Chow Yun Fat Says He Doesn’t Want To Donate His Entire Fortune To Charity, It’s His Wife Who Wants To

Last week, Hong Kong movie legend Chow Yun Fat was honoured as the Asian Filmmaker of the Year at the Busan International Film Festival.

Speaking at the festival, the 68-year-old, who celebrates his 50th year in showbiz this month, talked about everything from the challenges of Hong Kong cinema to rumours of his death.

In July, rumours began circulating that the star was in a coma after suffering a stroke.

“It’s not just an illness. It’s fake news about my death. But I don’t care at all. I’m not afraid of growing old, and there’s nothing I’m afraid of. This is life. Where there’s life, there’s death,” said Fat Gor.

“Maybe I will drop dead while jogging,” joked the avid runner. “The first 60 years of my life have passed, and now I want to run a marathon in the next 60 years of my life.”

Since they were on the topic of death, Fat Gor was asked about the pledge he made in 2018 to donate his entire fortune— reportedly HK$5.6 billion (S$978mil) — to charity after he dies.

“It’s not that I want to donate… It’s my wife’s decision,” he quipped.

“I also don’t want to donate. It’s all my hard-earned money. I live on pocket money now. To be honest, I don’t know the exact donation figure.”

He added: “Anyway, I believe that since I came into this world with nothing, it doesn’t really matter if I leave with nothing as well.”

Fat Gor and his Singaporean wife, Jasmine Tan, 63, have been married for 36 years and have no children.

Despite his riches, Fat Gor is famously frugal and down-to-earth.

He reportedly spends just HK$800 (S$141) a month and enjoys taking public transport and eating at roadside stalls.

And who can forget those reports of him using his Nokia flip phone for 17 years until it crashed a few years ago.

In case you’re wondering, he now uses an iPhone, which he whipped out to take a wefie — of course — with the media during the festival and even airdropped the pics to everyone.