Actress Sharla Cheung 'just friends' with Vivian Chow

Actress Sharla Cheung (left) and singer Vivian Chow. PHOTOS: FACEBOOK/ Sharla Cheung Man, APPLE DAILY

HONG KONG • Actress Sharla Cheung would like to clarify that she is just friends with singer Vivian Chow.

Cheung got the Chinese Internet in a tizzy on Wednesday when she posted an affectionate poem for Chow, her fellow icon of 1990s Hong Kong pop culture, and netizens thought she was coming out of the closet, said Ming Pao Daily News.

The poem was uploaded to Weibo with a photo of Chow, and another of Cheung in period dress as a man. One line of the poem read: "In this life, you have been watching over me, endlessly..."

Another line read: "If I can, please let me watch over you through reincarnation..."

The poem prompted online speculation, including some comments like "I'm in support of the two goddesses getting together..."

Others wondered whether Cheung and Chow, both 49, were joining the cast of the Hunan TV reality show Up Idol, and if the poem was a publicity stunt.

Cheung later wrote: "Vivian, my dear sister, tonight I was thinking of you again, thinking of our decades of friendship and those storms we weathered together, which will always be bright in my memory."

She said the poem was a gift to her friend.

Chow's manager declined to comment on the matter, said Ming Pao. Cheung's manager said that the two stars are good friends and that the actress is in the habit of writing poetry.

Chow is married to writer Joe Nieh. Cheung has a boyfriend who has been described as a producer, said Apple Daily.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 06, 2017, with the headline Actress Sharla Cheung 'just friends' with Vivian Chow. Subscribe