TVB artist, Bella Lam (林穎彤), started out as a child actor in ATV series, “Light of Million Hopes” (萬家燈火). As it turns out, Bella Lam, had a difficult childhood. Bella Lam and her mother were once on a show hosted by Nina Paw Hee-ching (鮑起靜) at the time revealing their background and hardships they were going through begging for money in the streets. The video from 18 years ago resurfaced recently and is going viral.

In the video, Bella Lam and her mother are seen talking about once begging for money on a skywalk. Bella Lam’s mother revealed while crying that when Bella Lam was one years old, her father abandoned them for another woman. She recounted, “I already tried my best to salvage it. I would often make soup and wait for him to come home. He was adamant in moving out. I had no other way. It was very hard to live at the time. My older daughter was 9 years old, Bella was only 1 years old. I was really hurt and frustrated, but I couldn’t find him. I hoped to see him and tell him to come home or give us some living expenses, but I couldn’t find him, couldn’t wait for him. I could only carry my daughter and go beg for money. For 9months from 9 at night to midnight, I’d carry her to go beg. We only didn’t go out when it rained. There was no way. Her sickness was hard to cure, had no money to buy baby formula. I was really hopeless at the time. Luckily, someone taught me how to apply for government aid.

With a failed marriage and the hardships of life, Bella Lam’s mother once had thoughts of suicide while begging for money on the skywalk. She recounted, “I was sick and we were being evicted. I had no money for baby formula, no money to pay rent. They wanted the three of us to move out. I was also afraid of going home because at any time there would be someone who could break open the door and split the gates open. It scared us to the point where we would always roam around the skywalk. At the time, I was looking down from the skywalk and thought why not just jump down. I was carrying Bella at the time. When I was looking down, she almost seemed to slip down like a slide. Luckily, I grabbed her foot and nothing happened.”

Bella Lam, who was still a child at the time, held back her tears while hearing her mother recount their ordeal. She also promised to take care of her mother when she grows up, saying, “It’s so sudden hearing this. I can’t fathom she raised me like this when I was young. I want her to not suffer so much and be happier in the future. Don’t live in the public housing anymore. Buy her a nicer property for her. I want to make a lot of money when I grow up and let mommy pamper herself.” Bella Lam’s mother tells her in tears, “Mommy doesn’t need to live in a nice home. The most important thing is the two of you are healthy!”

Since the video went viral, Bella Lam spoke with Oriental Daily News and expressed she was shocked it was circulating again. She said, “This is all part of my experiences growing up. It makes me feel that life is so hard to come by. I really cherish and am very grateful for having my mother by my side and a lot of people who love me. So I will work hard and not let down my mother who suffered so hard to raise me. I will cherish each person who has helped and supported me. Thankful to everyone for your concern and love.”

Credit: hk.on.cc (1, 2), Bella Lam IG