School was tough for Chingmy Yau's daughter Sham Yuet because of nasty schoolmates

Many of us envy the glamorous lives of celebrities, but behind it all, things may not be as smooth sailing for them as what is portrayed in social media. 

Case in point, Sham Yuet, the drop-dead gorgeous daughter of former Hong Kong screen siren Chingmy Yau and fashion mogul Sham Kar Wai. 

She evidently has drawn the long straw when it comes to looks as the starlet looks like the younger version of her mother, with many calling her "the most beautiful second-generation star". 

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Apart from appearances, the 19-year-old also has a booming modelling career, and has graced the covers of Elle Hong Kong and Cosmopolitan as well as modelled during London Fashion Week. 

However, all that glitters is not gold. In a recent interview with Hong Kong's Prestige magazine, Sham Yuet revealed that like everyone else, she, too, has her struggles in life and was actually bullied in school. 

Ironically, while she's a natural in front of the camera, Sham Yuet added that she's actually rather introverted and hates being in the limelight. 

And it didn't help that the paparazzi often harassed her throughout her high-school years. 

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"Back in grade school, there'd be paparazzi waiting outside. These random men with big cameras, just waiting for me," she told Prestige. "That was really annoying. I hated it, like, I just wanted to be a regular kid". 

This prompted her parents to get her a bodyguard, but unfortunately, it ended up causing more harm than good and made her "stand out" more. 

The unnecessary kerfuffle also brought about plenty of unwanted attention and comments from her fellow schoolmates. 

"The first two years of middle school, I definitely felt that I was different. I had two friends whom I was really close to, and I just stuck with them. But other people would be a bit nasty and say bad things about my family," she confided. 

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Things got so bad that eventually, she changed schools. 

However, it seemed like the drama followed her because despite moving to Vancouver to study Japanese and psychology at the University of British Columbia, she was still one of the hot topics for gossip. 

“Going to college was actually really scary for me,” she shared. “I’m introverted, so it was hard to make friends, and I didn’t know that people knew me, even there. So it made it harder to make friends."

She added: "There were rumours spreading. Or people coming up to me asking to be best friends and then asking me questions about my family. That always made me uncomfortable."

Thankfully, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought her some respite. After coming back to Hong Kong last year when her grandfather fell sick, she hasn't been able to fly back and does all her lessons online instead. 

melissateo@asiaone.com