CHINESE New Year (CNY) is among the most joyous times as various delights come with the festive season. For one, the variety of movies released during CNY is always something to look forward to.
Among the standouts this year is local film OMG! Mom’s Big News. Directed by Ernest Chong, the movie follows a 53-year-old mother, played by Hong Kong veteran Anita Yuen, who discovers her unexpected pregnancy.
While she is willing to keep her baby, her family disapproves of her decision, worried it will take a toll on her health. But, together they figure out and navigate the next step forward as a family.
Local actor and radio DJ Chan Fong plays Yuen’s husband in the movie. In an exclusive chat with theSun, the 54-year-old elaborates on the experience of making the film and working with Yuen.
How would you describe the film?
It is different from other movies in Malaysia or even in Hong Kong. This is because most movies have similarities with other movies, shadowing elements similar to each other.
But for us, we started 100% from scratch. This idea actually came from my experience with my wife. When I hit my 50s, my wife who is in the same age range, did not have her period.
That month, I remember I was shocked and I asked my wife if something was wrong? I also asked her if she wanted to do a pregnancy test, which she said no to.
But this persisted for almost two months, which made us wonder if she was pregnant and led us to think how we were going to prepare if she really was.
We were not prepared to start again. It was not going to be easy. Fortunately, her period came two months later. So, that is where the movie idea came from. I then brought the concept to Chong, who is the director.
What are some of your other contributions that are present in the movie?
For me, family values are important. So, for the film, I suggested highlighting certain family habits such as having meals together. I wanted the family to always be together on screen.
Was it easy for you to relate to your character Siu Hung?
Yes, because there is not much difference between me and my character. Like my character, I do the housework at home. My wife is the commander at home.
I listen to her. She makes 99% of the decisions at home. But, the dynamics are different at work. We work together in the same company.
And at work, I am the commander. My wife listens to me and she is not very much involved with the company’s management.
What was it like working with Yuen?
There was initially some pressure when Yuen said yes to the role. Considering her experience and how famous she is, I was nervous.
I also heard rumours of her being strict and her temper not being good. So, it made me nervous on the first day she came on set. But after a few days of filming, she proved the rumours to be untrue.
She was actually nice. But that said, she was initially worried given the team was new. The director and cameraman, for instance, only have experience in shooting commercials and short films.
It was their first time shooting a movie. But after a few days, she grew confident of the director. She started letting him take charge after seeing the hard work everyone was putting in.
Do you have any favourite moments on set with her?
Yes! She was quite friendly. Whenever we were on break, we would chat a lot. We talked about family. She opened up about her children and how they were doing. I also shared my experience with her — how my wife and I raised our children.
Was it tough to balance your time while filming given your responsibilities as a radio DJ?
Currently, I am a part-time radio DJ and I run my own advertising agency 180 Advertising. So, it was certainly difficult to balance the time. I had to stop some of my projects to film the movie.
But fortunately, the period to shoot was not long. It was roughly around 20 days. The story also mainly only takes place in the house. So, it was not complicated to film.
What do you hope for viewers to take away from the film?
One sentence from the movie struck me. It was something Yuen’s character said when her family were worried the baby could bring problems to them.
So, they were thinking of aborting the baby but she quickly rebutted and said: “Why can adults make the decision? Do we really have the rights to make the decision for the baby?”
I quite liked the sentence. So, I hope viewers will make more time for their family. Family values are important to me because I am quite a family guy. I also hoped it would inspire couples to like babies and have them.
