Billiard club opening fails to pot rumours over Nieh's activities

Joe Nieh Chun and singer Vivian Chow Wai-man appeared in public together for the first time since their high-profile break-up, make-up and marriage in January. The occasion was the opening of Nieh's second Joe's Billiards & Bar, in Knutsford Terrace, on Friday afternoon. To recap, Nieh, long rumoured to be a serial philanderer, was caught messing around with a university student last year. Chow, his companion for almost 20 years, decided enough was enough. But days later, the couple had a turnaround and said they were getting hitched, leaving the public stunned.

A public kiss at the ribbon-cutting ceremony didn't convince the 50 or so reporters present that Nieh had given up his wandering ways. They probed endlessly about whether he was relying on his wife's money for the seven-figure cost of the club. 'Vivian did not invest any money here,' Nieh said. 'We are financially independent from each other.' Chow concurred: 'If I want to play pool, I will have to pay just like anyone else.'

Not that afternoon though. Local personalities, including Nieh's author father Nieh Hong, celebrated with the pair. Many even entered a friendly pool tournament, which was won by MC Jin Au Yeung. But the newshounds went after Nieh a little more, bringing up the student Miffty Zhang Mao, with whom he was photographed in a kiss, by name and asking if the rumours were true that he's seeing her again? Gritting his teeth, he replied: 'No comment.'