The Bittersweet Success Story Of A YouTuber

Coffee Lam is a successful YouTube influencer, yoga teacher and former TVB actress. In 2020, she got the honour of becoming the first Cantonese-language content creator to amass more than a million followers and is now one of Hong Kong's most popular YouTubers. Most people don’t look beyond her success today and realize that she actually had a very bad start in life. She grew up in a poor, sometimes violent household and also later became embroiled in a paparazzi-fuelled sex scandal in her early 20s. The scandal caused such emotional turmoil that she almost died from an autoimmune disease.

Coffee grew up in a tiny home, with seven people in a subdivided flat little more than a 100 square feet (9.3 square metres) in size. Her father was hard-working, but they were very poor. Their family culture prizes sons over daughters (like most conservative Chinese families), so Coffee was often neglected. She was even expected to do things for her older brother.

An unexpected encounter with a talent manager brought Lam an opportunity to become an actress at local broadcaster TVB in 2008. She quit university in her first year to pursue acting. At first she was only signed up to perform in one show and her salary was only HK$1,000 (US$130) a month.

In order to support her poor family, Coffee had to take on many shows at the same time. She played the roles that no one wanted such as mistress or promiscuous woman. People then started stereotyping her as such in real life.

The competitive environment at TVB drove her body to the brink. Afraid of losing shows, she once returned to a set immediately after undergoing invasive surgery, ignoring her doctor's advice to take a month's bed rest. She failed to inform her employers of her condition, but the situation soon revealed itself when she collapsed in a pool of blood.

It was then that she decided it was time to start taking better care of her body. She signed up for a yoga class and accidentally joined a session for advanced students.

Lam took a substantial amount from her savings to study for a yoga teaching qualification. "It was tough," she says. "I still stressed myself out by doing acting and yoga training concurrently, but I felt happy the whole time. Every day I did something that gave me so much satisfaction. I felt power."

It was around that time, in 2014, that Lam discovered her long-term boyfriend was having an affair, and she ended their relationship.

"I started going out a lot and drinking to forget my pain, and that's when 'the incident' happened," she says, referring to a video clip showing Lam and a man, both under the influence, entering a disabled restroom at the IFC Mall, before emerging a reported 30 minutes later to a crowd of paparazzi. The video ignited a supposed sex scandal that became indelibly associated with her name.

For years, Lam endured ridicule, including from her family, who cared little for the truth and focused more on the shame she had brought upon them. It came to a point when she was diagnosed with systemic sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that eats away at the body's tissue, with a doctor telling her that once it reached her throat, she would die.

Lam went through painful, expensive treatments before finally giving up and deciding to live out her days by travelling with friends. Removed from the toxic hometown environment, her condition healed itself.

Slowly, she learned to address the whispers she would hear behind her with a laugh, and to focus on building her yoga practice. One day in 2014, a former TVB staffer called her about joining a YouTube production company.

Soon, Lam was editing and creating her own videos, which she still does today. She doesn't feel her following grew quickly - it took a year or so of regular posts for a "death by abs workout" video to achieve a million hits. She is now one of Hong Kong's top three YouTube content creators with 1.3 million subscribers.

Lam's YouTube channel features weekly fitness and yoga tutorials, with workouts targeting specific body parts and postural issues from anterior pelvic tilt to hunched shoulders, along with personal vlogs and updates on her beauty regime, family life and aspects of motherhood.

"I'm still a bit lazy. I don't film a video a day, I just want my YouTube channel to touch and help people. I'd rather do quality over quantity and I don't want to forget my original intention. People tell me to create a premium membership, but I don't want to lose people who can't afford it. I've even cut YouTube ads that show up midway. I feel that the YouTube channel is my home, and I only want to bring in things that I love."

Lam credits her husband with helping her find balance and sanity. The couple now have a two-year-old son and she has - for the first time in her life - found happiness.

