TVB actor, Mat Yeung (楊明), has been enjoying continued success these past few years with his steady promotion to leading man status. Not only is his career starting to rise, but he is also happily in love with his girlfriend, Lisa Ch’ng (莊思明), a fellow TVB actress. The two have even hinted publicly that they view each other as marriage partners. Perhaps we will hear the wedding news soon in the future. However, it turns out the 38 year old Mat Yeung was once engaged to his non-industry girlfriend, Joanna, in 2013. The former couple had already taken wedding pictures and booked the wedding venue, but in the end, the engagement turned into breakup. Mat Yeung had never addressed the reasons for the breakup all these years until recently when he went on radio show, “Circles” (1圈圈 星光背後), hosted by Terry Leung (梁泰來).

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Long Distance Relationships

When Terry Leung pointed that Mat Yeung had spent half his life savings on the wedding and asked why it ended in break up, Mat Yeung expressed they dated for three years. His ex-fiancee lived in the US and would come to Hong Kong from time to time. He continued, “When it came to talking about marriage, there weren’t any issues. Even when it came to announcing the engagement, I didn’t think there were any problems. She continued working in the US, but when it came to preparing for the wedding, there were some arguments. Something didn’t feel right. We realized the long distance wasn’t really working. It wasn’t as simple as crossing over the ocean. Perhaps both of us were considering the realistic aspect, so we decided to mutually break up.” When asked how he handled the rings and the wedding pictures after the break up, Mat Yeung awkwardly responded, “It’s still a memory.”

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Starting Over

Mat Yeung also talked about the highs and lows of his career, starting with his 2005 arrest for drunk driving and the 2007 incident when he was criminally charged for damaging property at a convenience store while under the influence of alcohol, which almost ended his career. He said, “In the beginning, I didn’t think there were any problems. It was later when no one would use me, I felt I was done. At the time, there were a lot of seniors and colleagues who analyzed it with me. I messed up twice and the company still hasn’t fired me. It proves I still have hope.”

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Mat Yeung said he was very troubled at the time because he felt he had been wasting opportunities. He said, “There was a time, “Sister Tsang” (曾勵珍) asked me if I wanted to continue. If not, don’t waste her time. She told me not to make her look bad.” Mat Yeung expressed he started to understand what acting was after re-taking the artist training classes again. He also understood that opportunities don’t always belong to him. Even though there weren’t many good characters at the time, he has acted as a dead body, a rapist, but will always try his best. He is also thankful for the opportunities given by TVB. The turning point in his career came in 2011 when he was nominated for “Most Improved Male Artist” at the 2011 TVB Anniversary Awards.

Credit: hk01.com, Mat Yeung IG