'She won't be able to rest in peace when she dies': Anita Mui's brother reproaches mum for calling him obsessed with money

Family relationships can get rocky when money is involved.

Late Cantopop diva Anita Mui's brother Peter and their mother Tam Mei Kam can attest to that.

Peter recently appeared in a video interview by Hong Kong media Eastweek to discuss his feud with the matriarch over a 2021 biopic about Anita, who died in 2003 of cervical cancer.

The 71-year-old explained: "When the production company made the movie Anita, there were copyright fees. I hold the rights to them, and they've been legally trademarked, but some of them pulled strings to approach my mum instead.

"You know old folks are satisfied as long as they receive some money — she accepted it."

Peter sued the production company for allegedly infringing on two of his trademarks — including the name Anita Mui — which resulted in his mother disowning him.

Nevertheless, the movie Anita went on, starring Louise Wong as the singer, Terrence Lau as Leslie Cheung who died the same year as Anita, Fish Liew, Gordon Lam and Louis Koo.

Tam, 99, who previously fought a lengthy legal battle with Peter over Anita's will, also accused her son of being obsessed with money when she disowned him, and Peter hit back at her during the interview.

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"She needs to take back her words, or she won't be able to rest in peace when she dies," he said. "She's the one obsessed with money, not me. I didn't even benefit [from the movie], so how could that be true?"

When asked if he was afraid of being "struck by lightning" for being disrespectful to his elders, Peter disagreed.

"If I was going to be struck by lightning, it would have happened a long time ago," he said. "If I'm wrong, let me get hit by a car the moment I step out into the streets!"

He even doubled down on his luck and ability to "escape death" by pointing out how he was the only one of his siblings still alive — other than Anita's death in 2003, their sister Ann died of uterine cancer in 2000 and their brother Tak Ming of throat cancer in 2015.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbuiPojtCmg&ab_channel=%E6%9D%B1%E5%91%A8%E7%B6%B2Eastweek.com.hk%E3%80%90%E6%9D%B1%E5%91%A8%E5%[/embed]

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drimac@asiaone.com