Benz Hui’s Heartwarming Lie For Friend & Biz Partner Dayo Wong Revealed

Hong Kong’s entertainment industry is mourning the loss of veteran actor Benz Hui, who passed away on October 28 at the age of 76.

He had long been battling cancer, which led to multiple organ failure.

Known for his steady presence on screen and natural charisma, Benz Gor, as he was affectionately called, wasn’t just a consummate actor, but also a “dad” and friend to many in the industry as seen by the number of celebs who rushed to the hospital to see him in his final days.

Actress Charmaine Sheh, who worked closely with him on several dramas and called him “dad”, broke down in tears while speaking to reporters.

She said she had long known about his health issues and had cancelled a work trip to Beijing on Oct 27 to visit him at the hospital.

TVB actor Kenneth Ma, who also starred alongside Benz, shared that he regarded Benz as a mentor and role model.

He recalled that when they played father and son in a drama, Benz would often scold him for his poor acting — but always out of care. Kenneth added that Benz’s words had stayed with him throughout his career.

It’s that same warmth that defined Benz off-screen too — perhaps best shown in a story few people knew.

Back in 2007, Benz and good friend, actor Dayo Wong, opened tuition centre in Causeway Bay, catering to students from Singapore International School, where Benz’s daughter Charmaine was studying.

The two had worked together on several popular TVB dramas, including Men Don’t Cry (2007), You’re Hired (2009) and My Bounty Lady (2013). Even in recent years, they continued to meet up regularly.

What started as a casual chat on a filming set in China became a full-fledged business.

Benz suggested they start the tuition centre together, and Dayo agreed to invest but preferred not to be involved in the operations.

But as Benz shared in a 2023 interview with HK01, running a tuition centre in one of Hong Kong’s most expensive districts was anything but easy.

The rent in Causeway Bay was sky-high, and because they hired teachers from Singapore, they had to provide housing and meals.  

To make things even tougher, Benz’s wife, who helped run the centre, refused to compromise on quality.

Instead of cramming classrooms with hundreds of students, she insisted on small-class teaching — one teacher to two students, five at most.

The result? The centre only had students from 3pm to 7pm daily… and lost money for four straight years.

Benz couldn’t bear the thought of Dayo continuing to lose money, so he came up with a little white lie.

“After about half a year, I told Dayo there was a parent who wanted to invest and buy his share,” Benz said. “But there was no parent. It was me. I didn’t want him to keep losing money.”

For the next few years, Benz quietly shouldered the losses himself.

Only when the business finally broke even and his daughter had graduated did he decide to call it a day.

In 2016, he shut down the centre so his wife could rest, saying he had no regrets.

“No amount of money can buy my family’s happiness,” he said.