The launch of the Anita Mui biopic, Anita, has led to some heartwarming revelations about the late Cantopop diva and her family, such as the fact that she set aside education funds for her two long-lost nephews.

On the flip side, it also ignited — or rather, intensified — a messy feud between Anita’s 98-year-old mother Tam Mei Kam and 70-year-old brother Mui Kai Ming.

Not long after Anita was released, the latter sued the production company behind the film, claiming that it had infringed copyright to two registered trademarks and caused him to suffer an unspecified amount in financial losses.

This led Mei Kam to publicly rebuke her son for being “blinded by greed”. She also threatened to disown him if he did not terminate the lawsuit, and it looks like she has acted on that ultimatum.

Anita and her mum

On Monday (Feb 14), Mei Kam reached out to the press with a statement announcing that she has officially cut ties with Kai Ming.

The statement reads: “I, Tam Mei Kam, and my son Mui Kai Ming have broken off our mother-son relationship. From now on, all relations and disputes involving Mui Kai Ming have nothing to do with me.”

Mei Kam also revealed in an interview that Kai Ming is in debt but did not elaborate on how much he owes or whether anyone has been coming after him for the money.

According to reports, Mei Kam, who receives HK$70,000 (S$12,100) a month from a trust Anita set up before her death, has had enough of Kai Ming asking her for money to settle his debts.

She first cut him off financially in the middle of last year when she found out about his affair.

What does Kai Ming have to say about all that?

However, Kai Ming doesn’t seem too bothered by being disowned by her own mother, telling the media that “the old woman can do whatever she wants!”.

He also admitted that he is indeed in debt, but it’s only a relatively small amount of “tens of thousands of Hongkong Dollars” (HK$10,000 is about S$1,700).

Kai Ming, who has a son with his Malaysian wife, then explained he is in debt because Mei Kam wanted her grandson to fly to Hongkong from Malaysia to spend Chinese New Year with her.

“My son will need to be quarantined in a hotel for 21 days, and everything requires money,” he said, adding that he doesn’t earn much from his part-time job due to his old age and the pandemic.

Will Mei Kam and Kai Ming ever reconcile?

Kai Ming went on to allege that his mother was instigated to sever ties with him by the relatives and others around her, and that she refused to answer his calls or visit him before Chinese New Year.

Expressing his disappointment at being “treated like the enemy” by Mei Kam, Kai Ming declared that he will hold on until the end and never give in, but he also had a rather chilling prediction about himself.

“I have no hope of survival and yet she still has a heart of stone,” he said. “To put it horribly, the end is near for me, and I will definitely leave before she does.”

Wonder what Anita would make of all this…

Photos: PBE Media