Michelle Yim Determined to Live Life Courageously

After the death of her longtime boyfriend, Wan Chi Keung (尹志強) in 2010, Michelle Yim (米雪) cleansed her face with tears. Two years later, the traces of sadness in Michelle have completely disappeared. The past is the past, said Michelle. What is left now is only the future, and she is determined to live her life to the fullest.

Michelle and Wan Chi Keung (Wan Lo) had been together for 27 years. A professional footballer, an actor, a businessman, and a philanthropist, he was also a year younger than Michelle. It was Wan Lo’s compassion, dedication, and sunny personality that drew Michelle to him. Wan Lo loved helping others, and he would often dedicate his spare time to organize volunteer and charity events.

“Sometimes his compassion for others was too much for me to handle!” cried Michelle.

Wan Lo participated in many charity activities and organized donations for many schools in his lifetime, even opening up several elementary schools in the poor neighborhoods of mainland China. In 1992, he was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer in 1992, but recovered quickly by undergoing frequent chemotherapy. Throughout the road of recovery, Wan Lo maintained an optimistic mindset, and often found the time to help others in need as well.

Michelle said, “Everyone knew Wan Lo had cancer. I had many friends who were also dealing with cancer in the family to ask him if he could give them some advice. One time, when he was in the mainland, I was about to tell one of those friends that I could help them instead because Wan Lo was busy.  I also went with him to his chemotherapy sessions, so I thought I could offer some advice.  Wan Lo immediately called me and said, ‘Have you been through chemotherapy before? Do you know how painful it is? Tell your friend that I will fly down immediately the next day to help her out!’” Michelle sighed and smiled sweetly. “This is why I like him so much! He enjoys helping others. It makes him really happy.”

As the saying goes, “One moment of intense happiness prolongs life by a thousand years.” Although Wan Lo recovered,  his cancer came back in 2005. His conditions worsened in 2008, and on February 16, 2010 at 7:30 AM, Wan Lo fainted in his home in Lok Ma Chau. He passed away an hour later.

Ironically, Michelle was filming TVB drama, Beauty Knows No Pain <女人最痛>, on the morning Wan Lo fell. But contrary to what was expected, Michelle only requested a day off, and she was back to work the next day.

“Wan Lo and I have the same views. Regardless of what happens, we always put others before ourselves. [TVB] is a big company. Accidents happen every day. Even if someone doesn’t die today, there would still be someone at the hospital. Another colleague’s mother probably had a stroke, or yet another’s younger brother probably had a car accident. Things happen every day. If everyone only thought about taking care of their own families, then no one needs to go to work anymore!

“I could have requested up to ten days off, but filming with a production crew requires teamwork.  At the time, production for Beauty Knows No Pain was near completion. I didn’t want my personal issues to affect the filming progress. That would be very troublesome for the cast and crew. All I could think of was to handle everything quickly and pull myself back together quickly. That way, not only was I helping myself, I was also helping others.”

Michelle nodded as she finished her story. “Yes… I think Wan Lo would agree with how I handled it. He would be very proud of me!”

But Michelle is not made out of titanium. There were still those tiny moments when Michelle would quietly sit in the corner at the middle of the night, crying her eyes out for the loss of her most beloved.

“Letting off one’s emotions is a normal human reaction,” Michelle justified. “Suddenly losing someone in your life is exactly like getting slapped in the face. It would definitely hurt! But what happens afterwards?”

Michelle explained that there is no point in holding onto the regrets one has made in the past when an entire future of possibilities and opportunities are waiting to be explored.  “I have a friend who is already pass 60 years old, and she still feels guilty about the death of her mother. She is depressive, and constantly blaming herself for not helping her mother live her life to the fullest. I told her that she should not feel guilty, because you cannot argue with fate. If this is what happens, then it is what happens. You still have to live on!

“This is probably why I was able to pull myself back together so fast after [Wan Lo’s] death. I don’t think he would want me to be emerged in this endless state of suffering and pain. He would be so worried about me!”

Wan Lo’s death also taught Michelle to know what it really means to face death. “Wan Lo and I used to visit hospitals all the time. We’ve seen death. But do we all know what it really means to die? I’ve never died, how should I know? But once you learn how to face death, you will learn how to live. Death is just another beginning. There is no reason to be afraid of it, but living a life of loneliness and despair? That is the scariest and the most pitiful.”

