Cheng, Ronald (Cheng Chung-Kei)
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Contents |
[edit] Biography
- Name: Cheng Chung Kei
- Nickname: Ronald
- Chinese: é„ä¸åŸº
- Chinese Nicname: Kei Jai, Cola Kei
- Date of Birth: 9th March 1972
[edit] TV Series
- A Colourful Life
- Burning Flame (1998)
[edit] Filmography
- A Chinese Ghost Story (The Animation) (1997) voice
- Twelve Nights (2000)
- Blue Moon (2001)
- Bullets of Love (2001)
- Dance of a Dream (2001)
- Interactive Murders (2002)
- My Wife is 18 (2002)
- Market's Romance (2002)
- My Lucky Star (2003)
- Give Them a Chance (2003)
- Dragon Loaded 2003 (2003)
- Golden Chicken 2 (2003)
- Super Model (2004)
- Hidden Heroes (2004)
- My Sweetie (2004) cameo
- Himalaya Singh (2005)
- Dragon Reloaded (2005)
- McDull, The Alumni (2006)
- Undercover Hidden Dragon (2006)
- Fatal Contact (2006)
[edit] News
In 2000 Ronald Cheng went beserserk during a flight from Los Angeles to Taipei. He was so out of control, in fact, the plane was forced to land mid-route in Anchorage, Alaska.
According to the BBC, the singer got drunk and began to "annoy fellow passengers in the first-class area." That is an understatement, according to witnesses. Cheng not only puffed cavalierly on cigarettes and sang loudly, he also hurled himself onto the floor, where he laid flat on his back and screamed obscenities into the recycled air.
Cheng's ruckus reached a fever pitch when he began to strike at and grab his fellow passengers and crew members -- including a flight attendant, whom he held in a half nelson.
He was finally stopped by the plane's captain, who bonked him on the head with a flashlight.
The Eva Air Boeing 747 landed safely in Anchorage, with its 365 passengers -- including the naughty Cheng -- intact. The cantankerous chanteur was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated and charged with assault and interfering with crew members.
Cheng was arrested recently after the flight and had to pay a 65.000 dollar fine.
Portrait of a drunk singer
Straits Times
RONALD CHENG, whose father Norman Cheng is the chairman of Universal Music for the Asia-Pacific region, became a singer-songwriter when he was just a child.
HIT RECORD BY 13: By age 13, he had a hit record. Many more have followed, including Quit Falling In Love and I Really Can.
LITTLE HEAVENLY KING: Now 28, he has been touted as the new Little Heavenly King of Hongkong's music scene and also has a huge following in Taiwan, China and among the Chinese community in the United States.
SPOILT BY FAME: Fame and fortune have apparently spoilt him. The press has portrayed him as a womaniser. He made his promotions executive pregnant in 1998.
LOVE LIFE: He wooed popular singer Miriam Yeung for three years, but after winning her heart finally last year, reportedly ended the relationship after only six months.
The press blamed the break-up on Cecilia Cheung, another famous Hongkong star, but she has denied any romantic links with him.
PROBLEM WITH DRINK: Cheng has admitted to a tendency to get into brawls after a night of drinking.
FINED: On Feb 19, after the Alaska court fined him over the EVA Air incident, Cheng vowed never to drink again.
I hate violence of any kind, says pilot
Straits Times
BLOOD poured from his head, staining the first-class passenger seat on board a B-747 plane making its way from Los Angeles to Taipei.
Rock star Ronald Cheng, his face contorted in rage, was harassing his neighbouring passenger, pulling a stewardess' hair and punching the co-pilot.
But an accidental swing of a torchlight by American pilot Captain John Irving knocked him cold.
Yet, seconds before, the slender Cheng, about 170 cm tall, had managed to grab the arm of the beefy pilot, jerk him down and injure his back.
"I was astonished when he pulled me down. He was so strong and fierce," says Captain Irving. In fact, he was unable to get out of bed for several days afterwards.
The pilot was recounting the Feb 16 air rage incident on board an EVA Air flight.
