2004-02-07 A Branch of Mold: Deric Wan

Pictures scanned by: Rita
Source: MingPoa Weekly (Issue #1839)
Date: February 7, 2004
Title: A Branch of Mold: Deric Wan

During the New Years, we avoid buying new shoes so as to keep from BAD LUCK. New Years Serial The Vigilante In The Mask showed signs of "moldiness". The first week ratings averaged 23 points, losing 200,000 viewers.

Everyone said the lead actor was "moldy". Even Bihua Li wrote in her column, "There is a generation gap between the main cast. The old guy is outdated while the unknown girl's performance is immature and her voice is childish. In addition, the boring plots and the stardom's exaggerated expressions have taken away the viewer's interests even though it may be very funny."

Have to believe it is misfortune. In the new year days, rumor about their breaking up came again. But it became another prescriptive rumor after they had denied the hearsay with one voice. Recently Deric Wan has believed in Jesus. When talking about fate, it become superstitious. He said, "There are many disguise devil around the entertainment circle. Do I have to be responsible for the bad ratings? I don't have the qualifications to assume all responsibilities by myself."

Since dating with Sonija Kwok, Deric has been a target for one year. His tactics is to retreat in order to advance.

One weekly reported that he was moldy because he annually grossed HK$990,000. Compared to his girl, whose annual income was HK$3,500,000, he was in the disadvantageous position. He coldly replied ,"It can be said this article is written by a person who has no capacity to earn HK$990,000 per year."

Some people say that this 30 -year -old guy cannot match a girl who won in Miss HK competition and is being promoted by TVB recently. He said with a smile, " I believe 99% of those who have this opinion are feeling jealous of our relationship, and as for the 1% people, they are even more despicable. I can't think of a worse adjective to describe them."

Deric Wan used to be a DJ so he is quite persuasive. Although he is too wordy, he can make people laugh with his humor words, which may be funnier than The Viligante In The Mask.

The media likes to step on people when they start sinking. They stated that Deric Wan "is old and outdated", "has no strength to attract audience" and "has a bad image". But besides his self-satisfied realm of love, he even has some long-term fans. On the day of the interview, there were two Malaysian girls coming with him. He had been filming in Taiwan for 4 months and rarely it is hard for him to make time to return to Hong Kong for the new year, so they made a special trip to Hong Kong to visit him and also brought along his favourite Malaysian herb cakes for him. Both girls informed that they had been Deric's fans for 14 years.

When he and Sonija were shooting in two different places, the weekly made up a story stating that Deric had implicated Sonija so that she had to work hard day and night, while Deric had a good time with a saloon girl in Taiwan.

"While I was in Taiwan, except the actresses in the same series, there were not other girls staying with me. But they took the advantage to make up a story when they saw I was getting my hair cut. IT IS FUNNY. This is not the first time they twist the facts to slander me. If a thief gets used to looting, what can I do to stop him after he has been sent to jail again and again but not been sentenced to death?"

To Earn HK$990,000 A Year Is Plentiful

The weekly counted up his income for him. They said his bad image resulted in him being short of jobs. No matter how hard he has worked, his income is many times less than those of his girl friend Sonija, who can earn 3.5m HK$ a year with several commercials.

He replied with a smile, "To earn HK$990,000 per year is not enough? How much is enough? It can be said that this article was written by someone who cannot earn HK$990,000 per year."

"I'm not sure how much I can earn a year, MAYBE LESS, MAYBE MORE. Only the tax department knows my income. If the report was confirmed by the tax department with its stamp, I have nothing to say. To earn HK$990,000 per year surly is plentiful. It seems that the person who wrote this article is very greedy but isn't reconciled to reality. What kind of life will cost you HK$80,000 every month? What kind of job can make you be paid with HK$80,000 every month. I think it is very FUNNY. No matter how much Sonija makes, I will be happy with it. I even hope she can make more. Why I expect the people by my side to earn less than me? What kind of thinking is to lower others in order to raise myself?"

"If I my income is less than her, does that mean I cannot love her? There is no connection at all. It would be very FUNNY for the tax department to prevent you carrying an umbrella to go out if you make HK$990,000 a year, because it is very unreasonable."

Of Course I Can Match Sonija Kwok

Deric Wan and Sonija Kwok fell in love while filming Legend of Love a year ago. This news surprised many people. The guy had been married and divorced, while the girl was famous with her rumors. The outsiders didn't have any confidence on this couple. The media think Deric, an out-dated actor, cannot match a winner of Miss HK with pretty appearance and charming figure.

"Of course I can match her. I believe 99% of those who have this opinion are feeling jealous of our relationship, and as for the 1% people, they are even more despicable. I can't think of a worse adjective to describe them. We never ask for any blessings. We don't need them."

"I am ten years older than her. But what is the matter with it? How many years is Roger Kwok older than Cindy Au? NOT BIG DEAL. Even if a thirty-year-old man pursued Sonija, he may not be able to make her happy. The question is that you do not know what she wants. You only are making an unreasonable assessment. In fact, what I have disappointed you is I am the only one to know what she desires. I AM SO SORRY. For example, who can give her concern? The others give her only GOSSIP, NOT CONCERN. "

When talking about the problem whether he would match a winner of Miss HK or not, he made a comparison with driving a Ferrari.

"The person driving a Ferrari dose not to be handsome. How many handsome and young Ferrari drivers have you seen? A person will not have the qualification to drive a famous brand car until he has enough experiences. Ferrari used to produce manual control only. If you don't know how to use the driving stick, it would be useless even if I gave you one."