"People say I should be thankful for that 'incident' because it brought me my fame. Maybe that's true. But actually, it's what took me to rock bottom. It was yoga that raised me back up. It was my own resilience and perseverance. Scandals happen to lots of people, and a lot of people disappear from the public eye. It was my choice to work hard and soldier on, because I didn't have any other options. I was like a weed, I had to grow where I was left," she says.

"The first half of my life was bitter, but now it is sweet. And without the bitter, I wouldn't appreciate the sweetness as much. My failures have made me who I am today, which is a positive person."

Source: SCMP

Rich and Pretty Korean

For those of you who enjoy instant Korean food like Jin Ramen, three-minute curry or microwaveable rice porridge, you’ve probably came across the Korean food manufacturing company Ottogi – the household brand nicknamed “God-ttogi”.

While the rich chaebol family behind the company prefers to keep low profile, Ham Yon-ji, the 24-year-old daughter of Ottogi chairman Ham Young-joon, is anything but. She is rich, talented and very pretty!

Ham Yong-ji is making a name for herself in a completely different field: musical theatre. She attended the prestigious Daewon Foreign Language High School and New York University Tisch School of the Arts, and subsequently made her debut as Scarlett O‘Hara in a French musical version of Gone with the Wind in 2015. Ham defeated 300 competitors for the role. Since then, she has appeared in musicals like Amadeus and Notre-Dame de Paris as well as the 2016 TV drama [Still Loving You].

This ambitious lady is also a YouTuber! She shares her daily life through vlogs, cooking videos and song covers, keeping her audience entertained with her cheerful personality.

Last year, Ham also signed a contract with entertainment agency Sandbox Network.

In 2016, Ham Yong-ji was ranked the fifth-richest celebrity as she owned more than US$31 million worth of company investments in stocks.

Ham has also shared her favourite shoes and bags on her YouTube channel. Each item has a story of its own. Her Jimmy Choo glitter gradation pumps, for example, were a wedding gift from her dad that she only wore twice. She also has Louis Vuitton shoes passed down from her mother and a 50-year-old bag from her grandmother.

Ham’s family earned its “God-ttogi” nickname through various charitable campaigns, from funding university scholarships to supporting children with heart disease. They strongly believe in making contribution to their community. Ham has also uploaded videos of her volunteering works with her father. With such generous attitude despite their wealth, no wonder the Ham Family is so highly respected by their community. It is important to have more people like Ham Yong-ji who takes full advantage of her privileges to help others in need.

这位美女是韩国企业家族的千金。不但富裕而且美丽又多才华。她时常在自己视频分享生活以及一些慈善活动。她和她爸爸乐意行善帮助需要的人。真希望有更多网红能像她一样做些有意义的事情，不只追求粉丝。

Youthful Look Due To Christianity

 

So what is her secret to ageing well? Accepting that it happens.

"Being afraid of getting old is not a good mentality," the award-winning Hong Kong television star tells the Post. "I have not worn make-up (for non-professional occasions) for many years. I want to embrace my real age," she says. Tang is 54.

Exercise such as hiking and spending time with her family help Tang stay young at heart - as does possessing good mental health. Her trick for that is to stay curious and to never dwell on the past.

Sheren Tang doesn't wear make-up when she is not acting.

The former actress with Hong Kong-based broadcaster TVB, who has starred in numerous hugely popular drama series, including Rosy Business (2009), No Regrets (2010), War and Beauty (2004) and Beauty at War (2013), says her life changed when she embraced Christianity in 1998.

A near-brush with monetary ruin during the 1998 Asian financial crisis resulted in Tang having to juggle several jobs, including working as a DJ, to pay the mortgage on the luxurious house she had never lived in thanks to her hectic work schedule.

"I stumbled and was covered with bruises then. I found out I couldn't rely on (purely) myself any more. I turned to God and Jesus. It took a long time for me to have the faith to fully rely on God, as I have led a self-reliant existence for many years."

