Overworking Artistes?

It's always good to be hardworking and put your best effort into everything you do. Even a little stress can be good at times, as it can make you determined. Overworking yourself is another thing. It can lead to poor health and exhaustion. It can affect your mentality and happiness . Here's a short list of the recent TVB artistes who have overworked or been overworking...

Linda Chung

At the beginning of her entertainment career, Linda was often depressed and would often cry. Who could blame her with all that was suddenly being thrown at her? She was all alone in Hong Kong, with no friends or family beside her. Eventually she grew more popular, leading her to work more and more. During the filming of A Journey Called Life, she broke down. She was stressed and tired from filming two series and a movie. All of her energy was all gone, and her mentality was not in very good shape either. Recently, those days have started to returned. By then, she had started to get insomnia, and lost much sleep. Due to lack of sleep, she was unable to perform her best as well, and Linda deeply regrets that.

Linda's problem lied more with herself and the stress she was getting than from overworking. She was getting too much thrown at her at once and it overwhelmed her. I'm sad to hear that she had gone through such a dark period in her life and that the dark period is coming back. This proves that the entertainment industry isn't just fame and fortune. It is also definitely not the 'easy life.' I'm glad that Linda has gotten a lot of rest this year though, and I'm looking forward to seeing her in A Watchdog's Tale.

Kate Tsui

Kate has recently been going down the 'fighter girl' path. After neglecting her health for 3 months though, she finally collapsed in early August. Kate at the time was working hard on a Mainland movie that was to be filmed in a 3 month period as well. When going to work everyday to film the movie, Kate would have to fight everyday. She would fly up into the air numerous times to do difficult fighting scenes, resulting in numerous bruises. After the movie's filming wrapped up and Kate returned to HK, she felt dizzy and had a fever. Kate's album release and filming of her MV 'Hit Me' was postponed for her to get some rest.

Perhaps the news of Kate working so hard to the point she collapsed was what subdued my dislike for her. While I think she's not a good actress, and mediocre at best, I can't deny her 'fighter girl' attitude. No, I'm not referring to her latest movie. I'm referring more towards how she's battled all the criticism and rumors she's gotten from people and how she just keeps going with what she's doing. Besides, what other pageant winner would've agreed to cut their hair and play a tomboy like Kate did in On the First Beat? The news about Kate collapsing from working made me think about Kate in a new light. I hope she learns to work at a reasonable amount and leave time for her to relax.

Natalie Tong

Natalie is the most recent TVB artiste that I've read about overworking, with the article about it releasing just two weeks ago. Her family is in a lot of debt, and to pay it off, Natalie has been working herself extra hard and accepting as many job opportunities as possible. She has most recently accepted a fighting movie . To earn the money, she has to film many kung fu scenes, leaving Natalie all bruised up with minor injuries.

Natalie is one of my favorite TVB artistes, and I was saddened when reading this. She's suddenly become the breadwinner of her family! This sounds like another family of someone from the entertainment industry spending lots of money because they believe that their family member is 'rich.' In that case, Natalie's family first used her hard earned money, and now Natalie has to earn it back? Poor Natalie, as if she wasn't skinny enough? What's overworking and a kung fu movie going to do to her health and figure?

Ella Koon

Ella has recently received a boost in popularity after an amazing performance of Endless Love. This has led to a chance for her to record an English song with Japanese rapper NYCCA called 'Dare to Be.' As a result, this is leading her to a new high point in her career as a singer, which hasn't been so bright despite having a wonderful voice. However, not long after reaching her career high, Ella has lost her voice. After a hard day of recording in the studio for 12 hours, Ella strained her voice. Her doctor has told her to go easy and rest her voice for 3 months, or else she'll damage her vocal cord. Ella has become worried about her health, and has rejected a couple jobs so that she can heal quickly and continue to sing.

I'm so happy that Ella has been getting more positive exposure and that her singing career has brightened. I was sad to hear that Ella had so quickly started to do more than she could handle. I'm glad that Ella is concerned about her health and is willing to take a rest so that she can be back and better than ever when she recovers!

Now we know that there are artistes that actually take their work seriously, or at least have a heart and conscience. Unfortunately, this has led to quite a scare. Like Bosco said in Burning Flame 3: "No one dies from starvation in Hong Kong. They die from overworking." While that quote was said in a light tone, it is somewhat true. I don't believe that these artistes have overworked themselves to the point their life is in danger, but it still has given everyone quite a scare. This is definitely not the way to work. Above all, health has to be most important. If you aren't healthy, then you can't do anything.