Ming Dao Forced to Repay Brother’s Astronomical Debt
From an outsider’s perspective, Taiwanese actor Ming Dao (明道) appears to be one of the most successful artists in the industry. He was honorably discharged from the Taiwanese military in January, and his period drama Beauties of the Emperor <王的女人> is slated to begin airing in Taiwan on March 6. Moreover, he is so popular in mainland China that filming a 30-episode-long drama can net him a total of 40 million RMB.
However, it was recently revealed that Ming Dao’s elder brother, Michael Lin (林明弘), borrowed up to 6.5 million RMB and then skipped town, leaving Ming Dao to bear the burden of his debt.
Ever since Ming Dao was young, his family has reportedly suffered from substandard financial circumstances. Starting from fifth grade, he had to set up a vendor’s stall in the street to help his family eke out a living. Despite his success in the entertainment industry, Ming Dao’s many accomplishments have been undercut by the financial ineptitude of his family, whose debts he has been helping to repay these past years.
The worst offender in his family is likely his unemployed elder brother, Michael, who racked up a debt of 6.5 million RMB by exploiting Ming Dao’s celebrity status in order to take out loans. To make up for his dabbling in the stock market, Michael had to use his family’s household registration certificate and his vehicle registration as collateral. He even went so far as to say that Ming Dao would be able to repay the debt for him, even though Ming Dao already covers his monthly living expenses. After borrowing 4 million RMB from one creditor, Michael seized the money and fled, forcing his younger brother to shoulder the debt.
Despite this taxing burden, Ming Dao is unwilling to let his family suffer, choosing instead to single-handedly support all six members of his family. In the past, he purchased both a mansion and a car for his parents, and it is suggested that he “evaded” his compulsory military service for so long because he wanted to find a place for his family to settle down before he enlisted. One staff member shared a touching story of how Ming Dao received a bowl of high-quality chicken broth during work, but was reluctant to drink it because he wanted his family members to have a sip as well.
Source: Ettoday.net
This article is written by Joanna for JayneStars.com.
i’ve always liked ming dao 🙂 he’s got this charm even though majority of his series after prince becomes frog has flopped.
Ming Dao is not helping his older brother out by shouldering his debt. He just gives his brother more reasons/excuses to continue this inept behavior and he is condoning it. We see this behavior in the movies and soap operas, supposedly, we learn from it to deal with it. If I was Ming, I would put that older brother in jail to have him go through psychotherapy to “realize” his behavior and to own up to the punishment and learn to be a responsible person. But since I am not Ming, then I guess he knows what he is doing…
Ming Dao should let his brother rot in jail, perhaps that will change that man. And he should help, not by giving them the fish but by giving them the rod and lead them to a lake full of fish so they can find their own food.
I have never ever heard of this side of Ming Dao’s family before. I know that he comes from a poor family and had to always help his parents run their fish business. He mentioned doing that from the time he was only 12 years old. I never heard anything bad about his older brother. I heard that Ming Dao was really close to his big brother and his big brother loves him a lot. Ming Dao had polio at a young age and his father and brother took care of him. I remember him saying that he relied on his brother to help him around a lot which is why he is a bit touchy with people and has been misunderstood by many people.
He should let his brother take responsibility for his own actions. I can’t believe his brother would so that to him… I thought Ming Dao only had 4 people in his family?(His parents,him and his brother)Wait, I think he has his grandparents too…
Since Ming Dao grew up in a poor family, his family members often did not have alot of good food to eat. I remember him saying how they all pretended to be full so that they can save the food for each other. It was really touching to hear him talk about it.
Also, once when he filmed Frog Prince, his paternal grandma passed away and he did not even have much time to mourn for him. HIs mom also got into a major accident and was in the hospital. It was really hard for him and I am glad that he was able to still be so professional and did well… So proud of him and glad he is back from the army.
I wonder if these reporters proof read before they published the article…
40 million for 30 eps., so he’s making approx. 1.3mil per ep??!!! If that’s the case, a 6.5 million debt shouldn’t be that big of a burden to him.
Maybe he has a 50 million dollar mortgage? Also as the article suggests, he is the sole breadwinner. Also his own life to support, and perhaps a girlfriend and some dogs.
lol… seriously??!!! well, then he’ll just have to churn out 3 dramas a year to support his expensive “lifestyle”
and at 1.2million per episode, he is holding a record for highest earning actor since the average is 200K
Good points Funn and yea, he also has his future family to worry about which is what many struggle with. IF you are the sole breadwinner, you want to take care of your immediate family(parent and siblings)and also think of your future family(wife and kids)as well.
nothing left for old age?
Just let the family rot if they exploit him in the first place. His obligation does not amount to being exploited in all corners by his family members.