Tang, who was raised by her grandparents even before her parents divorced when she was five, credits her faith with helping to heal long-term emotional wounds. Thanks to Christian counselling which she started in 2008, she has reconciled with her parents.

"It took a long journey with pain and tears to forgive them. I had never lived with them (before adulthood). My anger (towards them) had accumulated since childhood. So my success was tainted with bitterness. Through therapy, I started to learn to tell them my feelings and let go of emotional baggage."

Tang began acting in the 1980s and says that her approach to working used to be to go all out.

"I did stunts (without using a body double). I learned (how to) drive and smoke for the sake of acting. I just jumped into the sea when shooting (television dramas) even though I didn't know how to swim." Although viewers may have thought she did these things because she was good at them, she wasn't - she was simply doing her best to keep her job.

Her work ethic brought her phenomenal career success - she won the best TVB actress award for two consecutive years for her performances in Rosy Business and No Regrets - but it took a crushing mental and physical toll. After she finished shooting palace intrigue drama Beauty at War, Tang was so exhausted that she took a two-year hiatus from acting.

"I have never thought that I would have the guts to stop working for two years in my whole life. In her last days, my (late) friend (and movie star) Jacqueline Law Wai-guen always reminded me not to have regrets in life. So I did many things on my bucket list, like visiting Greece and Israel, giving Christian testimonial talks, and attending a fun course on acting."

Even now, Tang enjoys a slower pace of life, and can often be seen lining up for church with her fellow parishioners in Hong Kong. She says she enjoys feeling like a nobody and being out and about without wearing make-up.

And, although in Chinese culture unmarried women of a certain age are often looked down upon, Tang says she embraces her single status with gusto and credits God with helping change her views on romance.

"I was a romantic obsessive who entered into relationships easily before. I did that to prove that I am worthy of love, and to fill the void (left by her parents' divorce).

"When women see handsome men, or men treating them well or courting them ferociously, they might see it as romantic love. But it can just be romantic obsession filled with desires. Real love leads to marriage and family with sacrifices and responsibility. I am much more cautious when it comes to romantic pursuits now.

"I believe God will arrange for the right man to appear. So while I won't seek romance actively, I won't close the door on it."

Sheren Tang at her Church's activity.

Having given Christian testimonials in Singapore, the United States, Europe and in China over the years, Tang says her ability to shift all her worldly worries and burdens to God has turned her into a carefree and fearless person, which helps her stay young.

"There's no need to worry for tomorrow, as God will take care of me. I was a workaholic before, striving hard to earn money and get recognition. I was worried that my acting skills would one day be lost and I would be left with no wherewithal to make a living," she says. Her faith has helped her to understand her true value does not come from her work.

"I have to love myself, as my life is precious. The inner peace and sense of security I feel is the greatest gift," Tang says.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

Copyright (c) 2021. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

长生不老的秘诀是什么？就是接受一切。 

这位屡获无数奖项的香港电视明星告诉《华盛顿邮报》说：“害怕变老不是一种好的心态。” 她说：“我已经在非职业场合没有化妆多年了。我想拥抱自己的真实年龄。” 鄧萃雯现今54岁。

爬山和陪伴家人等有助于鄧萃雯保持年轻的心态-拥有良好的心理健康。她想无时无刻保持好奇心，并且尽量不要沉迷于过去。

1998年接受基督教后，鄧萃雯的生活发生了巨大变化。

在1998年的那场亚洲金融危机中，鄧萃雯的钱财几乎亏尽了，导致她不得不同一时间从事几份工作，包括担任DJ，以偿还她那间从未住过的豪华房子的抵押贷款。

“我跌跌撞撞，然后浑身都是青肿。我发现自己再也不能完全只依靠自己了。我求助于上帝和耶稣。我花了很长时间才有信心完全依靠上帝，因为我多年来一直过着自力更生的生活。”

 

