Veteran Hong Kong actress Yip Tong, a three-time Hong Kong Film Award winner, states clearly she will never take responsibility for her elder brother's life.
Ye Tong, the 61-year-old three-time Hong Kong Film Award Best Actress, made a bold public statement: she will never foot the bill for her older brother’s lifestyle.
Who would have thought that the talented leading lady, once known to movie fans throughout Hong Kong, now has a brother—Li Zhongning—who works as a security guard in a commercial building in Hong Kong? Though they’ve spent most of their lives together, they’ve met only three times.
To put it bluntly, the roots of this situation were planted as early as when Ye Tong was two years old. Her father was a wealthy businessman who had enjoyed some fame in Hong Kong in his early years; he had been married four times and fathered a total of thirteen children. His heart, however, was always entirely devoted to his eldest son, Li Zhongning—Ye Tong’s biological older brother.The family’s savings, the elders’ favoritism, and any industry connections that could be secured—all were funneled toward this son. At the age of two, Ye Tong was sent to live with her aunt; growing up, she often went without proper clothing, and she rarely even got to see her father.As a teenager, she made a special trip to the United Kingdom to find her father, only to be met with his cold indifference. Throughout her entire upbringing, the number of times she and her older brother sat down to eat a meal together could be counted on one hand. With virtually no foundation for a relationship, there was naturally little in the way of sibling affection between them.
In the early years of his life, Li Zhongning’s path was entirely mapped out by his family.As soon as he came of age, his family propelled him into the entertainment industry, giving him a starting point far higher than that of most of his peers. Yet he refused to cherish this opportunity, taking on numerous low-quality films that squandered the public goodwill he had originally built up. He later switched to business but suffered massive losses time and again,which eventually left him with chronic health issues. After years of struggling, he was ultimately reduced to working as a security guard at the entrance of a shopping mall just to make ends meet.
In contrast, Ye Tong never received any support from her family growing up. She relied entirely on herself to work on film sets, pull all-nighters, and hone her acting skills time and time again. Starting from the very bottom as an extra, she gradually worked her way up to become a household-name leading actress and has firmly established herself at the top of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry.
There are inevitably plenty of gossipmongers out there who spend every day talking behind her back, saying that Ye Tong has forgotten her roots now that she’s famous, calling her cold-hearted, and claiming she won’t even lend a helping hand even though she can see her own brother is living in such dire straits.
It wasn’t until someone asked Li Zhongning directly if he should ask his sister for help that he shook his head, saying it wasn’t necessary. Later, when someone asked Ye Tong about her brother, she didn’t show much emotion and simply said, “I won’t take responsibility for his life.”
This isn’t just a private matter between the brother and sister—it really hits a nerve for many people who’ve struggled through their own difficult upbringings.Why should we have to pay the price for someone else’s choices simply because of a blood relationship? True family bonds are always built on mutual sincerity, cultivated bit by bit through daily companionship. Relationships that rely solely on a blood tie but lack even a shred of affection simply cannot be called family.
Haven’t we seen enough of this in our lives? There are so many biased elderly couples who pour all their resources into one child, only to end up raising a good-for-nothing, and then turn around and demand that the other child—who was shortchanged from the start—pick up the pieces. I don’t know when this moral blackmail will ever end.
If you were in Ye Tong’s shoes, would you foot the bill for your own brother—someone you’ve barely met and who makes all his own life choices? Feel free to share your thoughts.
