'She was too young': Fellow actors, netizens mourn Yammie Lam's death

There has been an outpouring of grief on social media since former Hong Kong actress Yammie Lam was found dead in her home at the age of 55 on Saturday morning (Nov 3).

The actress was famous in the 1980s and 1990s and once deemed an unrivalled great beauty. But Lam led a troubled life and her later years were spent despondent - she was plagued by mental health issues, declared bankrupt and had to live on financial aid.

Many netizens on Chinese microblogging site Weibo posted images and videos of the actress in her most famous role as Spider Woman in 1995's A Chinese Odyssey and lamented her difficult life.

Chinese media Sina News reported that actress Carina Lau, who was Lam's classmate in the TVB actors training programme, reacted to Lam's death saying: "It's sad. She was too young. Recently I've received several news of friends and people I know passing away and I'm quite affected.

"I hope she's happier and freer now that she's in another place."

Actor Chapman To also posted on his Facebook page a black and white image of Lam and said: "We will never forget that Hong Kong once had such a wonderful actress. May you rest in peace."

Sina News also reported that the veteran actor Law Kar-ying, a fellow cast member in A Chinese Odyssey, posted on his Wechat timeline about Lam.

He wrote: "We don't really keep in contact but I saw her once while eating supper at a roadside. She told me then that there were supernatural 'things' harassing her. Hope she rests in peace."

Lam reportedly began suffering from mental health issues in the late 1990s. She once admitted in an interview that she had tried to kill herself by slashing her wrists during a time of romantic turmoil.

In the same interview, which first came to light in 2013, she said she was raped by two entertainment industry top players but the names were censored out of the clip. This year, the story resurfaced with a video that purportedly shows Lam naming the two rapists as the late actor-director Alan Tang and funnyman Eric Tsang.

Tsang has also been accused of sexual assault by the former Asia-Pacific president of Ford Models Grace Han, who claims he is a known sexual predator in the circle and often targeted the models working under her.

Tsang denied the claims. But as news of Lam's death broke, netizens flocked to Tsang's Weibo to leave comments on his page. The first post which appears on his feed, a picture of a luxury cruise he is on, posted on Oct 16 this year, has been flooded with comments about Lam's death.

The post now has over 10,000 comments, with many simply posting a line that says "Yammie Lam has died". Others criticised Tsang for ruining Lam's life and asked him to wait for karma to catch up to him.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.