Hong Kong pop star Gillian Chung is engaged to doctor

Cantopop star Gillian Chung, 37, announced her engagement to Taiwanese doctor Michael Lai, 29, on Instagram. PHOTO: INSTAGRAM / GILLIANCHUNG

HONG KONG - Cantopop star Gillian Chung is engaged to Taiwanese doctor Michael Lai, months after their romance was revealed.

Chung, 37, announced her engagement on Instagram on Thursday (Feb 1), posting a photo of a diamond ring that was captioned: "Next stop happiness!"

On Weibo, she shared pictures of the ring and many birthday cakes, and wrote: "This is the best gift for my lunar birthday. Thank you for your love."

Lai, 29, told Taiwan Apple Daily through a friend: "I'm not an artiste, I want a low profile, but I'll work hard at my career to give Gillian the greatest happiness, and I hope everyone can give their blessing."

He works for Beaute J'adore, a beauty clinic run by actress Tammy Chen's husband, doctor Hsueh Po-ren. A minor social media star, Lai is known in Taiwan as "the Sunny Wang of medicine" for his resemblance to the actor.

The couple's romance was first reported in October last year. She had stayed in Taipei for months, filming a web drama, Tree In The River. The day she went back to Hong Kong in October, he was seen going to her home.

It will be her first marriage. Although her name has been linked through the years to actors such as Shawn Yue and Edison Chen - whose lewd photos of her and other women were leaked online in 2008 - Korean-American impresario Tyler Kwon was the first boyfriend she went public with, in 2013.

Lai was briefly married in 2016 to blogger Ivy Chao, a well-known look-alike of actress Ariel Lin. He and Chao have both been featured on the talk show Mr Con & Ms Csi.

Chung is one half of girl group Twins. After she announced her engagement, her singing partner Charlene Choi wrote on Instagram: "A thousand words in my heart."

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