Gillian Chung’s former husband is ‘relieved’ he didn’t buy her a S$4.8 million house

Hong Kong — Hong Kong star Gillian Chung and Taiwanese-American cosmetologist Michael Lai filed for divorce a year ago, but it appears that Lai still has a lot of say about their ill-fated relationship. Lai told the press that he was “devastated” after the split was announced and that Chung was the one who initiated getting a divorce as she “no longer loved him.” The couple was married for less than two years.

The 32-year-old doctor was interviewed recently and he admitted that he was “not quite over” Chung yet.

“I still don’t know why I became ‘rejected goods’ after 14 months (…) But at least I wasn’t blinded by love and said no to buying her a house,” he shared.

According to 8days.sg, Lai said that he and Chung had gone house hunting in Taiwan after tying the knot and one of the mansions they viewed cost more than NT$100mil (S$4.8 million). When the media found out, the stories they wrote claimed that Chung was buying Lai a house. Lai then clarified that the reports got it all wrong and that it was Chung who had asked him to buy her a house.

“I was originally going to pay for the house and put the title deed under her name, so the reports got it completely wrong,” he said. “I ultimately decided against it and that’s a good thing, because I would have ended up forking out the down payment and dealing with the instalments.”

Born on January 21, 1981, Gillian Chung Ka-lai, born Chung Tik-shan and known by her stage name Chung Yan-tung, is a Hong Kong film actress and singer. She is a member of the Cantopop duo Twins, along with Charlene Choi.

Chung was born in Hong Kong as Chung Tik-shan (鍾狄珊). Her father died when she was one year old. When she was two years old, her family believed the character Tik (狄) from her birth name was too strong and renamed her  Chung Ka-lai (鍾嘉勵).

She grew up in a single-parent family until her mother remarried. She married a man also surnamed Chung when Chung was in high school. She was given the English name “Gillian” while in high school. Chung graduated from Kowloon True Light Middle School and briefly attended the William Angliss Institute of TAFE in Melbourne, Australia./TISG