Cheng, 28, sitting in First Class, became drunk after several rounds of alcoholic drinks. He ended up harassing a passenger and attacking the crew.
The 53-year-old pilot spoke to Sunday Plus over the phone from his company's dormitory in Taipei. He describes himself as 1.83 m tall ("a little taller than average") and weighs in at about 91 kg, compared with Cheng whom he described as slender and trim and weighing about 70kg or less.
The pilot was not aware then what had happened to his back, he says.
"It was only when I could not get up from bed the next morning that I realised I was injured. I have been confined to bed for a week by the doctor."
He says the X-rays showed no internal injury, but he needs to return for a further examination. He can walk to the toilet and hopes his condition will improve. He is taking muscle relaxants and pain-killers.
As an airline pilot, Capt Irving needs to maintain a high level of physical fitness to keep his job.
"It won't do for passengers to see their pilot getting into the plane on a wheelchair!" he jokes.
He has flown professionally since he was 20 years old. He has been with EVA Air for the last five years. In all his years as a pilot, he had never encountered the kind of aggressive behaviour that Cheng showed.
"Unruly passengers are common," he says, "but the physically violent ones are extremely unusual. All the pilots I know say that this incident was extraordinary.
"The funny thing was that before this I wanted to ask Cheng to join my website which features artistes and their works."
Two weeks ago, he started www.regionalarts.com, based in his home of Nevada City in northern California. It showcases the works of 100 singers, painters, sculptors and writers, mostly in his home district. You can listen to song samples, view images of the art work and buy them online.
"My plan was to start a Taiwan base and sign up Chinese artistes. I was so excited when I heard Cheng was coming on board. I thought that later during the flight I would introduce myself and see if he could join us on the website."
Instead, he found himself scuffling with the singer. Capt Irving was horrified when his torch ripped a gash on Cheng's head.
He says that pilots always take a torch with them when they go into the cabin, which is usually dark. The standard issue torch is about 25 cm long and uses the large D-size batteries, so it is heavy.
The airline plans to ask Cheng to compensate it for the emergency re-routing of the plane to Anchorage, the fuel cost and the cost of delay. But Capt Irving himself has not thought about seeking compensation.
He says he hates violence of any kind, even on television. In his spare time, he writes poetry and goes motorbike riding with his wife in the countryside back roads. He also enjoys sky-diving and scuba-diving.
I was scared when his scalp was split open .
Ronald Cheng Saga
When he heard that a famous singer was on board, Captain Irving was excited. But the journey became a nightmare, he tells Sunday Plus in an e-mail
Straits Times
ON FEB 16, I was the captain of an EVA Air flight from California to Taipei. While boarding passengers into my B-747 in Los Angeles, cabin attendants informed me we had a famous singer named Ronald Cheng on board.
We took off just about midnight with 376 passengers and 23 crew members on board.
Soon after getting airborne on our planned 13-hour, 50-minute flight to Taiwan, our VIP singer had a champagne and whiskey, then showed his seat mate a pack of Marlboro cigarettes asking: "Do you know what is in these?"
He went into the lavatory, set off the smoke alarm, and after almost 20 minutes, came out intoxicated and yelling for more whiskey.
Two flight attendants helped him to his seat where he ranted and raved, demanding a whole bottle of Royal Salute Whiskey.
He fell asleep finally after bothering the nearby passengers.
About three hours into the flight, Cheng started thrashing about and hitting the passenger in the next seat.
After shouting some obscenities, he started singing loudly, struck this passenger and shouted for whiskey. When he was refused, he attacked the flight attendant.
He shoved and pulled, then grabbed her hair, getting her into a head-lock. We got a call on the cockpit interphone; it was a flight attendant screaming for help.
I sent the F/O (first officer) down to First Class. The singer let go of the flight attendant, grabbed my co-pilot by the throat and started choking him. I got a second call -- more help was needed in First Class immediately.
I woke the resting crew, briefed them, put them into the pilot's seats and (since the cabin was dark) got my flashlight and went downstairs to try to get this guy into handcuffs.
When I arrived, the pilot and stewardess were frightened. It was obvious why.
