THE BIOPIC

stormed the box office and charmed critics last November with its depiction of singer Anita Mui’s life. However, the Canto-pop icon’s eldest brother, Peter Mui Kai-ming, wasn’t happy. A month after the film’s release, he sued local distributor Edko Films for infringement of his rights to two trademarks, including using his sister’s name in the film without his permission, and demanded compensation for the loss he claims would be incurred as a result of the public being misled into thinking he was associated with the film.

This isn’t the first dispute over the singer’s inheritance: four days after Anita died of cervical cancer in 2003, her mother, Tan Meijin, filed a lawsuit against her daughter challenging her will, which decreed that her money would go into a trust that disbursed HK$70,000 (increasing to HK$200,000) monthly to Tan. The singer also gave two properties to her stage costume designer and friend Eddie Lau, HK$1.7 million to support her nieces’ and nephews’ education and, when Tan dies, the remainder will be donated to the New Horizon Buddhist Association. “My daughter is dead. Why does she still have to donate? Do you know how hard my life is? HK$70,000 isn’t enough for an 80-, 90-year-old like me. I’m no different than a beggar,” Tan said in 2003. She and her son were seen handing out leaflets reading “the great fraud of the century” to campaign against what they felt was an unjust ruling.

So it came as a surprise when Tan showed a recent change of heart. After her son’s lawsuit, Tan, now 98, announced that she would stop giving him his monthly HK$10,000 living subsidy from Anita’s trust. Tan said, “He’s mad about money. I’ll turn off the ‘water hose’.”