In a recent episode of Chinese variety show Viva La Romance, Hong Kong actress Karena Ng, 30, and her third-gen billionaire boyfriend Brian Shi, 33, announced that they will be tying the knot next year.
During the show, Karena revealed that she and Brian, whom she has dated for five years, have already applied for a marriage license, and will be holding their wedding banquet in 2024.
This led the other guests on the show to ask Brian, whose family has a reported net worth of HK$10bil (S$1.7bil), how he knew Karena, who’s famously known as the ex-girlfriend of Raymond Lam, was the right one for him.
Recalling the time he took Karena to his late’s mum grave, Brian said he was very touched by what his now-fiancé said.
“She said: ‘Auntie, please don’t worry. I’ll take care of your son’,”, recalled Brian, who added that his mum’s grave is not somewhere he would bring just anyone to visit.
Brian was also particularly moved when he during an argument with Karena, she said: “I won’t argue anymore ‘cos I promised auntie I will take care of you.”
From then, he was sure Karena was the one because “she could put her grievances behind her promise [to my mum]”.
The couple also went on to share how Brian’s family did not approve of their relationship at the beginning.
According to Brian, when their relationship first made the cover of a paparazzi magazine, all his father did was send a photo of it to him. He didn’t say anything, which suggested that he was unhappy.
“He couldn’t accept that our family name had appeared on a tabloid magazine, this is how he expresses his disappointment,” recalled Brian.
Despite that, Brian claimed that Karena stayed sincere towards his family and would always prepare gifts for them during special occasions.
“No matter how people viewed her, she would do what’s right. For instance during Mid Autumn Festival, she would give a box of mooncakes each to my grandfather, father, second, third and fourth uncles, and elder sister. During Chinese New Year, she would give each family a carrot cake or rice cake,” said Brian.
He continued: “She feels that as my girlfriend, preparing gifts for my family is a show of respect to me. And eventually my dad was moved by her actions. I only found out about this later on but my dad actually secretly went to the market to buy the freshest fish and sent it to Karena’s parents’ home.”