When I bumped into actor Lau Siu-ming at a cinema recently, I greeted him perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. You see, I had mistaken him for a relative of mine, perhaps an uncle from the New Territories whom I only see twice a year - whenever my grandma calls for a big family dinner.

I apologised to him, as I didn't know his name, but he was very gracious and told me that it happens to him frequently. Lau has been a staple of past TVB dramas, often playing the lead character's father or a big triad boss. His face is familiar to Chinese all over the world, as first-generation immigrants rented VHS tapes of TVB dramas by the box load. At that time, they were the only window to Hong Kong entertainment. So it is not surprising for the second generation to mistake him for a long-lost relative.

'Once when I was in Central Park in New York,' says Lau, 'I walked by a wedding photo session. The bride grabbed my arm, maybe thinking I was an uncle of hers. When she realised who I really was, she insisted that I be in the photos with her family anyway. It was very funny!' Though Lau did not disclose his age, he did reveal he was well past retirement age, but his fans don't want to see him go.