My Take | When there is no escape from prying eyes
- Actress Yammie Lam was not only the victim of sensationalist media but also of a film industry that essentially ruined her life
The tragic life and death of actress Yammie Lam Kit-ying has caused some soul-searching among Hong Kong people. Arguably, the 55-year-old was the victim of two industries that ruined her life even though they made her famous: the film industry and the tabloid press.
If Hong Kong had a genuine #MeToo movement, she would undoubtedly have been prominently featured. Alas, abusers, long whispered about but rarely named, continue to escape justice while the victims are mostly ignored or silenced.
A widely circulated Facebook post, filed by one Ho Hong-wai, reprinted negative headlines and unflattering photos of the actress from the tabloids that had pursued her relentlessly over the years, long after she completely withdrew from the film industry and should no longer be of much interest, however salacious, to anyone.
All the tabloids were, in a sense, “guilty”, Ho pointed out, but some more so than others.
By the time Lam declared bankruptcy in 2006, her TV and film career had long ended. She suffered from serious mental health problems and her conditions were deteriorating.