I kept asking ,whether dating with a winner of Miss HK was like driving a Ferrari. He promptly clarified that he didn't mean that way. He said, "If I was asked to use a comparison to describe Sonija, I would say she is like a castle, and I am the castle guard. I will put forth all my efforts to protect her. This is my responsibility.

"I asked him whether he would marry Sonija Kwok? He said, "Certainly!" Will he have children with her? With a more definite tone he said," "Certainly!"

He Who Make Up Rumors Is Very Low

Before dating with Deric Wan, Sonija Kwok was a TVB Queen of gossip. Almost all actors who have worked with her were involved in her gossip news, such as Louis Koo, Moses Chan, Steven Ma, Vincent Kok and Dayo Wong. It said that he took the advantage of her male partners to promote herself. As for these rumors, Deric Wan not only dose not care, but also fights back for her.

"I am very fortunate to know Sonija's pure personality. Since I met her, I have learnt how to distinguish the good people from the bad people. I am very conscious of her former rumors. Besides herself, I am the only one who can understand her feelings. After I found out the truth, I thought the people who liked making up stories were so cheap, and they would not have faces to stand in front of us anymore. "

He feels that by his side there is someone spreading ugly rumors to slander them. But he hates the Paparazzi (hunting reporters ) most. The Paparazzi wrote down the time when they went out and came back to make up the stories.

"Once we were surrounded by the Paparazzi while we are driving home. They kept taking the photos and the flashlight prevented me from seeing the road. Eventually we reached the apartment parking safely. I had to rest for a few minutes to calm down. The Paparazzi were still yelling outside, "Hey! Deric Wan, how is it? Will you come out?" I tried to hold back my temper and went out to said to them "GOODNIGHT." They continued yelling, "How is it? What do you want to say?" I cautioned myself not to get mad, otherwise they will get the benefit."

Meeting Paparazzi Is Like Being Robbed

"Every time when I meet with the Paparazzi, I feel like I'm being robbed. Although I was robbed by many people, I am unable to report to the police. What we have been robbed is our dignity, our privacy."

"Two persons love each other, may get married and build a family. In your opinion, is that a dishonorable thing? Fortunately Sonija and I are mature. We know what we want and what we don't want. What the others think we should possess actually is what they can't achieve by themselves. Luxury house? Is it because they do not have luxury house, so they think we should buy one? "

"People are constantly making up story and spreading rumors to attack us. But I think the media must know that our relationship will be stronger after they tried to attack us. We should keep us calm all the time, because we are not the only couple in the entertainment world. They are so many couples waiting there to sell themselves. We will be happy if our news is enough for them to support their families. "

Believe in God, Forgive Annoying Media

Deric Wan has recently turned to believe in Jesus Christ and plans to take the baptism this year. Sonija Kwok is not aware of this. She said fortunately her boyfriend did not talked about Jesus with her, otherwise she would be very bored.

"I started believing in God about half a year ago. Priest Lam Yu Nok keeps talking the reasons with me and he is my teacher. In fact God is always taking care of me but I wasn't aware of it. Two years ago, my father was affected with cancer. I did not know whether that is good news or not when the doctor suggested us not to spend money on the medicine anymore. I could see my father suffer much pain but I could not do anything to help him. At the time I got a lot of comforts from God. From then on, whenever I'm unhappy, I will say my prayers to God."

He said there were many devils in the entertainment circle. I asked who the devils were? He asked in reply, "Don't you think the paparazzi are devils? Last year, on the night of December 24th, he was filming in Taiwan. The work was finished early and everyone went out to revel. But he returned to his small room alone and prayed to God. He said he had forgiven all paparazzi who have offended him when he was saying his prayers.

I do not know whether this interview has offended him or not. But when the interview was finished, before he left, he said to me in a sincere way, "GOD BLESS YOU"

Outdated

In the media's opinion, Deric Wan is bad in hundreds ways, but in Sonija Kwok's eyes , Deric Wan is good in thousands ways. But both parties have one thing in common. That is they both dislike his old-fashioned clothes and hair style -- collared clothes, chain hooked onto trousers, gel-curved hair, makes one return to the 80's.

This is what he admit amongst the many criticism from the outside world.

"I like to keep old clothes in mind. For example, leather, it's very hard to wear-out. Some of the styles may be somewhat conservative. When it's trendy to wear old-fashioned styles, it's not a problem, but when it's not, the others will say that I am outdated."

Now, Sonija Kwok goes to his home and checks his wardrobe for him.

"She'll check my clothes for me. When she finds something outdated, she'll say 'This clothes is hard to wear now, you must buy it many years ago? Wear this less then.' For clothes, I look for modern styles but not old-fashioned. My wardrobe cabinet contains a certain number of old clothes. Should I wear them again? Last time I wore a dress was in 19xx. I'm not trying to open a museum. Since last year, I've started the cleanup, tearfully saying goodbye to them."

Besides throwing out his old clothes, Sonija Kwok also selects Clothes for him

"She is my FASHION DESIGNER. Sometimes she will help me match my clothes and teach me, "See, if you wear it this way it won't look that awkward." Today, the Issue suit that he's wearing was picked by his girlfriend. But for some reasons, after he had changed his clothes and walked out, the makeup artist and the two Malaysian fans said that the blazer seemed too large.

It seems that Sonija Kowk is perfect in Deric's mind, but there is still an insufficiency that she is unclear of her boyfriend's clothes size.

(Special thanks to Judy for editing the English translation.)
Photos & Chinese version located at http://www.dericwan.com/article_new/mingpoweekly_20040207.htm