鄧萃雯在她五岁时父母离婚后就由祖父母抚养长大，她认为自己的信念有助于治愈长期的情感创伤。由于她从2008年开始接受基督教辅导，所以她才可以慢慢的解开心结与父母和解。

“我花了很长的时间去忍受痛苦和悲伤。我从没与他们住过（成年前）。从小就累积了我对他们的愤怒。我的成功背后是充满了许多痛苦。通过治疗，我开始学会告诉他们我的感受，放开情感上的包袱“。”

鄧萃雯于1980年代开始表演，每一份工作她都会全力以赴。

“我做特技表演没有使用替身。我戏里开车和抽烟全都是为了演戏。即使我不知道如何游泳，我也会在拍摄电视剧时跳入海中。 ” 尽管观众可能认为她做这些事情是因为她很擅长于这些动作，但事实并非如此-她只是尽力保持自己的工作而已。

她的职业道德带给她非凡的职业成就-她在《巾幗梟雄》和《巾幗梟雄之義海豪情》中的表演连续两年获得了TVB最佳女演员奖，但是这导致她在精神和身体上都付出了惨重的代价。在完成《金枝慾孽貳》的拍摄后，鄧萃雯筋疲力尽，以至于表演中断了两年。

“我从没想过我会停止工作两年。我的朋友曾提醒我不要对自己的一生后悔或感到遗憾。所以我做了很多积极的事情，例如访问希腊和以色列，进行基督教鉴定演讲以及参加有意义的表演课程。”

 

即使到了现在，鄧萃雯的生活节奏仍然很慢，而且经常可以看到她经常去香港教会崇拜。她说，她喜欢自己像一个普通人的感觉，并且也不化妆。

而且，尽管在中国文化中，某个年龄的未婚女性经常会被歧视，但鄧萃雯说，她热衷于拥抱自己的单身身份，并赞扬上帝帮助改变了她对爱情的看法。

“我以前很容易进入一段感情。我这样做是为了证明我值得爱，并填补了我心灵的空虚。

“当女人见到英俊的男人时，或者男人好好对待他们或追她们时，她们会把它看作是一段浪漫的爱情。但这可能只是充满欲望的浪漫痴迷。真正的爱情是永恒的婚姻和家庭，这都需要双方牺牲和责任感。

 

“我相信上帝会安排合适的人出现。因此，尽管我不会主动寻求爱情，但我也不会封锁自己。”

多年来，鄧萃雯在新加坡，美国，欧洲和中国提供基督教见证演说，她将世俗的一切忧虑和重担交托给上帝，这使她成为了一个无忧无虑，无所畏惧的人，这有助于她保持年轻。

“不必担心未来，因为上帝会照顾我。我 以前是个 工作狂，努力挣钱只求获得认可。我担心我的表演技巧有一天会退步，我就会被遗弃。没有任何谋生手段。”她说。她的信念帮助她理解了她的真正价值不只在于她的工作。

鄧萃雯说：“我必须爱自己，因为我的生命是宝贵的。我感到内心的平静和安全感才是最大的礼物。”

Gui Yuna - The One Leg Success Story

 

SHANGHAI: Tears fill Gui Yuna's eyes as she describes losing her right leg in a road accident aged seven and school bullies kicking away her crutch to make her fall.

But they would not dare do that now - the 35-year-old is a prize-winning bodybuilder and former Paralympian whose inspirational story has gone viral in China.

Gui, who competed in long jump at the 2004 Athens Paralympics, is new to bodybuilding but won the first time she competed in October.

Images of her strutting on stage in a high-heel shoe and bikini - all while leaning on her crutch - featured heavily in Chinese media and won her a sizeable online following.

With her steely determination and positive attitude she has been feted as an inspiration in a country where disabled people are all too often marginalised.

"It's possible that I won first place not because of my professionalism or muscles, but because of my confidence and bravery to stand on the stage and show myself to everyone," Gui said.

She spoke following an intense workout at a Shanghai gym, sessions that she regularly posts to her 200,000 followers on TikTok.

