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Letters | Andy Hui kissing scandal: why taking cheap shots can be a cruel thing to do

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Singer Andy Hui breaks down and apologises to the public and his wife, Canto-pop superstar Sammi Cheng, during a press conference on April 16. Photo: AP
Hong Kong celebrities Andy Hui Chi-on and Jacqueline Wong Sum-wing have become the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons, after a video emerged of them kissing in the back seat of a car. But that does not justify how so many – from average netizens to agencies and organisations like the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Buildings Department and KMB – turned the episode into a social media free-for-all, complete with promotional posts, cartoons and hashtags.

Not only is it in bad taste, milking the situation for laughs also risks causing psychological damage to the parties involved, including the loved ones of Hui and Wong.

In the peanut gallery that is the internet and social media, a private moment is being consumed as bits of amusement: a viral video, a catchy hashtag, a meme to be shared. The celebrities have become easy targets for ridicule and criticism and the misery of their partners, mere social media fodder.

Sammi Cheng Sau-man, Andy Hui’s wife, has spoken about her battle against depression. She is reported to have credited Hui with encouraging her after their marriage and helping her get better. Many in Hong Kong have been on Team Mion (Mion is an amalgamation of the couple’s names) for more than a decade, through the highs and lows of their relationship, and comedian Dayo Wong Tze-wah said it best when he described the couple’s romantic reunion and marriage as a “fairy tale” Hong Kong needed.

When netizens and media outlets take cheap shots at Hui’s betrayal, they should remember they are also exploiting Cheng’s misery. It might be funny to some netizens, but it can’t be to Cheng.

Wong’s boyfriend, Kenneth Ma Kwok-ming, is also a victim here. Ma has become a subject of online memes, as well as jokes about how he has been given the “green hat” of a cuckold by Hui. Worse, Ma’s mother was interviewed for TV and pressed for a reaction to the video. This was deeply disrespectful, and could only cause more agony to everyone involved.

Andy Tong, Kwun Tong

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