Yoyo Mung Shares Her Unhappy Childhood and Sister's Suicide

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After dating for 6 years, Yoyo Mung (蒙嘉慧) and Ekin Cheng (鄭伊健) will finally be getting married. Yoyo and Ekin fell in love after playing badminton together. Yoyo was accused to be the third person that had ruined Ekin ‘s relationship with his former girlfriend, Gigi Leung ( 梁咏琪). These malicious rumors did not affect Yoyo due to her tough personality. She continues to pursue her acting career and is focused on developing a solid relationship with Ekin, with the romance finally baring fruits.

Yoyo deserves all the happiness after going through many struggles in her life. In a recent interview, she shared her heart-felt stories about her unhappy childhood experiences, being a troubled teenage girl, and her philosophy of being honest.

Unhappy Childhood and Strict Mother

Yoyo revealed she had a very unhappy childhood and was a troubled teenager. She was sent to live with her grandparents in Yuen Long at a very young age. When Yoyo was 11 years old, she was finally sent back to live with her mother. Since Yoyo was not a good student and received poor grades, her strict mother would often scold and punish her. Yoyo remembered one time she took her younger sister to play at the park after school, and her mother was very upset and yelled at her so loud while holding and twisting her ear so hard that it bled.

Yoyo loved to read novels since elementary school. One time she borrowed a novel, The Blood Curse <血咒>–the third installment of renown science fiction series, The Legendary Ranger (原振俠)–from the school library. Yoyo’s mother yelled and told her to focus on her studies, not to waste her time reading books associated with evil. After a spanking, her mother tore the book into pieces, and Yoyo had to use her allowance to pay for a replacement.

Teenage Angst​

Yoyo did not have a happy time during her high school years. She had moved from Yuen Long to Kowloon and attended a few different schools. Yoyo remembered her classmates locked her out from the classroom during lunchtime, and she had to wait outside for a long period of time until the teacher came to open the door for her. Yoyo was teased and bullied by her classmates due to her uncommon last name “Mung” and they poked fun at her dark skin and thick eyebrows. She was considered to be ugly and no one wanted to be friends with her.

Spending most of her time alone or reading novels, Yoyo described herself as an introvert. The school’s social worker thought she had problems and often spent time listening and talking to her.

When Yoyo was 14 years old, her younger half-sister (from the same mother but a different father) committed suicide by jumping off a building. This tragedy changed her life, and she started to come out of her shell. Yoyo said, “The last time I saw my sister, she gave me a photo and left a message on the back of it. She told me to never forget her. Two months later, she killed herself because she was unhappy at home with her new family.”

Yoyo said she did not think her sister was wrong by killing herself at that time, but her suicide had caused a lot of sadness in the family. After this tragic incident, Yoyo began to open up her feelings to others, and she became a more cheerful person.

Honest and Straightforward Personality

When Yoyo was young, her mother was very strict with her. If she did something bad, her mother punished her by hitting or slapping her. Therefore, Yoyo needed to protect herself by lying to her mother. She said, “If I didn’t finish my homework, I would still tell her the homework was done. If my mother found out the truth, I would get a severe beating afterward.”

After Yoyo became older, she realized once she started lying, she had to continue to tell more lies to cover herself. Yoyo said, “ It’s very hard to be a liar; I would rather be blunt instead of telling a lie. Life is simpler and easier to tell the truth.”

Yoyo’s past experiences in her childhood and teenage years have influenced her to become a straightforward and honest person. Whenever she is asked about negative news or rumors, or questions about her acting career, Yoyo will not be afraid to tell the truth. She said, “My personality is straightforward, and I will tell the truth without holding back.”

Yoyo revealed she had worked many side jobs before starting her acting career. She worked at an advertising company and even made an appearance in a Category III (equivalent to “R-rated” in the United States) movie. Yoyo was very open and honest speaking about her experiences. She said, "I wasn’t born with a silver spoon. I needed to eat, so I had to work at many jobs to survive.”

The impact of Yoyo’s life experiences made her a very strong person and a survivor. Despite the negativity in her childhood and troubled teenage years, Yoyo re-focused her path in life and forged a successful acting career. Most importantly, Yoyo ‘s dream of marrying her true love has finally come true.




Creds: QQ