Gui has almost no memory of the fateful day when she was hit by a truck as she came home from school.

But she cannot forget how, as a young child with only a stump where her right leg used to be, children at school tormented her by kicking away her crutch or yanking away her chair as she sat down.

"They called me a cripple or 'three-legged cat'," said Gui, tears welling in her eyes, even though this was nearly three decades ago.

"Most of the time it was abusive language like that and sometimes physical abuse.

"The first time they made me fall I cried, but then I got used to it and I thought: You can bully me however you want, but I'll be fine because I have a brave heart."

Gui, who is from the southern city of Nanning, was raised by her mother because her father died before she was born.

The odds were stacked against her but Gui's athleticism matched her determination and in 2001 she became involved in paralympic sports, going on to represent China at the 2004 Games, finishing seventh in her long jump category.

She also did high jump and later archery, and took part in the torch relay for the 2008 Beijing Summer Games and Paralympics.

After retiring from competition in 2017, Gui endured yet more discrimination in the working world, rejected by employers who said she didn't match their "image".

"(They were) implying that I'd damage their image," she said.

"I applied to nearly 20 companies and all of them said the same thing."

And while many online commended her after her bodybuilding debut, where she dazzled in a traditional high-necked qipao dress and beat able-bodied rivals, there were a few dissenting voices telling her to stay at home.

Occasionally people on the street ask Gui what happened to her right leg and she is taken aback - missing a limb is so normal to her now that she no longer thinks about it.

Gui's crutch is always close at hand but she appears to have few troubles negotiating everyday life.

"Many people think that fate was unkind to me, but I don't think so," said Gui, who after the initial rejections is now a partner at a company specialising in home decoration.

"I am thankful for having these hardships.

"Why do I say that? Because of this I grew up, it made my heart stronger and made me what I am today."

Source: AFP/ lk

Gui Yuna含着泪描述了她在七岁时的一次交通意外中失去了右腿，而又遭到学校同学故意将她的拐杖踢倒使她摔倒。

但这些恶霸现在不敢再这样对待她-现年35岁的她是一位屡获殊荣的健美运动员，曾是残奥会的运动员，其励志故事也在中国风靡一时。

在2004年雅典残奥会跳远比赛中，虽然Gui Yuna在健美运动领域还是个新人，但是她十月份第一次参加比赛便获得了冠军。

她穿着高跟鞋和比基尼在舞台上站着的照片-一直靠在拐杖上-在中国媒体上广为报道，并赢得了她在网上的大量关注。

她坚韧的决心和积极的态度使她成为一个残疾人经常被边缘化的启发。

桂说：“我之所以获得第一名，可能不是因为我的专业知识或力量，而是因为我有信心和勇气站在舞台上向所有人展示自己。”

在上海一家体育馆进行了激烈的锻炼之后，她会定期在TikTok上载向她200,000位追随者发帖。

Gui对于她那次的意外毫无回忆，她是在放学回家时，被一架卡车撞到的。

但是她不能忘记，作为一个只有左腿的残端的幼儿，学校的孩子会踢踢拐杖或摇晃椅子，故意玩弄和折磨她。

桂说，“他们称我为'三足猫'，”尽管事隔已经快三十年了，但每当提到这时她还是充满感触。

“大多数时都是这种侮辱性语言，有时甚至是身体虐待。

“他们第一次让我摔倒时我哭了，但后来我习惯了，我想：你可以随心所欲地欺负我，但我会很好的，因为我有颗勇敢的心。”

来自南方城市南宁的桂女士由母亲抚养长大，因为父亲在她出生之前就去世了。

2001年，她加入了残奥会，并代表中国参加了2004年奥运会，在她的跳远项目中排名第七。

她还参加了跳高和后来的射箭，并参加了2008年北京夏季运动会和残奥会的火炬传递。

在2017年退出竞争后，Gui在职场遭受了更多歧视，遭到雇主的拒绝，雇主称她与他们公司的“形象”不符。

她说：“（他们）暗示我会损害他们的形象。”

