When Hongkong actress Lydia Sum passed away in February 2008 at the age of 62 following a two-year battle with liver cancer, many people were worried about what would happen to the comedian's only child, Joyce Cheng, then 21.

It was later revealed that Lydia had left HK$60mil (S$10.4mil) to Joyce, and reports at that time claimed that the latter would only have access to her inheritance when she's 35.

FYI: Joyce turns 35 next May.

Last week, Joyce addressed those reports, calling them “laughable”.

“They keep changing the date of when I’m supposed to [get my inheritance], but what they say doesn’t affect me (…) I just want to do a good job as a performer. I believe that the friends who truly love me will not dislike me just because of such reports, she said.

According to Hongkong media, Lydia delayed access to the inheritance for 13 years so that Joyce would work hard at her own career.

The late star believed that it was a bad idea for someone so young to have so much money and was worried that Joyce would live off her inheritance and not work. Instead, Joyce would receive HK$20K (S$3.5K) a month for living expenses from her trust fund.

Wait, but doesn't she have an equally famous dad, Hongkong actor Adam Cheng who can support her?

Well, according to reports, Joyce refuses to take money from her dad. Even when she reportedly only had HK$26 (S$4.50) in her bank account, she still didn't ask Adam, who is married to actress Koon Jing Wah, with whom he has two daughters, for financial help.

That's not to say that father and daughter are on bad terms. In fact, Joyce is said to be close to Adam's new family and her two stepsisters as evidenced from this social media post last year.