[2014.07.09] WU FUNG IS SURPRISED TO LEARN OF MAK GEI'S DEATH

Mak Gei's punk image earned him the nickname "Eastern James Dean"

Last year Mak Gei claimed to have been swindled out of HK$600,000 in an investment and asked the police for help.

Mak Gei 14 years later wed again. Sworn not to wed again after age 65, he married Sabrina with only 12 days left

Behind Mak Gei's punk image was a faithful Christian

Mak Gei has made over 300 films, often with Lam Fung, Cheung Ying and Lung Kong

E-mail from Mak Gei's wife

When Mak Gei returned to Hong Kong, Lee Heung Kam starred with him in AH KAM AND AH GEI
courtesy of mingpao.com

Mak Gei received help from council member James To from after being swindled
courtesy of on.cc

Best known for playing "punks" and villains in the 50s and 60s Mandarin and Cantonese films, veteran actor Mak Gei passed away at the age of 79 on Sunday around 7:45AM. His widow yesterday replied to the media via e-mail and confirmed Mak Gei's passing. His family would handle his affairs in a low key manner and they would not be public. She hoped everyone would give them space and thanked everyone for their concerns and condolences.

Mak Gei joined the Shaw's first training class at age 20 and has made over 200 Cantonese and 100 Mandarin films, with A PRETTY GIRL'S LOVE AFFAIR (YUK NUI CHUN CHING) and other films he solidified his punk image. Mak Gei immigrated to the U.S. early on and wed twice, had two daughters and a son. In recent years he returned to Hong Kong and became a Christian. He also performed for ATV. Last year he revealed that he lost HK$600,000 in savings due to a scheme. Yesterday the news of his death suddenly surfaced, but his Cantonese film era co-stars Wu Fung and Nancy Sit Ka Yin have not heard about it. Sister Ka Yin even said that she has not seen him in over 20 years, but knew that he was a Christian. She also said that although on screen he only played punks and bad guys, but in real life he was a very nice person. Brother Sau said that after Mak Gei became Christian they have lost contact. He has not seen him in years and he hoped that the news was not true.

Reportedly Mak Gei due to increasingly severe pneumonia had respiratory assistance and has been hospitalized for awhile. When he was slightly more stable his family brought him home, but soon after his condition worsened again and passed away the day after he returned to the hospital. Because both he and his wife were faithful Christians, they were considering a memorial at the church.

Known as "the ancestor of punks" and "Eastern James Dean", Mak Gei was originally named Au Kwok Leung. His stage name Mak Gei came from his English name Micky.

According to the famous late director Ho Mung Wa's wife, she was in constant contact with Mak Gei and his wife. In recent years Mak Gei had to be hospitalized due to frequent health issues. Originally she wanted to visit him earlier, but Mrs. Mak said to wait until Mak Gei was released due to all the germs at the hospital and to prevent from troubling her. She lamented that she did not expect only after a day at home Mak Gei's condition worsened and he had to return to the hospital. They could not see each other again. Did Mr. Ho know what Mak Gei passed away from? Mrs. Ho said, "That should be left for Mrs. Mak to tell. I only know that his lungs were doing poorly and he needed a respirator to help him breathe." Reportedly Mrs. Mak Gei considered a memorial in a remote church, in hopes that her husband would be able to return to Heaven in peace.

Mak Gei had three marriages in his life, in previous interviews he revealed that his previous marriages failed because of education and value differences with his former wives. Thus they had arguments. His current wife Sabrina is 30 years his junior, a Hong Kong University Civil Engineering graduate. They have been together until now due to their religion. In 2008, Mak Gei lost over 20 pounds due to acid reflux. Luckily his wife took great care of him and he was in decent spirits.

Mak Gei in recent years would occasionally appear on camera, but he switched to mainly the spread of the gospel. Every year he would preach over 50 times. The church even released his preaching as a video and raised over 1 million. Thus his life was rather pleasant. Early last year he asked council member James To Kun-Sun for help and held a press conference with him, he suspected that he trusted the wrong friend and put HK$ 600,000 in high interest guaranteed investment/loan project. He was unable to get the sum back. Later he contacted the police.

Reporters yesterday contacted To Kun-Sun. He said that Mak Gei was suspected of falling for an investment scheme. The police due to lack of evidence did not press charges. Originally they remained relentless and hoped that the police would provide some of the evidence to the Securities and Futures Commission for investigation. Unfortunately before getting an appointment Mak Gei has already passed away and was unable to claim his savings.

On the screen Mak Gei often played loiter punks, but in real life he was a top student from a famous school. He studied at St. Paul's boys college, after graduation he was accepted in the University of Sydney's mechanical engineering program. Unfortunately his father did not permit him to go. Mak Gei could only help his father with his business for two years. Mak Gei at age 20 joined Shaw's first artist training class and made around 300 Cantonese and Mandarin films. His first lead was the Cantonese film PEARL OF THE ISLAND (BO DOH SUN JU); truly making his a star and solidifying his punk image was A PRETTY GIRL'S LOVE AFFAIR; AH FEI JING JUEN gave Mak Gei the nickname of "Eastern James Dean". He has worked with Lee Kam Heung the most. After returning to Hong Kong, they even worked together on the ATV series AH KAM YU AH GEI. At age 30 he immigrated to the U.S., divorced twice with 2 daughters and a son. They all lived overseas; later he returned to Hong Kong due to disappointment investments in the U.S. and has been spreading the gospel. He with his "punk" identity interpreted a legendary experience that was completely different from punks.