“我向近20家公司提出了申请，所有公司都说了同样的话。”

健美初次登台后，许多网上人赞扬她，她穿着传统的高领旗袍连衣裙，击败了更强的对手，但还是会有一些反对声音告诉她待在家里。

有时，街上的人们会问Gui右腿出了什么事，她大吃一惊-失去一条肢对她来说很正常，现在她不再去想它了。

桂的拐杖总是在附近，但她在日常生活中似乎很少遇到麻烦。

桂说：“许多人认为命运对我不公平，但我却不这么认为。

“我感谢有这些困难。

“我为什么这么说呢？因为这使我的心脏更加坚强，使我今天的状态变了， 我长大了。”

Taiwanese Body Builder Exercises To Fight Depression

What is our greatest enemy in life? Answer is TIME! Regardless of how beautiful or handsome one was, there comes a time when we have to face the cruel reality of aging. However, there is a small group of people who are pushing back the aging process through hard work.

One of these people is 49 years old internet celebrity Lin from Taiwan. She persists for almost 10 years in sculpting her now almost perfect body. She now has abs there is the envy of many and a youthful aura around her.

In 1998, Lin worked in a finance company in Taiwan. Through her hard work and perseverance, she climbed the corporate ladder faster than her peers, earning her millions of annual income. It seemed back then that her future was bright. However, Global Financial Crisis in 2008 hit the financial sector hard. She was constantly being chased by customers for money and her boss gave her lots of pressure. Finally she succumbed to these external pressures and developed depression.

During the time she suffered from depression, she would lock herself in her room and did not wish to see anyone. She couldn’t sleep well, constantly having headache, mood swing most of the day and she became very thin at one point. What saved her from falling further into the depth of depression was encouragement from her family. Her daughter told Lin one day: “Mom, you must have a good and healthy life.” This simple request from her daughter gave her tremendous hope, she decided to walk out from her secluded life and seek help from medical professionals.

One day, her friend suggested her to exercise. She heeded the advice and started exercising. She would focus on exercise throughout the day until she was completely exhausted so that she could sleep well and stopped any negative thinking.

At 40, working out in the gym was purely to fight her depression. After a while, things changed for the better.

Lin came to a crossroad in her life when she reached 43, she made a life changing decision by resigned from her job in the financial sector and indulged herself in professional body building full time.

人生最大的敵人是什麼？是時間！曾經多少風華正茂的人，都難逃時間的侵蝕，歲月無情正是如此；

但偏偏有些人，勇於和歲月抗爭，用行動詮釋著：年齡它算個P。

比如，這位在網絡上很火的49歲台灣“美魔女”林慧君，她堅持健身近十年，凹凸有致的身段，性感的腹肌，年輕的狀態，舉手投足間，還帶著一股青春的活力。

你敢相信，這是49歲阿姨該有的狀態嗎？

1998年，林慧君在台灣的一家金融公司工作，憑借著一股拼勁和努力，她在短短幾年內就成為超級業務員，年入百萬，前景一片光明。

然而，天有不測風雲，08年金融危機來臨….

無數客戶追著她要錢，上司也給她很大壓力，接踵而至的事情，讓她精神瀕臨崩潰，甚至患上了鬱抑症；

從金融新貴跌落人生谷底，生活總是這樣，大起大落，充滿無奈。

那段時間，她每天都把自己關在房間里，不想見人；

天天睡也睡不好，經常頭暈耳鳴，情緒非常低落，整個人暴瘦了許多。

面對抑鬱症的糾纏，家人的鼓勵，給了她很多的勇氣和力量，

女兒抱著她說：媽媽，你一定要好好活著；

這句話讓她對生活重新燃起希望，她開始求助醫生，走出家門不再封閉自己。

後來，在朋友的介紹下，林慧君開始接觸運動，

她不再去想負面的事情，每天專心投入到運動中，練到筋疲力盡；身體累了，晚上自然就睡得好了。

久而久而，抑鬱症竟然奇跡般的有了很大的好轉。

那一年，她40歲，健身單純是為了對抗疾病，

當時的她，完全沒有意識到，在往後的日子，自己會和健身結下不解之緣….

