[2025.05.01] LOUIS KOO QUITS BEEF FOR 30 YEARS FOR HIS FATHER'S HEALTH

Louis Koo plays an ambulance worker in the film, even falling into the dilemma of whether to immigrate or not
courtesy of singtao.com

Neo Yau and Louis Koo after playing ambulance workers respect their grasp of time to save lives even more

Angela Yuen in the film plays a frustrated nurse and uses foul language excessively

Neo Yau and Louis Koo play ambulance workers in VITAL SIGNS
courtesy of mingpao.com

In the Louis Koo Tin Lok, Neo Yau Hawk Sau and Angela Yuen Lai Lam starred, Cheuk Wan Chi directed film VITAL SIGNS (SUNG YUEN TOH JUNG), the three experienced the daily work of ambulance and medical staff, which was not simple. The film reflected issues of social concern, including medical care, education and immigration, etc., and explained their different life journeys, encountered various practical problems, and made helpless choices in dilemmas. Used to be the "Bull Demon King", Koo Tin Lok said that one of the big decisions in his life was when his father had a stroke. He made a vow not to eat beef again for the rest of his life, his father recovered and was discharged from the hospital, and he has quit eating beef for 30 years.

Koo Tin Lok played the role of an ambulance team captain and a single father with a daughter in VITAL SIGNS. Due to the back problems that has troubled his character, and for the sake of the children's education and future, he was willing to give up his originally stable job and choose to take his daughter to immigrate to other places. Always putting his family first in real life, Koo Tin Lok said: "Although I don't have any children, I empathize with the character's low back pain. I had neck pain that was so painful I couldn't sleep and my daily life was affected. In reality, I can have discussions with my family. If I was the father in the film though, I may insist on going for the sake of my daughter's future." He stressed that he had no intention of emulating the role and immigrate.

Faced with difficult choices at different stages of life, Koo Tin Lok said that leaving the TV industry to pursue a career in the film industry was not considered a major decision, nor did he ever worry about choosing between a career and love. The biggest choice in life was related to his family. "When my father had his first stroke, the doctor said that he could not save it and to be mentally prepared. At that time I was filming a drama, and I rushed to the emergency room of the hospital. I saw Ma sitting in the corridor sighing and saying that she has never traveled with my father by plane, and guessed that it would not happen. So I made a wish, 'I won't eat beef anymore in this life!' Papa was really fine in the end. I'm a big steak eater, and I haven't eaten beef since that time. It was probably 30 years ago, it was a big decision."

Yau Hawk Sau believed that the end of the online channel he singlehanded created, Trial and Error, involved many reasons. After careful consideration, he made the difficult choice. Yuen Lai Lam worked hard for her career, often leaving Hong Kong to fly to other places to work. In order for the cat to be properly cared for, she decided to hand it over to his family for foster care, and struggled several times over before making the decision.

Koo Tin Lok has a lot of scene with Yau Hawk Sau, who also played the role of an ambulance worker, and both respected the ambulance workers' ability to grasp time to save lives. Koo Tin Lok thought about becoming a firefighter before entering the industry, but he had the impression that becoming a medical or ambulance worker required professional knowledge courses, so he did not consider it. Yuen Lai Lam played the role of an emergency room nurse, the character had a manic personality and often had to use foul language. She regarded that as a major attempt since she entered the industry.

Koo Tin Lok remembered a scene in the film where he went to a construction site with a chainsaw to save a South Asian who has been pierced through the lungs by a metal bar. He thought it was "a little terrifying". How did the script move him? Koo Tin Lok said, "First of all, movies very rarely or perhaps never attempted the subject of an ambulance worker. Secondly, the film explored the topic of the migration wave in recent years. Many people have become 'astronauts' in modern times, in addition to other medical and educational problems that Hong Kong was facing. I think these subjects can be made into films."

Koo Tin Lok and Yau Hawk Sau both had experience with ambulance rides. Koo Tin Lok said that after graduating from Form 5, he was so happy and got carried away. When he crossed the road a truck hit him, and he was sent to the hospital for treatment. "After the crash my clothes were all torn up. I lay on the ground unconscious for about 5 to 10 seconds. After waking up I was carried into the ambulance and sent to the hospital. I had stitches over my right eyebrow, and I still have a scar. At that time the front of the truck was smashed, and the driver was lying over the steering wheel."

Yau Hawk Sau also had a similar experience. While driving from a small road to the main road in the early morning, a vehicle T-boned him. The car was a total loss after turning 180 degrees. He laughed and said, "I only had the accident after finishing this film. At the time I sat in the ambulance on to way to the hospital in a white car, I had a special sense of familiarity with the ambulance team. However I was traumatized at the moment." Yuen Lai Lam was glad that she has not needed an ambulance ride. After making the film she realized that the equipment in the ambulance turned out to be very expensive and advanced, and her eyes were opened.