Lee Kin-yan, nose-picking 'Ru Hua' in Stephen Chow's movies, updates on his health after suffering stroke months ago

In a year filled with celebrity health scares and deaths, it's always nice to hear some good news and see the light at the end of the tunnel.

For Hong Kong actor Lee Kin-yan, he has broken his four-month silence to give fans an update about his health on Weibo.

In July, news broke that the 59-year-old suffered a stroke which left him half-paralysed and robbed him of his ability to speak. He then shared on Weibo that he was going to focus on his recovery and return to acting as soon as possible.

On Nov 15, Kin-yan, famous for his nose-picking character Ru Hua in Stephen Chow films, updated via Weibo that he is still working hard at his recovery and undergoing physiotherapy and speech therapy.

He took the opportunity to thank the people who have helped him over the past six months, which included famous Hong Kong actor Louis Koo.

Kin-yan wrote: "Firstly, I would like to thank Mrs Joseph Lau (wife of the Hong Kong billionaire). When I returned to Hong Kong after the incident, she sent a colleague to contact me. I would also like to thank the president of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild Louis Koo. Both Mrs Lau and Mr Koo are kind people who have contributed a lot of money and help."

He also added that the Guild helped to arrange free Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment for him. 

As the president of the Guild, Louis has been generous and charitable to various Hong Kong artistes. He reportedly paid nearly NT$800,000 (S$37,662) for Hong Kong actor Lo Hoi-pang's cardiovascular surgery and settled the funeral fees for Hong Kong actress Yammie Lam after she was found dead at home.

bryanlim@asiaone.com