I faced this angry, raving, intoxicated singer. He yelled abuse, screamed for more whiskey, and when I asked him to return to his seat, he grabbed my left hand, jerking me forward and down.
I was astonished by his strength; I felt something wrench in my back as he jerked my arm. He reared up trying to punch me.
I did not mean to hurt him, but I swung my Mag-light in self-defence. He was pulling himself up hard and came up fast.
Rising, he met my Mag-Light as it was coming down and it split his scalp open. He was out for the count, bleeding badly.
I WORRIED I REALLY HURT HIM
I WAS horrified, fearing I had really harmed him. The cut didn't seem very big, but head wounds bleed profusely. I called for a doctor (one was on board) and sent for the doctor's kit, then left him in the care of my F/O and flight attendants and went back to the cockpit to divert to Anchorage, Alaska, for hospital care and police.
He behaved meekly for the rest of the flight, passing into and out of consciousness.
When I got back to my seat, we were over Kodiak, Alaska, about 430 miles (688 km) from Anchorage. My co-pilot and two passengers put handcuffs on him as the doctor bandaged his head.
While my junior captain flew, I handled the radios, fuel dump and public address systems calling Anchorage, Taipei and Los Angeles, telling them what we were doing, dumping fuel, getting flight clearances, arranging for police, ambulance, our flight plan from Alaska to Taiwan, a new load sheet, fuel trucks, mechanics, approach and landing clearance, briefing the passengers and co-ordinating with the flight attendants.
We were on the ground after 42 very busy minutes.
We had to dump out about 20,000 gallons (90,800 litres) of expensive jet fuel to land. We were met by medics, the police and the FBI.
As all concerned were being interviewed, first by the police and then by the FBI, our unruly songster continued to strike out, hitting a policeman and then a medic.
We were happy to see him go. He lost a huge amount of blood, making a horrible mess in First Class.
In two hours on the ground, we took on about US$25,000 (S$42,500) of fuel, signed for a US$2,500 landing fee, got new flight plans and a fresh load-sheet and maintenance, dispatch, air-traffic clearances.
I even remembered to get our handcuffs back. (Two sets are kept on board for guys like him.)
We were all complimented by the police and FBI who said we did a great job, using just the right amount of force needed to protect the passengers, crew and aircraft.
I felt like s***. I have worked hard to become more spiritual and less macho and hate hurting anyone, and really hate seeing a talented young person throwing his life away on drugs and alcohol.
By the time we got to Taiwan, nine hours later, we were exhausted and were already in the morning papers. The arrival area was a madhouse of TV, radio and newspaper people.
EVERYONE CALLED ME A HERO
MY AIRLINE arranged a press conference, so I have been on the front page of all the papers in Taiwan even though it was the last month of a presidential election.
The passenger sitting next to Cheng has given a press conference in Taiwan and done radio interviews in which he suggested that the cigarettes Cheng was (illegally) smoking in-flight contained drugs. Both crew and passengers thought he was using either crank or crack with his alcohol.
Right now, everyone is calling me a hero and coming up to shake my hand. Soon, I will be the bad guy for hitting a popular singer.
On the morning after I arrived in Taiwan from Anchorage, I was woken by a great pain in my lower back. After consulting the company doctor, I was taken to the Tao Shin Hospital in Taoyuan for an examination.
When I entered the hospital, people stood up and clapped as they recognised me. Many came wanting to shake my hand.
My timing was perfect, as I went from station to station in the hospital, the television kept showing us on the news.
The surgeon there determined that I had suffered a severe strain in the muscles around the lower spine.
The doctor grounded me from flight duty for at least one week, recommending complete bed-rest.
The latest news is that Cheng has apologised to the airline, passengers and crew and promised never to drink again. Interfering with airline crew members carries a maximum US$250,000 fine and 25 years in jail.
Cheng has been released on bail and has promised restitution of about US$65,000 to EVA and has offered to pay a US$25,000 fine, but the case has yet to be decided. He is now in California, prohibited from leaving the country.
As for me, my back hurts like hell.
