Jacky Cheung addresses "Hong Kong, add oil" controversy

5 Jul – Jacky Cheung recently expressed frustration over being accused of being unpatriotic, after using the phrase of encouragement, "Xiang Gang, Jia You" (or "Hong Kong, add oil" or "Hong Kong, keep it up") in a video recorded to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.

The singer, whose clip of him encouraging his fellow Hong Kong citizens was removed from the overall video - which also featured stars like Stephen Chow, Andy Lau, and Nicholas Tse - due to its supposed unpatriotic notion, recently released a statement to counter the allegations against him.

Jacky stated that as someone who was born and grew up in Hong Kong and hopes to one day be buried in the city, he has such a deep relationship with Hong Kong, both during the good times and the bad times.

"I heard of "Beijing, add oil", "Wuhan add oil", "Shanghai add oil". However, "Hong Kong add oil", black and yellow colour became a taboo just because they were used by people with ulterior motives, and turned into a standard of whether someone loves a country or not. I personally could not understand that."

He also added that he is proud of being Chinese, and hopes that his fellow countrymen are rational.

"Whether or not I love my country, it is for the public to judge," he added.

The singer's video message was removed from the final video after saying 'Hong Kong, add oil'
The singer's video message was removed from the final video after saying 'Hong Kong, add oil'

(Photo Source: Emperor Motion Pictures Instagram, SCMP)