And The Winner is..... Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin Winners Magazine - Winter 2002 - 2003

He's Back!

Well in truth, Ekin Cheng never went away but this Canto-star's popularity dipped somewhat since he reached the dizzying heights of appearing as a co-star of 1998's box-office smash comic book vased fantasy Stormriders, at a time when he was also the darling of the Canto-pop charts.

The key reason for Cheng's current share of the local limelight is his leading role in My Wife is 18 recently released this Autumn.

His character in this movie - Cheung, an American born Chinese intellectual, in the middle of taking a part time Master of Philosophy in Psychology - is a far cry from his long locked senior triad role of the extremely popular Young & Dangerous Series.

Hong Kong's popular press went on a mission to hack down the tall poppy, a couple of years ago, when he entered into a relationship with then local diva of the day, Gigi Leung; there was much gossip that Cheng had not officially ended his previous long-term relationship - a rumour he has always sternly denied. So had this negative reporting contributed to his popularity decline?

"Sure," Cheng admits, "It had an effect but so do lots of factors. At the time of Stormriders I was really at my peak. This is normal for people in my profession. We have high and low points, affected by all kinds of things: What's fashionable,the public mood and so on.

I'm really happy that My Wife is 18 caught the viewers' attention, particularly at a time when cinemas are often suffering and sometimes quite empty because of today's economic situation."

Cheng also admits that he felt satisfation at taking on the challenge of this particular role admitting that having lived all his life in Hong Kong the psyche of an overseas Chinese had to be researched.

" A good friend of mine lived in the UK for a while," he explains, " and I based some of the different thought patterns of Cheung on observations my friend had told me about. Acting for me, always incorporates pieces of information I've picked up from all sorts of areas of my life."

One of the more difficult demands of playing Cheung was the need to deliberately mispronounce some of his Cantonese dialogue with an American accent.

Is Cheng looking to stretch his character portrayals with future roles?

"Absolutely," he says, "I'd like to try a wide variety, there's very little I wouldn't play - I've proved that I'm happy with the role of a gangster. I'd accept the challenge of a violent, disturbed or gay character. I'd only draw the line at something like a twisted serial killer - such as the a dramatisation of the famous and horrific taxidriver murderer in the New Territories who first raped his victims and then finally chopped up all their flesh to hide the evidence."

And Cheng's next role, then on the evening following this interview the actor was to discuss his role in a Martial Arts movie - but as it was not confirmed, it's exact nature could not be revealed. (It is now confirmed as The Twins Effect and is due for release summer 2003)

At the tender age of 18, Cheng whose nickname was Noodle, as Ekin sounds like E-min, a type of noodle, had never considered the glamorous world of performer, before a model scout happened to spot him in the Landmark Mall; this led to his casting in a soft drink ad for TV in May 1988.

Many a female in Hong Kong remembers when Cheng's face first appeared in this ad and his good looks were much discussed. Cheng then signed a s a contract-artist to TVB, the leading local TV Station and hosted a popular children's program.

By 1991 he became even more of a household name by embarking on a singing career that saw a profusion of chart topping albums, mostly with Cantonese lyrics but some have been recorded in Putonghua too.

By 1991 he became even more of a household name by embarking on a singing career that saw a profusion of chart topping albums, mostly with Cantonese lyrics but some have been recorded in Putonghua too.

Since 1992, Cheng has appeared in 32 locally made movies and released 36 cd's including soundtracks to films he has acted in. As mentioned Stormriders, which grossed $45 Million HK, making it the most successful film in 1998.

Cheng has hit the big time in Japan in the last couple of years. Following an outbreak of Ekin-Mania when he staged three concerts in the country last year, marking his live debut there in front of thousands of non-Chinese speaking but nevertheless enthusiastic Japanese fans last August. Cheng made his debut appearance in a Japanese drama series, in which he acted as himself - a famous singer from Hong Kong, who the main actresses are crazy about.

Also this year, Shisheido the Japanese cosmetic giant, appointed Cheng the face of its newly established line of men's skin care JS for the second consecutive year. And then there are all the local and overseas product endorsements. So many products in mainland China, from fashion to herbal medicine, now bear Cheng's portrait, as do products from shampoo to wine from Taiwan to Japan. In Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong his is the face that accompanies his own product, Ekin Eyewear. Locally the list of endorsements stretches yet further.

But despite being professionally entrenched in the glitzy worlds of entertainment and advertising, Cheng pasionately craves the outdoor life, and has resided in the Sai Kung area of the New Teritories for the past decade.

" I love the fresh air there," he declares, "and the ocean landscapes are beautiful - there's nothing I like more than cruising around the small offshore islands by boat and exploring the waters."

A keen scuba diver, Cheng was recently crowned Hong Kong's marine ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund. "Videos I helped to produce go on roadshows around Hong Kong and get screened on buses to show people that we have wonderful marine life that should be enjoyed and protected," he says, "You may have to look harder to find it here, as it is on a smaller scale but some of the coral and fish around the Sai King area are quite impressive."

Cheng helps with fund-raising events for the recently built World Wildlife Fund Marine Observation Center at Hoi Ha.

" You don't have to go to Thailand or the Phillipines to see interesting underwater life we have so much here over 80 species of tropical fish and some rare small jellyfish.

He adds, "But if I had to name the most impessive underwater scenery I have seen, it would be at Layang Layang in Malaysia - which can only be reached by private plane or helicopter. It was for a promotional event for Tag Heuer, the watch famous for underwater sports, so I was very lucky to be asked to go there.

The clean living Ekin Cheng image, at odds with his leading gangster in six Young and Dangerous films, was further enhanced this year when he was invited by movie director Stanley Kwan to direct a TV anti-smoking campaign aimed at local teenagers.

And non-smoking Cheng really seems to have few bad habits, an occasional drinker of Japanese plum wine and warm fa dui wine with red dates - especially with Cantonese hotpot -he cites his favorite drink as a well known brand of cola.

Having achieved so much in his early 30s, what goals are left for the star?

"A lot," he claims,"I'm currently studying English, hoping that this will be useful for my acting and singing. I am also training to get a boat captain's license and to upgrade my diving license, which is at open water at the moment. And something I must do one day is learn skydiving."

All this and movies, singing and ad endorsements too?

Cheng's a busy fella!

High Fives With Ekin Cheng
Best Moments So Far:

2. Perfoming live at the Hong Kong stadium in 1998 - every local singers dream.

3. Winning first place( and a car)in Commercial Radio 2's singing contest in 1993.

4. Seeing my parents live comfortably and happily.

5. My new waterside house in the New Territories, with its own pier to moor my boat. I bought it in May 2002.