Eric Tsang Once Fell Out With Alan Tam After The Latter Backed Out Of A Ribbon Cutting Ceremony For A Mutual Friend’s Sauna

TVB show One From The Heart features celebs sharing stories from their personal lives.

Eric Tsang, 69, recently appeared as a guest on the show, where he recounted his past feud with a close friend.

Though he did not mention the identity of said pal, Eric, who is also the general manager of TVB, once shared the same story when promoting 2016 drama Mad World in Taiwan.

There, he revealed that the “friend” is singer Alan Tam, 72.

Eric started off by saying that the incident “happened many years ago”.

“He is my best friend in showbiz, and also my confidant. He was very popular back then, way more popular than me,” he revealed.

Eric and Alan had many mutual friends, and they promised one of their friends that they would attend the ribbon cutting ceremony of his new shop.

What Eric didn’t expect though was for Alan to back out at the last minute.

Alan had called Eric “one or two days” before the shop's opening to say he would have to give the event a pass.

According to Eric, Alan said: “Turns out it’s a sauna. I’m a singer, and attending the ribbon cutting ceremony for a sauna might affect my image. It's different being a singer compared to you guys,” explained Alan.

Eric was angry at Alan as he felt that the latter “was not loyal enough”.

He went on to reveal that they didn’t speak for a while after the incident, and their friendship was almost ruined as they slowly drifted apart.

It was only some time later that Eric gave the incident some thought.

“In life, it takes a lot to meet someone, and it is even tougher to become friends, so the more [we] should cherish someone so close. [Were we] really going to stop talking because of that incident?” he recounted.

After gaining some clarity, Eric decided to extend an olive branch.

“I just thought of him as the ‘smaller person’ and I, the ‘bigger person’. The bigger person can look past the smaller person’s misdeeds. So that’s what I did!” said Eric.

So Eric called Alan and asked him out for tea and they made up after that.

Eric said Alan explained where he was coming from and Eric finally understood his friend's behaviour and forgave him.

“I am unable to reach his 'level', or maybe I’m not him, so I don’t understand the things [he experiences],” said Eric.

Since then, Eric and Alan have remained close.

Eric also wanted to share his takeaway from the incident. “Don’t make judgements from your point of view. It is a must to cherish such close friendships, and it may apply to many other things as well. Otherwise, you might miss out on a lot, and even give up on some things you shouldn’t."

Photos: Sinchew News, HK01

Watch the full clip of Eric on One From The Heart below. Note that it is only available in Cantonese with Mandarin subtitles.