[2013.06.16] NEWTON LAI PASSES AWAY FROM PNEUMONIA

Michelle Yim

Fellow soccer player Felix Wong remembers Newton Lai online

courtesy of on.cc

With his size and presence Newton Lai was one of RTV's leading men.  Later he became a metaphysics master

Newton Lai attended the TALES FROM THE DARK press conference in March

Newton Lai appeared on aTV 100 CELEBRITIES.  He sounded hoarse and looked thinner but appeared to be in decent spirit.

Newton Lai could play both good and evil so he had many roles

Newton Lai and Ken Ho were both avid soccer players

Ban Ban retweeted her god sister's tweet of the passing
courtesy of mingpao.com

Veteran actor Newton Lai Han Chi three days ago (13th) due to pneumonia at the age of 62. His TALES FROM THE DARK 2 (KEI WAN YEH) co-star Susan Shaw Yam Yam said that she learned about his passing on the night of the 13th but declined to say more. At the same time Lai Han Chi's son also confirmed the news with a friend "Sister Tse", who made the announcement online. Thus the news spread. Industry insiders were saddened. At the same time TALES FROM THE DARK 2's producer Tang Han Keung said that Lai Han Chi was hospitalized last Saturday and passed away Thursday night due to pneumonia.

Although Lai Han Chi has already become a metaphysics master for years, he still had contacts with industry insiders. Recently he even guest starred in the Lawrence Ah Mon (Lau Kwok Cheung) directed TALES FROM THE DARK (KEI WAN YEH). When he appeared in the March press conference, he looked much thinner than before but was in decent spirit. No one expected months later the news of his passing would come so suddenly. Yesterday Lai Han Chi's good friend "Sister Tse" announced Lai Han Chi's passing online. She was close to industry insiders and was Ban Ban's god sisters.

Ban Ban said that she learned the news from her. Because God Sister and Lai Han Chi were friends, she could not accept the news. Helplessness was reality, she could only wish him a safe journey. Ban Ban said that although she did not see Lai Han Chi often in recent years, they have been working together since his first ATV series TIGER HILL TRAIL (JOI HEUNG FU SAN HUNG). She even lamented the passing of two good friends So Hung Suen and Lai Han Chi within a week and felt even more than life was uncertain and must be properly cherished.

Lai Han Chi's secondary school classmate Nina Paw Hee Ching was very surprised to hear the news. She said that when he was in secondary school, he already had quite a presence due to his tall and handsome look. Later they had less contact as they had lives of their own. in recent years due to his wife's passing he was much thinner when she saw him. She did not expect to suddenly receive the bad news.

Tsui Siu Ming who cast Lai Han Chi in TIGER HILL TRAIL back then, he turly hoped the news was not true. Several days ago So Hung Suen just left. Brother Siu Ming said that he has worked with Lai Han Chi many times in RTV and ATV. His work attitude was great. Thus after THE LEGENDARY FOK (DAI HUP FOK YUEN GAP) he almost always had a role. Yet recently they had little contact, he truly could not expect this.

Lai Han Chi was born in 1951, nicknamed Lai Head. In 1979 he joined the show business, due to his size and agility he mainly worked on action series. He was right for playing both good and evil. His representative work was in THE LEGENDARY FOK with Michelle Yim (Mai Shuet) and Wong Yuen Sun as the villain Lung Hoi Sun. In 1985 he joined TVB and played Master Yat Tung in THE LEGEND OF THE CONDOR HEROES 1994 (SEH DIU YING HUNG JUEN) and Kuk Yeung in STATE OF DIVINITY (SIU NGO GONG WU). In recent years he guest starred in TWIN OF BROTHERS (DAI TONG SEUNG LUNG JUEN) and STRIKE AT HEART (GAING YIM YUT CHEUNG). His final work was the film TALES OF THE DARK 2. Last year he revealed that in 2005 he reached a low point in his life, as his parents and his wife passed away one after another. IN 2011 he even spat up blood for 5 days but still survived. He even said that at the end of 2010 his luck could change, unfortunately he still could not escape the sudden attack of sickness.