HONG KONG • When Hong Kong actor Kenneth Ma, 46, and actress Roxanne Tong, 33, confirmed on Instagram last Saturday that they were dating, several celebrities congratulated them on social media.

Even Ma's former girlfriend Jacqueline Wong, 31, offered her blessings when told of the news by the Hong Kong media. Ma and Wong broke up after she was caught kissing married singer Andy Hui in a taxi in April last year.

However, one name was missing from the list of well-wishers - Ma's rumoured girlfriend Natalie Tong.

Instead, the 39-year-old actress posted on Instagram a Buddhist quote: "I am my own biggest enemy and my biggest guardian. Buddhahood is achieved through the awakening of my mind."

She also posted a photo of the Goddess of Mercy later.

Many netizens thought Ma and Natalie Tong were compatible after he broke up with Wong, especially after they played a divorced couple who got back together in the medical drama Big White Duel (2019).

The media thought Ma and Tong were dating after they were spotted together a few times in February, with one media outlet even claiming in March that Tong was pregnant with his child.

Tong told the media on Sunday that she suspected a few months ago that Ma and Roxanne Tong were seeing each other. She did not ask Ma as she felt that the couple should be given room to develop their relationship.

When asked by the media why she neither liked his post nor offered congratulations, she replied: "I have never liked any of (actor) Kevin Cheng's post since he set up his Instagram account two years ago. I did not like every post of (actress) Priscilla Wong. I have zero interactions with 70 per cent of my friends on Instagram, so what does a 'like' represent?" she said.

She said it would be shallow to gauge a relationship merely by the interactions on social media and denied that her Buddhist quote was targeted at Ma.

She said she was happy that Ma has a new girlfriend, and joked that he should give her a treat because of the long-time rumours that they were dating each other.