6 Hong Kong child stars, then and now – from Olympic fencer Lawrence Ng and former K-pop idol Elkie Chong to G.E.M., who inspired a Marvel superhero
- Before Lawrence Ng represented Hong Kong at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with Edgar Cheung Ka-long, he appeared in TVB dramas and ETV – educational TV – shows
- G.E.M. also started on ETV before her Canto-pop stardom, while Jacky Wong – who moved to Japan to pursue voice acting – appeared in Stephen Chow’s film CJ7
If you never watched TV growing up then, well … more power to you. However, for most of us ordinary folks, whether it was that hit film all the cool kids were watching or the shows our parents always played in the background during dinner, TV was always a staple in our everyday lives growing up.
As adults in Hong Kong, watching old-school local TV programmes takes us back to when times were more simple, but have you ever wondered what happened to all the child actors we grew up with through the screen? Check out where some of these stars are today …
G.E.M.
One of Hong Kong’s biggest pop stars, G.E.M. debuted as a singer at age 16 after winning local singing contest Spice It Up. She ended up signing a deal with Hummingbird Music, releasing tracks like Where Did U Go and Sleeping Beauty. Nowadays, G.E.M.’s career has also been taking off in mainland China, where she has appeared on programmes such as the second season of I Am a Singer and Sing! China, where she was a mentor.
But before her days as a Canto-pop sensation, G.E.M. starred in several educational TV programmes, better known as ETVs. These were produced by Hong Kong’s Education Bureau and were popular among many 80s and 90s kids who would watch the shows after school. Despite G.E.M.’s relatively short time as a child actor, she was a joy to watch on camera.
Lawrence Ng