Ronald Cheng Says He Finally Quit Drinking 'Cos Of His Daughter

Since then, he’s cleaned up his act considerably, going on to win a Golden Horse Award for the Best Supporting Actor in 2012, as well as the Best Original Film Song award at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2018, amongst other big-screen accomplishments.

And he has his nine-year-old daughter, Emma Cheng, to thank for that. Ronald tied the knot with former television anchor Sammie Yu in 2011, barely a year after his divorce from Ah Sa, and apart from Emma, the couple also have a son, five-year-old Evan.

In a recent interview with Apple Daily, the 48-year-old shared that it was only when his daughter first held his hand shortly after she was born did he realise what it meant to be a father.

“They rely on you for everything, and regardless of whether its good or bad, you have to stand by them. That feeling of love is something that you’ll only understand when you become a parent,” he said.

However, at that point of time, Ronald had yet to quit drinking. He recalled how he once got so drunk after a successful concert that he was tripping over his own feet when he reached home.

At that time, his lurching steps frightened his daughter terribly, but he couldn’t remember a thing, until he asked her why she was so unhappy the next morning.

His daughter then answered: “I was very frightened last night ‘cos I didn’t know what had happened to you, all I saw was that you’d fallen on the ground.”

It was then that Ronald realised that he had to clean up his act, and quit drinking for good.

And it seems like Emma has affected a lot of his career choices.

The actor shared that Emma couldn’t quite understand why he had to be beaten up for his Golden Horse winning role in Vulgaria, and she burst into tears when she watched the movie. Thus, he decided to stop taking on violent roles, choosing to star in light-hearted family dramas like the upcoming ViuTV drama, Single Papa.

However, he has no intention on getting Emma and Evan to take part in one of the many reality shows focused on the lives of celeb parents and their kids.

Apart from worrying about the long filming hours, Ronald added that he didn't want his kids to have to force themselves to continue “working" in-front of the cameras even when they’re tired.

Ronald also shared that he’s very much afraid of the increased scrutiny that his kids will have to go through after appearing on such shows, citing the many comments, both positive and negative, that tend to come from netizens.

Photos: Ronald Cheng/Instagram, Sammie Yu/Instagram