I love that shot of Jay and his beloved mum, Ye Hui Mei aka 叶惠美, complete with piano in the background. This post is way overdue but I got caught up writing about his music and other stuff. Besides, Mama Chou was mentioned in my first few posts about Jay's family and early years before he went to work in Alfa Music.
If there's one thing about Jay Chou which is well-known and undeniable, it's his immense love for and close relationship with his mother. She's probably his biggest fan ever (she attends all his concerts); she's the one woman Jay absolutely does not mind being photographed with; and she holds the purse strings for when he wants to buy a new (or old-new!) car or whatever antiques he has his eye on.
Jay values her opinions and will listen to her advice whenever he can.
She is also the woman Jay mentions whenever he's asked tricky questions by nosy journalists eager to get him to let slip about any 'girlfriends'.
One classic example was during the recent Harry Winston performance, where he was asked about whom he would like to give a HW diamond to. After a split-second pause, Jay cleverly replied that it would be his mother, as Mother's Day was just around the corner. ;)
Another time was during the Green Hornet press conference in Singapore when he was asked who his biggest source of support was and he again said (in English, no less!): "My Mum!" :))
And here's one of my favourite vids concerning Jay and his mum, where he decorates a cake for her on a talkshow during promotions for his album, Still Fantasy. He was so adorably cute as he created meaningful symbols with the icing, strawberries and chocolate sauce, to honour his Mum's name and her advice about the pappz:
From 1:07 onwards: they're to decorate a cake for their mothers, to express their feelings, and the Mums' birthdays are on 15 Sept.
As Jay's decorating, he mutters to the host not to peek at his and that it's not that easy a task.
At 3:15, Jay likens the coloured chocs to the pappz and they talk abit about shooting a movie; Jay says he learns alot from more senior actors.
At 4:25, he reveals the word 'diao' in the chocolate syrup; the green icing represents a leaf, which in Chinese is 'ye' as in 'ye hui mei', his mum's name. So in a nutshell, ye hui mei gave birth to a diao son. :)
Then he explains the chocs=pappz thing again, and that the strawberries=love, which overcomes the pappz, as his mother would tell him.
At 5:05, the host asks him to bring the cake back for his mum to eat and Jay declines, as he's afraid she might get diarrhoea!
He offers it to the audience instead...lol!
Host asks him to say some meaningful words to his mum.
At 5:24, Jay tells his mum all the tabloid gossip is false and that's why he's decided not to order anymore newspapers or read anymore papers. He then thanks her for giving birth to him and he assures her he'll continue to do what's pleasing to her.
Host compliments him on his moving speech and Jay says he wouldn't ordinarily talk to her like that...it's more like a simple "thanks, Mum".
They then proceed to discuss the pappz and that his mum's getting used to it.
Then it cuts to the vid presentation about Jay and his family/friends.
Here's an audio clip of Jay singing Happy Birthday to his mum on a radio show...in Chinese and English...sweet! And complete with the characteristic "WOO!". :D
From childhood till the present, she has been the one abiding presence in his life.
As a teacher of fine arts, she loved dressing Jay up, which probably accounts for his, at times, adventurous (some say atrocious!) sartorial sense:
http://www.jaychoustudio.com/archives/mother-chou-makes-clothes-for-young-jay-chou/1478
A gentle yet friendly person (she frequently visits Jay's workplace and feeds the staff her famous and delicious fried beehoon) who brought Jay up incredibly well, Ms Ye is also a wonderful ballroom dancer and she is such an influence that Jay even named his fourth album after her!
Not to mention the tribute he pays her in his song (on his Still Fantasy album), Listen To Mother's Words aka Ting Ma Ma De Hua, which I posted in the Chou Style: Songs with a message post.
http://jaychoudiaoness.blogspot.sg/2012/05/chou-style-songs-with-message.html
Whenever Jay goes on holidays overseas, she is always with him:
Call him a Mummy's boy, but I feel that his filial piety is one trait of Jay's which has endeared him to his multitude of fans from the very beginning.
But it also means that any girl who wants to win his heart will have to get along with Mama Chou well.
Although Jay has mentioned that she doesn't interfere with his 'love life', I'm sure he would undoubtedly take her views into consideration about any female who may be a prospective Mrs Jay Chou. ;)
Mama Chou is also every bit as cool as her famous son in dressing up but she remains relatively low-key and when ambushed by pappz at airports, she keeps a tight upper lip.
Dear Mama Chou:
A HUGE thank you for giving birth to Jay and nurturing him so well to become His Royal DIAOness....as otherwise, this blog would not now exist.
You are every bit an inspiration as he is. :)
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