Michelle will continue to follow Wan Lo’s selfless life principles. She will continue to live happily with no regrets. “Wan Lo would always say – be true to yourself and help others,” said Michelle. “Because of him, I’ve learned what it means to really cherish life. I am actually very thankful. A lot of his friends take care of me very well, such as Eric Tsang (曾志偉), Nat Chan (陳百祥), Alan Tam (譚詠麟)… I have many friends who take care of me, support me, and I am very thankful. Very, very thankful!”

Source: East Week

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.

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Responses

  1. Michelle is one of my favourite actresses at TVB. After reading the story I hope she can find someone new to share her life with while still holding dear her past.

    1. TVBFanatic,
      Michelle appears to lead an enriching life, where she has many dear friends and continued to volunteer and carry on the spirit of her boyfriend. The memory of Wan Lo is probably still too fresh to move on for her yet, as indicated by her vivid recollection in this interview.

      She seems happy and dealt with the loss very well. Michelle has always comes across as an independent and vivacious person and romantic love may not be what she needs right now.

      1. I think she always gives me an impression she is a very positive and optimistic person who is happy with her life.

  2. I love Michelle… And her performance was great in TC despite many people complaining about her on the forum.

  3. She looks very youthful for her age. But a tad too thin. Anyway she will never grow old. The only indication is her neck.

    1. Yeah she looks great, better than many TVB fadans.

      Her deceased bf sounds like a really great guy!

    2. She also never had kids so maybe that helped in keeping her youthful?

      1. True it’s reasonable to add an “age” factor to those who had kids.

        On the other hand I think she has good genes. Just compare her to TVB fadans without kids and many are looking older already.

      2. Angie Chiu is another ageless beauty that has had kids. Good genes is a part of it too…

  4. I’m liking Michelle Yim more and more! I thought she looked the best at the TVB Anniversary Awards and put the other girls into shame. She is so pretty and classy!

  5. Michelle Yim is so optimistic, beautiful, and smart. Props to her.

  6. I can feel their love with this interview. She’s such a strong woman!!!

  7. Watch her since I was little kids. NowI think I look older than her. Lol. Forever young Michelle. Love her. I always thought she s very pretty , agree with those who think she even prettier than current tvb fadan.

  8. Michelle is indeed a good actress and looks younger than her age, unless she had botox. Sad news about her partner.
    P.S I don’t like the new layout.

  9. Yea she’s is indeed pretty, I adore her n admire her acting as well but not as d recent cixi too bland for dat role then of coz she had to follow wats required of d script!

  10. Michelle Yim looks younger than Maggie Siu in TC, my goodness! Well, Michelle is certainly a forever beauty in many hearts 🙂 Live life strong!!!

    1. Don’t agree that Michelle Yim looks younger than Maggie Shiu in “The Confidant”. Though Michelle looked young for her age (57 I think), she did not look younger than Maggie in “TC”.

  11. Michelle, like Liza & DoDo, were hot faves at tvb back in 80s and mine too. Not only do they have good working/acting principles, all 3 have very strong personalities. All 3 have been with tvb for more than 4 decades and I still love them.

    1. But dodo look so scary now. She look like Barbie doll that go wrong.

      1. she is thin and aged. well, what can we expect when our time comes >.<; but i think dodo is still looking elegant in many ways :p

    2. Becuz they are all Virgos. We are hard working ppl. We have a strong personality, u got that right.

  12. Michelle Yim looks very good for her age with makeup. I saw her photos recently with NO makeup in a magazine. The photos were taken when she was going to Shenzhen, China, for her facials. She looked rather old in those photos.

    I guess all actresses need to wear lots of makeup to make them look good and young.

    1. Well, she over 50 so what more can we expect??? Even the young actresses can look all old without make up and other things, so it is not realistic for us to expect her to look young without it for her age.

    2. Actually Michelle Yim did wear some light makeup, but she looked quite different in those photos.

  13. My eyes are wet when I read this article. She is so gentle and yet so strong. Just make me admiring her deeply and feel ashamed of myself for always looking at the negative side and taking things for granted.

    To me, she is always so beautiful as her heart is so kind. Finally I understand how much they loved each other….27 years of relationship…not easy and yet so angelic.

    1. I am very touched by her rship with Wan Lo who has left her… She must have struggled a lot with him and it’s never easy… Respect her!

      1. It is never easy to lose anyone that you love and care about..

  14. I love Michelle a lot, from her acting skills to her personality and beauty for her age. I admire her for her strong and optimistic mind! I feel so touched after reading this article, she is truly the best in my eyes.

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