Friday, November 4, 2011 Hong Kong
Source: Mingpao
Translation: llwy12@ http://asianfanatics.net
On 11/1, TVB artists Macy Chan and Queenie Chu were in Okinawa, Japan filming a travel show for TVB’s Pay Channel when they got into a serious car accident. Their car flew off the side of the mountain and crashed into the ditch below – luckily, the two artists were not seriously injured. Afterwards, TVB arranged for Macy and Queenie to return to HK and go to the hospital for checkup and treatment.
After the accident, Macy Chan’s boyfriend Eric Suen blasted TVB for their harshness and lack of concern for artists’ safety. The day before yesterday, Eric personally picked up his girlfriend from the hospital and also continued to criticize TVB for their lack of respect towards artists. Former TVB artist Wong Hei also voiced his support for Eric on Weibo and recounted how when he was injured after getting into a car accident over a year ago while filming a Mt. Everest special for TVB, the company neglected him and was indifferent to his plight.
When Macy and Queenie returned to HK the day before yesterday, TVB’s director of production and resources Virginia Lok went to pick them up from the airport and publicly ‘comforted’ them. The 2 artists were immediately taken to the hospital for evaluation and checkup. Around midnight, Macy’s boyfriend Eric Suen arrived at the hospital and at 1am, he was seen escorting Macy from the hospital. After helping Macy (who had a large black scarf around her neck) to the car, Eric stayed behind to briefly answer reporters’ questions. He revealed that Macy’s neckbone was slightly dislocated and she will need to do physical therapy to treat the injury – fortunately, there was no injury to her internal organs. He also stated that the doctor recommended Macy take several weeks off to rest and recover. Originally, the doctor wanted Macy to stay at the hospital for monitoring, but Macy requested to be released so that she could recover at home instead. Eric stated that Macy’s parents will take care of her at home, so it won’t be a problem.
On his Weibo, Eric blasted TVB for poorly handling the arrangements for the trip – he stated that he was only stating the truth and though he did not mention any names, if the person responsible thinks that he is referring to him/her, then so be it. He reiterated that his girlfriend Macy has a ‘seriously rusty’ driver’s license and since he’s seen how she drives, he knows full well the limitations of her driving skills – therefore, he did not understand why she was asked to drive; in addition, with the dangerous mountain roads and the bad weather, it was obvious that an accident was bound to happen. Eric also stated that he believes TVB only arranged for the pickup at the airport after he contacted upper management and threw a fit. He emphasized that he was not trying to attack the company itself, but rather was expressing his dissatisfaction at how certain people in the company mis-handled the situation. He also reiterated that artists need to be respected.
Last night, Eric continued his tirade against TVB. During an interview with Now TV’s Joey Leung, Eric clarified that as Macy’s boyfriend, he is speaking out in her defense and is not trying to intentionally target TVB. He revealed that back when Macy accepted the job of filming the travel show, she had a feeling that sooner or later, some type of accident would occur. Eric also stated that the part that angered him the most is that the accident could have been prevented, however the company [TVB] ignored all the warning signs and therefore allowed the situation become such a big issue. Eric also revealed that in the 10 hours or so after the accident occurred, TVB did nothing to handle the matter; it wasn’t until the next day when he personally called TVB’s upper management and demanded answers that action was finally taken – in fact, some of the upper management did not even know the accident had occurred! Also, he believes that it was only after he made a big fuss about the situation on Weibo, that TVB’s management finally realized the seriousness of the issue and therefore put on the ‘big show’ at the airport. Eric emphasized that he spoke out in the hopes that the problem would be properly dealt with.
As for fellow artist Queenie Chu, she was also released from the hospital and was picked up by a TVB associate – yesterday evening, she expressed on Weibo that she was in good health and thanked everyone for their concern. Regarding the accident, Queenie stated that she is grateful to the Heavens, the trees and rocks, the 2 strangers who found them, and the police as well as rescue crew for saving their lives.
TVB’s director of external affairs Tsang Sing Ming responded to reporters earlier about the situation. When asked why Macy Chan was asked to drive the car, Mr Tsang stated that after looking into the matter, the original arrangement was for the director to drive, however he had lost his identifying documents in Beijing and therefore would not arrive in Japan until 2 days later. The 2 local production crew who were with Macy and Queenie – a researcher and a cameraman – suggested that they should start filming and they were the ones who asked Macy to drive. Also, due to the location, the GPS system ended up not working properly. Mr Tsang also stated that the program they were filming is a travelogue, so the production crew arranged for the ladies to stay at a dormitory – he expressed that the biggest inconvenience that Macy and Queenie found with the living arrangements was that the restroom and bathing facility were located outside the rooms.
Mr Tsang expressed that the program was contracted to an outside company and TVB has already requested for the director as well as production crew to come to HK to explain the situation. With regard to Eric Suen’s ‘accusation’ that TVB only arranged for the 2 artists to return to HK after he scolded the company, Mr Tsang refuted it, saying that on the night that the accident occurred, the company had already contacted the 2 artists to find out their situation and were working on getting them back to HK. He emphasized that the company definitely puts the safety of their employees as their number one concern.
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