Hong Kong actor, Chow Chung (周驄), has passed away at the age of 92 on July 4. It’s reported Chow Chung passed away from pneumonia at the hospital where he was being treated.

Chow Chung got his start in the 50’s as a film actor. When the glory of the Hong Kong film industry in the 70’s and 80’s started waning, Chow Chung was greatly impacted. Chow Chung was invited to join TVB in 1978 and filmed his first series. He once worked as a manager at a movie theater and later on worked at a duty-free shop.

In 1998, Chow Chung was once again invited to join TVB and was often cast as grandfather role in several series. In the latter part of his career, Chow Chung had filmed several series and films that were quite memorable, one being Daniel Wu’s former mob moss father in the 2002 comedic film, “Love Undercover”. In 2008, Chow Chung was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in “Moonlight Resonance” at the TVB Anniversary Awards. In 2016, TVB awarded Chow Chung with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the TVB Anniversary awards. Chow Chung started to reduce his work load in 2018 to take care of his wife, who was diagnosed with colon cancer. He continued to work up until 2020 and decided to retire when his contract with TVB expired. TVB’s “Sinster Beings” was Chow Chung’s last film work.

Chow Chung and his wife had three daughters and a son. It’s said that Chow Chung and his wife were a very loving couple. Chow Chung once recounted his relationship with his wife, “When my wife wanted to marry me, I told her I have no money and no background. The only thing I can do is to to take care of her forever. She said making this promise to her is already enough. It’s decades ago. Maybe she has forgotten, but I haven’t forgotten.”

When Chow Chung’s wife was diagnosed with colon cancer, she was afraid her hair would fall out from the chemotherapy and refused to undergo treatment. Chow Chung took on the responsibility to take care of his wife and would keep a diary of the progress of his wife’s cancer to let their children know about their mother’s cancer fighting journey. Chow Chung would also give detailed reports to the doctor during checkups. After being sick for a year, Chow Chung’s wife needed to get morphine injections at the hospital to relieve the pain. When Chow Chung’s wife passed, she was surrounded by her family. Chow Chung recalled she passed without any regrets, “The greatest feeling I have is being able to fulfill my promise. Being able to do this is the biggest satisfaction of I, Chow Chung’s, life.”

At the point when his wife got really sick, Chow Chung recalled he had to change her diapers 13 times in one night. Another time, she had wanted to eat rice rolls in the middle night. Chow Chung went out to their neighborhood trying to find a shop selling rice rolls that’s still open that late. One time he passed a noodle shop and the boss asked him why he didn’t buy any rice rolls. He responded, “I said my wife is already gone. No one’s going to eat if even if I buy it.”

Before his wife passed, she had told Chow Chung and their family that she didn’t want to be filled with any hoses or stabbed with needles all over her body. Chow Chung recalled, “We fulfilled her wish. I also told our children, when I pass, I want my ashes scattered in a garden, returned to the land to nourish the flowers and the threes. A sea burial is not bad, but it requires renting a boat to go out to sea and just too much work. I don’t want to trouble anyone. A flower burial is simpler. I hope to leave the world with a smile when the time comes.”

HK01, MP Weekly