Joey Wong an 'ugly duckling' and which local female star looked like Jack Ma as a child?

The ethereal beauty of Joey Wong is the stuff of legends, and long after the actress has retired, her looks still has fans gushing.

So it's no surprise that when a childhood photo of the 52-year-old former actress, best known for her role as Nie Xiaoqian in 1987's A Chinese Ghost Story, surfaced on the Internet recently, netizens were shocked to see how she has longbottomed.

Chinese media reported that some netizens even called her an "ugly duckling", a reference to the popular fairy tale where the titular 'duckling' was mocked for his ugly looks before maturing into a beautiful swan.

In the photo, the Taiwanese star doesn't look too dissimilar to how she is now apart from a bowl cut and a round, cherubic face.

A far cry from the legendary beauty now? We'll leave that judgment to you.

It's not the first time that her looks have been in the spotlight as the star has been surrounded by speculation that she's had some work done on her face. However, she has not publicly commented on the rumours.

Additionally, Joey whipped her fans into a frenzy with her youthful face when she took to Instagram in June 2019 to wish her followers during the Dragon Boat Festival.

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/ByYK50fHaAA/[/embed]

With her luscious locks, radiant skin, and casual but chic dungarees, she wouldn't look out of place on a college campus.

One fan even crowned her as the "goddess of Dragon Boat Festival."

And Joey isn't the only celebrity who's had netizens gobsmacked over their transformation. Check out these other celebrities as well.

CECILIA CHEUNG

In December 2019, Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung shared a photo of her as a student, and while she has definitely matured over the years (she's also a mother of three now), it was very clear that she would grow up to be a looker.

STEFANIE SUN

Guess who? Local songbird Stefanie Sun was almost unrecognisable in this throwback photo that she shared. She even had to point out that she was the one in blue. Stefanie's glow up is undeniable and she has come a long way from her days in pigtails and round dorky glasses.

However, one netizen cheekily said she looked a little bit like Jack Ma then. The nerve.

APPLE HONG

This radiant Malaysian beauty is a household name in local showbiz and her Instagram feed is a testament to her gorgeous looks. But did you know what she looked like before?

Apple shared it on her Instagram, and even poked fun at her blank expression. She wrote: "I wasn’t so alert to the camera when I was young or maybe I am a natural born 'dreamer'?"

bryanlim@asiaone.com