Eric Tsang Cried When He Could Finally Say He's From China When Filling Up Travel Documents

Veteran star and general manager of TVB Eric Tsang, 69, recently shared his thoughts on the 25th anniversary of Hongkong's handover to China.

Speaking with Chinese newspaper Global Times, the actor, who reminisced about witnessing the Hongkong handover in 1997 over a live TV broadcast, called it "a very touching moment". 

In fact, the event was so momentous for Eric that he even cried when he finally could indicate that he's from China on travel documents. 

Eric was so happy that he cried

"We've been listening to the British national anthem since young. When we finally heard our own [Chinese] national anthem, and raised our own flag, that was a very touching moment," recalled Eric, who went on to reveal the difficulties he faced when visiting other countries before the handover.

"Back then when we went overseas, we had to fill in our nationality and we would usually write 'Hongkong'. If we didn't add 'British' at the back, people would question if 'Hongkong' is a nationality. But when we did, the British would ask 'Are you really British?' and that wasn't a nice feeling," he lamented.

It's why the actor was over the moon when he could at last declare he's from China.

"On my first trip abroad after the handover, I was finally able to write 'China' when filling up the documents, and [my] tears just started flowing."

And now, Eric hopes to produce a show about the handover and also plans to send more artistes back to their "hometown" for filming. 

Looks like he's got it all planned out

Eric, who revealed that reconnecting with his roots is what he always wanted, said: "Many things that we own are given by our country. The Hongkong citizens today should be very thankful."

Recollecting how he had to ration water as a kid, Eric said: "We had to carry a bucket down to collect water every four days. And that would be used for cooking, washing our faces and maybe even our feet, before being used to water the plants. It was only until our country imported a massive amount of water from the East River that we had water supplied [to our homes]."

"Now I always tell my children to turn off the taps when they are not in use. So we say Hongkong should be grateful," he said, positing that the freedom China has given Hongkong "has helped [them] a lot." 

The actor went on to comment that young Hongkongers, who believe that Hongkong is the most advanced, don't know much about China 'cos they haven't lived there.

"Once they go to China they will know. If my kids are still young, I'd have sent them to study in China. Now I always advise my friends to send their children back [to China] for school, because I feel that on top of how prestigious the school is, the learning environment is very important too."