中年才健身，要面臨著很多的問題：

體能不足、強度跟不上、心肺功能也開始走下坡路….

所以，她更加嚴苛的要求自己，付出著比常人更多的努力和汗水。

從最開始一張瑜伽墊練核心，再到壺鈴訓練，再到各種大重量訓練；

日復一日的刻苦訓練，只為了遇見那個更好的自己。

堅持一段時間後，她發現自己每天的精力更加充沛，更有精神了，身材也在逐漸的變好，自此她徹底愛上了健身鍛鍊。

期間，她和大多數人一樣，迷茫過，也有過放棄的念頭，每當這個時候，她總會告訴自己：千萬不要懦弱，要做一個勇於打敗自己的人。

43歲那年，在人生的十字路口，她做了個重大決定：離開金融行業，走專業健身道路；

她脫掉高跟鞋，換成了運動鞋，脫掉職業裝，換上了健身服，她開始加倍的雕刻自己，還考取了教練資格證。

健身是一個破繭成蝶的過程，熬過了必須的苦，就能活成渴望的模樣

多年的堅持，她從一個身體素質很差的「阿姨」，蛻變成了身材健美的”少女”，眼神里完全看不出中年人的疲態。

腹肌馬甲線出來了，翹臀也有了，肌肉線條明顯了，她的身材，以及那份活力，絲毫不遜色很多二十幾歲的姑娘。

沒錯！她已經49歲了，但誰說歲數小才年輕呢？

身材好，精神抖擻本就是一種美，是另外一種意義上的年輕，不是嗎？

通過健身，迎來新的人生後，林慧君又再次挑戰自己，

她參加了亞洲IFBB職業卡健美資格賽，以48歲的年紀踏上了健美舞台。

穿著比基尼的她，在台上自信的展示自己的身材曲線，

很多選手和觀眾，都被她姣好的身材和無懼年齡的狀態所折服，紛紛獻上掌聲。

當記者問她：為什麼這年紀了還來參加比賽呢？

林慧君笑著說道：年紀大很可怕嗎？我49歲還能有這身材，我感覺很自豪！

憑借著超脫年齡的身材和狀態，以及不服輸的心態，林慧君成了很多人的健身偶像，”美魔女”的稱號就此傳開。

林慧君的經歷告訴我們：年齡，從來不是阻礙你變得更好的障礙，不要輕易的告訴自己：我這輩子，就這樣了！

你活著的態度決定你的人生，只要你始終在奮力追求，不懈奔跑，雖然不再年輕卻依然是少年。

運動和改變，永遠沒有太晚的開始，只要你邁出腳步，持之以恆，

那麼，當你30歲、40歲、甚至50歲的時候，無論是狀態還是身材，都能甩同齡人幾條街。

人生是公平的，今天走過的路，今天吃過的苦，今天的日積月累，都會成為日後別人的望塵莫及。

Sheren Tang - Talented Actress with Substance

War and Beauty

Her role as a scheming consort in the 2004 imperial palace TVB drama War and Beauty - one she reprised in its 2013 sequel Beauty at War - made Sheren Tang Shui-man the queen of Chinese-language television drama.

Critics lauded the Hong Kong actress, now 54, for her portrayal of a complex character who was neither a heroine nor a villain. Her performance as Consort Yu, one of Jiaqing Emperor's concubines, was loved by viewers in the city and in China.

Tang, however, says she has sworn off the genre for good. "I don't want to star in palace intrigue dramas with endless fights for power any more. Playing unedifying roles is a waste of time," she tells the Post.

