Who were Anita Mui’s best celebrity friends? Besides Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong’s Canto-pop icon was close to singers Andy Lau and Matchy, stylist Eddie Lau and her sister Ann Mui
- After TVB’s New Talent Singing Awards in 1982, Mui was introduced to Eddie Lau who styled her across her career and many Hong Kong films, including Kawashima Yoshiko with Andy Lau
- Matchy, or Masahiko Kondo, was dating Japanese actress Akina Nakamori when they met; Mui also dated Benjamin Lam Kwok-bun, a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team
The current screening of biopic Anita just reminds us how much we miss Anita Mui Yim-fong, the late legendary diva of Canto-pop.
The film not only captures her rise to fame, but also tries to portray different sides of Mui through people who were close to her. Besides actor Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, famously a good friend for many years, there were others who were also important over the course of her eventful life, tragically cut short at age 40. Let’s take a look at those close relationships and what they meant to her.
Eddie Lau
Without a doubt, Eddie Lau Pui-kei was one of the biggest influences on Mui throughout her career.
On winning the first of TVB’s New Talent Singing Awards in 1982 and signing to Capital Artists, record company manager So Hau-leung introduced Mui to Lau, who was one of the hottest local fashion designers at the time.
Lau did not just provide stunning clothes for Mui, he went on to create and direct her overall style starting from her first album. Without Lau, we might not have seen Mui develop the ever-changing image she became famous for.
Most importantly, he designed the wedding gown she wore for her final concerts in November 2003, even though he was already retired by then.
On a personal level, Lau was a mentor and a big brother. In a recent interview, he mentioned that he was much stricter with Mui than it is portrayed in the film due to the care and closeness he felt towards her.
Ann Mui
Of her three siblings, Mui was closest to Ann Mui Oi-fong, older by around four years. At a young age, they started performing on stage together to support the family, singing in lounges and amusement parks and forging a tight bond.
The sisters looked and sounded very similar in the early days, but gradually each developed their own style. Ann was not as successful as her younger sister, so eventually took a step back from performing to support Anita.
Sadly she died of cervical cancer in 2000, three years before the diva’s herself was claimed by the same illness.
Andy Lau
Mui once jokingly said that Andy Lau Tak-wah was ideal husband material, but in public at least, they were just close friends. The two met at the third New Talent Singing Awards in 1984, when Mui appeared as a guest and Lau was the host.
They collaborated in a few films, including the controversial Kawashima Yoshiko in 1990 and Dance of a Dream, their last together, in 2001. Lau was also one of the guests at her final concert.
Both Eddie Lau and Andy Lau (unrelated) served as pallbearers at the singer’s funeral.
Masahiko Kondo
Was Japanese singer Masahiko Kondo, more commonly known as Matchy, the love of Mui’s life?
The two met in 1985, at a time when Kondo was dating famous Japanese actress Akina Nakamori. Other relationships with famous women followed, but Mui and Kondō remained in touch.
After Mui’s death, it was revealed that she visited Kondo in Japan when she was seriously ill with cancer in 2003.
Benjamin Lam
One of Mui’s most well-known relationships was with Benjamin Lam Kwok-bun, a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and later an actor.
The two fell in love in 1990, and it was Lam who stood by Mui’s side when she had a run-in with Hong Kong’s triads. According to a 1995 article in The New Yorker, a late night visit to a karaoke bar led to her being assaulted, setting off a chain of events that left two triad leaders dead and caused Mui to leave Hong Kong for several months in 1992.
The relationship lasted for three years only but the two remained close after the break-up.