While there are many celebs who have amazed netizens with their ageless good looks, others have been subjected to merciless remarks and criticism just ‘cos they supposedly didn’t age according to society’s super strict, super high standards.

Recently, a Chinese netizen posted a picture of himself with Hongkong actor Canti Lau, who is also known as Liu Xi Ming or Lau Sek Ming, and unfortunately, he got the latter treatment.

The 56-year-old entered showbiz after emerging the first runner-up of TVB’s New Talent Singing Awards in 1987 and joined the station’s artist training programme at the same time as stars like Aaron Kwok and Gordon Lam. He was once even touted as Andy Lau’s ‘successor’.

However, after the latest photo of Canti came to light, it’s been pointed out that compared with his former classmates, he hasn’t exactly aged very gracefully.

Both netizens and the media did not hold back with their opinions on Canti’s appearance. He was described as looking much plumper than before and that he has the “body of a middle-aged man” (um, isn’t that what he is?). One publication even said there is “a world of difference” between his past handsomeness and current, um, condition. Ouch.

Scathing remarks across the internet include: “As soon as [you become] fat, it ruins everything”, “Time has not been kind [to him]”, and “Are his cheeks sagging?”.

In other words, he got both age-shamed and fat-shamed at the same time. We think haters should just give him a break.

Despite a promising start, Canti's showbiz journey hasn't been smooth. Back in the ‘90s, he expressed his admiration for Hongkong star Vivian Chow, whom he worked with in drama The Hunter’s Prey, on a radio interview.

This seemingly innocent and harmless show of appreciation for a co-star made Vivian’s then-boyfriend, now-husband Joe Nieh so jealous that the writer started publishing all kinds of nasty things about Canti in his magazine, even giving him the nickname “Cancer Ming”.

All that Mean Girls-gossip actually damaged poor Canti’s reputation so badly that he was forced to leave Hongkong for Taiwan in 1994. On the bright side, that’s where he met his wife, whom he married in 2001 and had a daughter with.

Joe finally apologised to Canti in 2009.

Photos: 圈内酱/Weibo, Canti Lau/Weibo