When she looks back over her nearly four-decade-long showbiz career, the drama that catapulted her to stardom doesn't even rank among her favourites. Instead, Tang names Rosy Business (2009) and No Regrets (2010) - which star her and fellow actor Wayne Lai Yiu-cheung as romantic leads - as the ones she likes the most.

Sheren Tang's role in TVB's Rosy Business

The actress says the strong female roles in the two series - a drug lord's righteous daughter who strikes up a complicated relationship with a police superintendent (Lai) in No Regrets; and a rice baron's fourth concubine who takes over the family business from her late husband in Rosy Business - are exemplary women who have inspired viewers.

"The two characters led viewers to reflect on their own lives and try to be women of virtue," Tang explains. She won TVB's best actress awards in 2009 and 2010 for her performances in both the shows.

Tang was surprised to learn that the relationship depicted between two middle-aged characters in No Regrets changed how young people viewed romance and real love.

"Unlike the relationships depicted in (some) Hollywood productions, the characters played by me and Lai have never kissed or even held hands. The series' young fans wanted to pursue such platonic romantic (ideals after watching them)," Tang says.

Although a decade has passed since No Regrets was first aired, the show remains popular and has a solid fan base - something that also surprises Tang. "It has taken on a life of its own, with fans doing anniversary celebrations every year."

Sheren Tang's role in TVB's No Regrets

The actress, a devout Christian, has turned down many drama roles over the past few years as she now only wants to take on ones that will positively affect people's lives.

"I have passed the stage where I am attracted by roles I have never played before. I am very selective now," Tang says.

"I have to see the full script before taking on a role so that I know the meaning behind the story and the character. It's very difficult for a full script to be ready before a television production begins. That's why I have not starred in anything for a long time."

She adds being a Christian has enriched her as an actor.

"(My character) in Rosy Business is a perfect woman with tolerance. In the master-servant relationship (between her and Chai Kau, a tramp-turned-businessman played by Lai), their romantic feelings for each other are ambiguous. She protects and nurtures him to become a lord without ever trying to upstage him.

"The Bible taught me real love is not built on desires. As the past, non-Christian, me who was obsessed with romantic feelings and entered into relationships easily, I wouldn't have been able to play such a role."

Tang describes her formative years in the 80s at Hong Kong broadcasting channel TVB as exhausting, as she would often have to survive on no sleep for several nights in a row during filming. The punishing schedule there made her subsequent work in China feel like a cakewalk in comparison.

"I found out I could actually have sufficient rest while shooting a television production (in China)," says Tang. "Although I might not be the lead in (these) productions and had to work in remote areas, I would rather work there, as I had no life while working in Hong Kong."

Tang adds that, now the entertainment industry in China is being taken more seriously, it makes her feel more like a professional actress. "While Hong Kong entertainment press will ask about gossipy things, their (Chinese) peers explore issues like character analysis, the artistic value of works, my views on the industry and so on. Such questions make me feel like my work is more than entertainment."

More Hong Kong small-screen stars heading into the mainland for work, and Tang's advice for them is to have humility, to be willing to start from the bottom and not expect preferential treatment. She cites Myolie Wu Hang-yee, who recently won an acting talent competition show in China, as a role model.

"First, she mastered Mandarin," she says. "Although she was pregnant while making the show, she never asked the production personnel to give her special treatment. She even brought her son on set."

Charmaine Sheh Sze-man - who was in the 2018 smash hit Story of Yanxi Palace - is another good example. "Being former TVB actresses, we are grateful for the training there. We passed the most difficult drills that laid the foundation for (our future acting career)," says Tang.

Her last on-screen role, in Till Death Do Us Part (2019) on ViuTV, another Hong Kong broadcaster, felt a little like coming home as she had - since leaving TVB upon finishing shooting Beauty at War in 2013 - only been working in China.

The real bonus of working with ViuTV? The actress says that "they could also satisfy many of my demands, like giving me enough rest time and a reasonable financial reward".

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.