This is the 79th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades.

“Are Hongkongers forgetful? Not when there’s a scandal,” Andy Hui Chi-on told HK Magazine in 2006. It was a casual, tongue-in-cheek observation at the time, but the Hong Kong pop singer could not have known that those words would come to define the darkest chapter of his life 13 years later.

With a career spanning four decades, 58-year-old Hui has survived the entire spectrum of celebrity: from the whirlwind heights of Cantopop stardom to the crushing weight of public scrutiny, and a gruelling journey towards redemption following his 2019 infidelity scandal.

Today, he remains a complex figure undeniably woven into Hong Kong’s pop culture history.

A slow rise to stardom

Born to a Chinese father and a Vietnamese mother, Hui was the youngest of 10 siblings. His journey into the entertainment industry began in 1986, at age 19, when he entered the New Talent Singing Awards. Though he placed second, his distinctive, husky voice caught the ears of executives at Hong Kong record label Capital Artists, who swiftly signed him.