Eric Tsang Was an Absentee Father in Daughter’s Childhood
Above: With children, Derek and Bowie Tsang.
Eric Tsang (曾志偉) has had a successful career in the entertainment industry and established many friendships with big name stars and influential figures. His achievements, however, came at the price of his family.
The 65-year-old entertainer has been married twice. He married his first wife, Wong Mei Wah (王美華), in 1972. Both Eric and Mei Wah were only 19 years old at the time. Soon after their wedding, the couple welcomed two daughters, Bowie Tsang (曾寶儀) and Tsang Wing Yee (曾詠儀). Perhaps due to their young age and Eric’s notoriously sociable nature, where he often chose to spend his free time with friends instead of family, the couple divorced in 1975.
Eric married his current wife, Sung Lai Wah (宋麗華), in 1989. The couple has two sons, Derek Tsang (曾國祥) and Mark Tsang (曾國猷). Sung Lai Wah is not from the entertainment industry and did not like being in the limelight. Thus, she immigrated to Canada and the couple has since been in a long-distance relationship.
In a 2006 interview, Eric openly discussed his views on marriage. He believed that while it is easy to grow old together, there is a choice between walking hand-in-hand together, or spending the rest of your lives arguing till the end. “There is a lot of wisdom and insight in this statement. In the end, it is important to accommodate one another. There isn’t a standard formula that will work for each family. But it is true that I spend more of my time on my work and career than my family.”
Eric’s eldest daughter, Bowie, once stated that because her parents divorced when she was young, she has always had insecurity issues. Furthermore, she grew up in Taiwan with her mother and did not have many memories of her father. She shared, “Every year on Father’s Day, the school would have the children write cards and draw pictures for their fathers. I never knew what to write. The pictures I drew, I drew with my uncles in mind.” She further revealed that when she was younger, she wrote letters to Eric for five years, but did not receive a single response. It was only after she joined the entertainment industry did she have the opportunity to communicate with her father more.
Source: hket
This article is written by Huynh for JayneStars.com.
Focus on work and other women….
A dude that is bad in almost everything (don’t like him as an actor), so when knowing how bad he is as a father, he didn’t get that much talk from me about how irresponsible of a father he is is because I simply don’t care enough about him. This is commented so that those screams gender equality knows that sometimes a male actor don’t get much flame is because no one care/like him enough to comment. It’s not because we condone his irresponsibility as a parent because he’s a male that we don’t comment
Eric Tsang’s character may be questionable and he has not been the most available father. But no one beats Jackie Chan as the worst , most irresponsible and cruel father in Asian showbiz.
@dramafan
Nah…Eric is much worse. He chose the drinks, ladies and other substance parties with friends instead of coming home to care for his kids. There is no way that Eric is anywhere as busy as Jackie Chan. He is just making feeble excuses….
@jimmyszeto sure, i see your point. But at least Eric acknowledges his kids, JC couldn’t even manage that.
I think it is a fair assumption that most of Etta’s problems are due to her relationship with her parents and lack of acknowledgement by her father. He has provided no emotional, physical, psychological or dare i say financial support.
Hence i say he’s the worst. I have heard of Eric’s vices and scandals. But at least he acknowledged and now even as a decent relationship with his children. Can’t see that happening between JC and Etta.
@dramafan
Firstly Jackie Chan has always acknowledged that Etta is his kid and he has provided for other child. Just because Elaine and the media made this case high profile then it is unfair to say Jackie is worse than other celebrities. Plenty of Male celebrities sleep around and have plenty of kids abortioned or even born but refused any acknowledgement.Eric has the time but simply refuses to spend it with family. He might enjoy all the high life and substances throughout his life but when he gets older or gets an illness like Gordon Liu then he will realise the harsh truth that friends are only there in times of glory. Family is the key….
@jimmyszeto i think JC is still the worst father. eric will at least interact with his kids privately and publically and will support his kids’ careers. JC, on the other hand, has barely helped Jaycee, let alone Etta.
@coralie my thoughts too. @jimmyszeto Chan, who rarely acknowledged his daughter, admitted that he did not leave his daughter with anything in his will and has yet to see her in person.
@coralie @jimmyszeto I agree as well. JC is definitely the worst father and husband than Eric. I just laugh when I hear the American media talk about how great JC is and people idolizing him. Disgusting.
@kokomo
Jackie does not have to help Jaycee. It is automatic that Jaycee will get opportunities by being Jackie’s son….
@coralie
Maybe Eric has many children outside the family he hadn’t acknowledged or he is just better at getting women to abort there child at preganancy stage. Jackie is just unlucky that Elaine refused to have an abortion and outed him. It’s a hidden rule for a mistress not to behave like that that and Elaine committed broke every one of those rules possible. I’m sure Elaine has a lot less respect than Jackie in the entertainment industry…
@jimmyszeto >_< yea, because keeping the promise of not getting pregnant and must abort if got pregnant is sooooo much better than breaking the promise of being someone “shadow” mistress while being childless, and possibly has nothing by the end of it. Because it’s very easy for men to say just abort children, no big deal…. the second the woman is pregnant, a lot of hers change, her way of thinking, her perspective in life, her priority. If anyone thinks less of her because she kept the baby, I would say shame on them. She didn’t use her daughter to get money off JC, you can argue the start might be so, but she has always shown to be there for her daughter through whatever hell her daughter put her through, while showing mature thinking of being a parent, if that is not something to be admired for, idk what is.
@littlefish
Not saying it is right but in the celebrity underworld, cheating is rife and surely the unspoken rule for a mistress is to stay silent. In the minds of the male celebrities, Elaine broke that rule and we do not know if she actually received money and never will. She has shown to be there for her daughter but the process in which she raised her daughter we do not know if she raised her daughter whilst being unstable at times. With all the big clashes which involved her daughter calling the police, I doubt she raised her daughter smoothly. Some might praise Elaine for being there for the daughter compared to Jackie but for a normal parent it is the bare minimum and does not require deep praise…..
@jimmyszeto yea, however, sometimes the child is trouble even if the parents do all the right thing. At least we are both agree on the fact that she’s at least provide that minimum standard of being a parent unlike JC
He’s lucky to have a tall kids even though he’s short.
I mean if you choose your career over family why marry or have kids also there’s something called protection… it’s like people don’t know about protection or some.
Bad father, but one with so much clout & influence, he is easily accepted. Good marketing team, maybe? Though most people will see him for what he is even without the marketing.
@coralie maybe if YM’s daughter grows up and say good words about her mum, the crazy net will be fine? Lol. Just read @nomad822’s comment lol
His daughter Bowie grew up with her Mom. It’s amazing how Bowie always does PR for her dad, like Joyce Cheng who always has positive/good words for Adam (who’s also another absentee dad).
Like Eric’s buddies Alan Tam (even with mistress who bore son back then) and Ah Lek Chan Pak Kiong – they enjoy skiing. If I an not mistaken – all have/had Cdn PR status, as with many HK stars/residents.
CX (Cathay Pacific) has flights 3X to and fro, DAILY – out of Vancouver – it’s a HK bus route.
I have seen Eric (once with Alan and maybe Ah Lek), on Vancouver ski hills twice before in Vancouver, in Winter. So this time it is Japan.