Fans turn up in droves to bid troubled HK star Yammie Lam goodbye

Fans and celebrities from the Hong Kong entertainment world attended the memorial service for the late TVB actress Yammie Lam at St Anne's Church in Stanley last Friday.
Fans and celebrities from the Hong Kong entertainment world attended the memorial service for the late TVB actress Yammie Lam at St Anne's Church in Stanley last Friday. PHOTO: APPLE DAILY
Above: Actor Dicky Cheung turned up to pay his respects and read a verse from the Bible.
Above: Actor Dicky Cheung turned up to pay his respects and read a verse from the Bible. PHOTO: APPLE DAILY
Fans and celebrities from the Hong Kong entertainment world attended the memorial service for the late TVB actress Yammie Lam at St Anne's Church in Stanley last Friday.
Yammie Lam was once famous for her beauty and acting skills, before her career and life took a
downturn.
PHOTO: APPLE DAILY

HONG KONG • A memorial service last Friday for the late Hong Kong actress Yammie Lam drew a crowd of 300 celebrities and fans to St Anne's Church in Stanley.

Lam, 55, who was baptised in the church in 2013, was found dead in her home on Nov 3.

Authorities do not suspect foul play and no note was found in the flat.

Her elder sister was at the service but kept a low profile.

Several of Lam's contemporaries who had acted opposite her were spotted at the church, among them, Michael Tao and David Siu, who were in The Greed Of Man, one of her best-known TVB dramas.

Actress Sheren Tang, who was said to be Lam's friend, was also at the service, dressed in black.

Dicky Cheung, known for his roles in The Duke Of Mount Deer and Journey To The West, also paid his respects and read a verse from the Bible.

Apple Daily reported Cheung as saying he had not known Lam well but had come to send her off as he is Catholic, like she was. She was also apparently a neighbour of one of his friends from church.

Former Hong Kong actress Maggie Chan also read a Bible verse during the service.

While actress Maggie Cheung, The Greed Of Man alums Sean Lau and Amy Kwok, who is his wife, did not show up, they sent wreaths.

Lam was once famous for her beauty and acting skills, but her career and life took a downturn in the late 1990s after she was hurt in a car accident.

She was also said to have suffered from mental health issues.

In 2006, she was declared bankrupt and eventually had to depend on financial aid.

Some of her fans left flowers at the memorial hall. One fan stood outside the hall and held a banner which said in Chinese: "Big Brother, come out to apologise!"

He told reporters: "Everyone knows who it is." He was later asked to leave by church staff.

In a 2013 interview, Lam said she had been raped by two "big brothers" of the entertainment industry. The names were not revealed in the interview, but a video clip surfaced earlier this year in which Lam purportedly named actor Alan Tang and veteran comedian Eric Tsang as her attackers.

Tang died in 2011 and Tsang has vigorously denied the rumours.

Jan Lee

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on November 11, 2018, with the headline Fans turn up in droves to bid troubled HK star Yammie Lam goodbye. Subscribe