Eason Chan Talks About Getting Bullied In School And How He Was Once Shoved Into A Plastic Bucket
He emerged from all the bullying stronger and... funnier.
Hongkong popstar Eason Chan recently opened up about his childhood, revealing that he was badly bullied in school.
In the latest episode of Mama With Me, an ongoing series, which features the singer talking about his mum and his formative years, the 45-year-old recalled being terrorised when he was a student in a “gangster” school.
How gangster a school, exactly? According to Eason, his classmates would often engage in “knife fights”. They would also “collect” money from him to buy cigarettes, and because of all the extortion, Eason had to resort to hiding his cash in his socks.
Eason and Jason
Unable to withstand the bullying, Eason dropped out of that school after a month and planned to move to England to study with his elder brother, Jason.
However, pursuing an overseas education wasn’t an easy choice for Eason to make. Even though he had enough of the bullying in school, he was apprehensive about going to England as he had read about the bombings carried out by the Irish Republican Army during that time.
Big brother will always have your back
“I was afraid of dying. I didn’t want to go. I thought I would definitely get blown up and die in the UK,” he said, adding that he would rather transfer to the not-so-reputable and now-defunct St. Luke’s College in Hongkong rather than risk his life abroad.
Mama Chan, Eason and Jason chilling in England
According to Eason, his family tried all ways to persuade him to study overseas. Jason even flew back to Hongkong during Christmas so he could accompany Eason on the flight to Bath in England. Mama Chan went along as well, and she stayed in a hotel near the school for four weeks. Eason said: “My mom was very dedicated. The bed and breakfast she lived in wasn’t exactly comfortable.”
With support and companionship from his family, Eason finally let go of his fears and eventually fell in love with the city.
Eason's family
“I don’t even know why I was afraid in the first place,” laughed Eason. “Everything went by without a hitch, and there wasn’t even a single bomb.”
During his time in Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire, there were “only six or seven Chinese people in the school of 600 students”. But luckily for Eason, his brother was one of “cool dudes” there, and so he was relatively safe from the bullies.
“They’d go, oh yeah, Jason Chan. Eason Chan’s his brother! Respect!” the singer said. “If foreign students tried to bully me, they would get hurt [by the bullies] instead!”
He had to squeeze his way out like this
Despite having 'protection', Eason was still messed with from time to time, though. He was once shoved into a plastic bucket, and the only way he could get out of it was to topple over and slowly wriggle his way out.
“Even though I was bullied by my classmates, I thought that it was quite funny and I think it made me more humorous.,” said Eason.
Photos: Eason Chan’s YouTube
