Catherine Tsang heatedly insists: “I did not accept any bags!”

Catherine Tsang heatedly insists: “I did not accept any bags!”

Monday, March 15, 2010 Hong Kong

Source: Oriental Daily
http://orientaldaily.../00282_001.html

Translation: llwy12@ http://asianfanatics.net




With Stephen Chan’s recent arrest in a corruption case, Vincy Wong’s recent revelation that TVB artists gave expensive handbags to top female management as gifts in efforts to ‘please’ them has created quite a stir in the industry. Due to the revelations, there has been widespread anxiety amongst TVB’s top female managers, with many of them rushing to clear their names. One of them, Production Supervisor Catherine Tsang, heatedly insisted that she did not receive any bags and even went so far as to call Vincy Wong a “foolish boy”. In addition, to avoid interrogation by the ICAC, Vincy Wong has recently changed his stance and indicated that he never personally saw artists giving gifts.

Upon arresting Stephen Chan last Thursday, the ICAC has been requesting to meet with various artists to assist with the investigation. It has been rumored that throughout the interrogation process, someone revealed that TVB’s top management receiving ‘gifts’ is a common occurrence; in addition, former TVB employee Vincy Wong also revealed that during the Mid-Autumn festival season, not only did some artists bring mooncakes for the producers, some of them also bought expensive Hermes handbags for some female management.

Though top management receiving expensive gifts is no secret in the industry, many people know about it but are afraid to say anything. With Vincy Wong publicly revealing the existence of a ‘female bag demon’, many in the industry are actually happy that this is finally coming to light and there has been widespread speculation on who this ‘female bag demon’ truly is.

With the target of the ‘handbag rumors’ focusing on TVB’s top female management, many of the them are being chased by reporters seeking comment. When reporters contacted TVB’s Production Supervisor Catherine Tsang via phone, her response to the rumors was unexpectedly huge, heatedly declaring: “Tell Vincy Wong to say straight out who the ‘female manager’ is then! All I can say is that I never received any bags! I feel that some people shouldn’t make unfounded comments at this sensitive time; he [Vincy] is such a ‘foolish boy’!” (So were you interrogated by the ICAC?) “I cannot comment; whether I did or not, I cannot comment…plus I shouldn’t be speaking to you guys [the media] anyway!” Afterwards, the reporters were told never to call Catherine Tsang again.

As for TVB’s Production and Artists Manager Virginia Lok, she made a rare move by not responding to the issue directly herself. Rather, she issued a statement to reporters through TVB’s Direct of External Affairs Tsang Sing Ming. Tsang said: “With regard to all the current reports and speculations, Ms. Lok has chosen not to respond. She says that the company has told her not to say too much.” (How about the reports that female executives have been accepting handbags?) “It has already been stated previously that any gifts over $500 need to be reported” (Will there be an internal investigation?) “No need, it’s all rumors at this point!”

Supervisor of Variety Shows Ho Siu Wai also clarified: “I have never received any gifts from artists, but if the ICAC wants to investigate, they are free to do so. I’m not worried about it at all – it’s work as usual for me.” <> producer Cheung Kar Ling said: “Receiving small boxes of candies is a common occurrence, especially around the holidays and new year; for example, during the Lunar New Year, some artists made turnip cake for the producers, directors, as well as other artists themselves. This is just a small showing of the artist’s good heart and doesn’t mean anything. If the ICAC wants to investigate this, it’s no big deal.”

The instigator of these rumors – former TVB employee Vincy Wong – suddenly changed his stance yesterday, clarifying: “That’s not what I said; what I meant was that I read in a magazine that this was happening – I never actually saw it myself. No, Catherine Tsang and Virginia Lok did not call me, and I won’t call them either. I’m not a TVB employee anymore and I’m not one of their staff, so I don’t want it to seem like I have to report to them.” Afterwards, he called the reporter again to say: “I received a couple phone calls just now – everyone is telling me that if I’m going to say something, I should just come out and say the name as well. I am a little worried about being interrogated by the ICAC soon.”

Though there have been many denials, according to reports, receiving gifts in the entertainment industry is a very common occurrence. People within the industry have revealed that in efforts to ‘kiss up’ to management, some artists have resorted to giving expensive gifts such as watches, handbags, clothes, and even shoes. However, in order to avoid ‘backlash’ from others, the artists giving gifts would often use the excuse “I bought it but it’s not suitable for me”. There has also been a case of a top female executive selling her car and one of the artists rushing to buy it for a high price.

In addition, when a veteran actress passed away awhile back ago, her daughter decided to allow her mother’s good friends to choose an item among her belongings as a souvenir, as a way to thank them for their goodness towards the 2 of them. However, it was rumored that a top female executive took advantage of the daughter’s kindness and kept taking item after item, claiming that each item brought memories of her deceased friend. In the end, the female executive took a lot of expensive handbags, which showed how greedy she was. The woman’s greediness caused the actress’s daughter to become very upset and from that moment on, refused to be in communication with her [the female executive] anymore – even when she had a housewarming party for her new residence, she did not invite this particular female executive.