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
Entertainment journalists from a local Chinese newspaper, Guang Ming Daily, spotted Lau at Chu’s grave at the Hokkien Cemetery in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 24 and snapped pictures.
The news that confirmed Lau as Chu’s son-in-law was front-paged in all the Chinese dailies the next day.
Hong Kong and Taiwan media subsequently found out from the official website of Clark County in Nevada, the United States, that Lau and Carol registered their marriage on June 23, 2008.
Through their online searches, they also found the marriage records of other celebrities, including Leon Lai Ming, another “heavenly king” who married his model girlfriend Lai Gia in March last year, and Hong Kong female canto-pop singer Miriam Yeung Chin Wah who wed her boyfriend Gary Ting Ho Lam secretly in Las Vegas on Aug 11.
Lau finally admitted in his official website that he and Carol were married and then apologised to his fans for keeping the marriage a secret.
The superstar explained that he had kept it a secret to protect his wife and that he was going to tell the world when she became pregnant.
“I was afraid that if I announced the marriage, she would be stalked by reporters. So I made a selfish decision,” he wrote.
“I thought that if things go well, I would tell everyone when the pregnancy is stable, but instead I made things more complicated.”
When asked if he feared losing his fans if he owned up, Lau denied the suggestion.
The marriage of Chinese celebrities is the subject of constant gossip for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.
So, the more secretive they are, the more the paparazzi and celebrity-hungry media want to know about their love lives and marriages.
Former Hong Kong actress-singer cum song writer Puan Sri Chelsia Cheng feels every individual should be free to choose whether to “advertise” his or her marriage.
“Maybe he (Lau) is caring for his family, thus he chose not to disclose his marriage,” says Chelsia who gave up her career after marrying Malaysian businessman Tan Sri William Cheng, chairman of the Lion Group, in 1981.
“I never regretted quitting the entertainment world,” she says. “In fact, if I had not quit the entertainment circle many years ago, I wouldn’t have gotten what I have today - certain things that money cannot buy,” she says in an interview.
HK-born Chelsia says people in the old days were more secretive about their marriage so that it would not affect their career in entertainment.
“Apparently, some are quite open in today’s world. However, it depends on what they want in life. Artistes are just like any other individual; they also like to have some privacy,” says the mother of three.
Chelsia was an icon in the mid-1970s entertainment scene alongside the likes of martial arts actor Bruce Lee. She was the youngest to win the Best Actress award and gained incredible popularity as an international star.
From 1975 until 1981, she was an active singer-songwriter and actress in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.
Currently, she is actively involved in various charitable works and is chairperson of the Lion-Parkson Foundation.
Chelsia enjoys being a housewife and taking care of her husband and their three daughters Natali, 26, Serena, 23, and Vivian, 20. She occasionally sits in as a judge for singing contests in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and still has regular meetings with her fans, both local and overseas.
“Although I am ‘retired’ from the entertainment circle, my heart is still with my friends there,” she says.
Speculation about when Yeoh, 47, and Todt, 63, will be marrying is now on-going in the Chinese media. On July 31, 2008, Yeoh confirmed the rumour that she was engaged to Todt.
So, will they secretly register their marriage, as some pop stars have done, or will they hold a grand wedding under the media spotlight?
For the moment, the Chinese media can only speculate.
