Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong finds long-lost brothers

Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong spoke in a Feb 28 interview with BBC China about wanting to reconnect with his father, a former British Hong Kong government official. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

SINGAPORE - Famed Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong has been reunited with two older half-brothers he never knew, thanks to a BBC report on his search for his long-lost father.

BBC shared a video of the family reunion online on Tuesday (March 27). In it, Wong, 56, speaks emotionally about meeting his twin 74-year-old siblings, Australia-based John Perry and David Perry. The actor says in a mix of English and subtitled Cantonese: "I thought: 'How on earth did this happen? Amazing, impossible, a miracle!'"

The award-winning star of movies such as Infernal Affairs (2002) spoke in a Feb 28 interview with BBC China about wanting to reconnect with his father, a former British Hong Kong government official. He was only four when his father left the family home.

BBC reports that the actor only had a few photos of his English father, Frederick Perry, to help. He was brought up by his Cantonese mother in Hong Kong.

BBC published the news of his search in end February this year and viewers set up a Facebook thread to help.

On March 2, Wong revealed on Facebook that someone might have found his long-lost family. The post said: "Someone found this information of my father: Frederick William Perry born 11 June 1914 arrived in Hong Kong in 1955 with wife Vera Marjorie born 8 September 1919. One daughter, Vera Ann born 2 December 1940 and twin sons, John William and David Frederick born 29 June 1943."

The link led to the Perrys, who had never heard about their father's other son and had no idea that he was a famous figure in Hong Kong cinema. The brothers flew to Hong Kong to meet the actor and the BBC video shows the men embracing and deciding to call themselves "The Three Musketeers".

The Perrys shared photos of their father with Wong, while Wong introduced his brothers to his movies. He said to BBC: "I think (my father) knows I've been a good boy since (he left), so he sent two brothers to me."

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.