Hong Kong actress Bonnie Lai Suk-yin's tragic death at 46

Hong Kong actress Bonnie Lai Suk-yin was celebrating Christmas with her family one day, and the next, she tragically took her own life. The actress had been plagued with ailing mental health, Chengdu News reports.

Content warning: This gallery contains mentions of depression and self harm.

Image: Bonnie Lai / Facebook

Bonnie Lai Suk-yin was an actress best known for her work in Hong Kong media in the 1990s.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram

Bonnie Lai Suk-yin was born on July 11, 1977, in British Hong Kong. Her claim to fame started when she joined the Miss Asia annual beauty pageant in 1995.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram

According to her Baidu biography, Bonnie Lai Suk-yin was the runner-up of Asia TV’s Miss Asia competition in 1995. It was thereafter that she signed on with Asia TV (ATV) and became an artist under their wing.

Image: ATV

Since being under ATV’s wing, Bonnie Lai Suk-yin started her first working gig as a host for TV and live events. Baidu notes that her first hosting role was in 1995 for ‘True Series Everything 3’.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram

1996 was a busy year for Bonnie Lai Suk-yin as it was the year she was roped into several productions. This included her first TV role in ‘Zombie Taoist II’ as Shu Ning.

Image: ATV

Bonnie Lai’s acting repertoire also went beyond TV, as she too stared in her first film role in 1996 in ‘Young and Dangerous 3’.

Image: Golden Harvest

Bonnie Lai Suk-yin’s work in ‘Young and Dangerous 3’ could be considered one of her most major works, as it was then that she starred alongside Hong Kong A-listers such as Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan, Karen Mok, and Gigi Lai.

Image: Golden Harvest

In all the productions that Bonnie Lai Suk-yin was in, the actress only held minor and supporting roles.

Image: ATV

Despite having a rather active career in the industry during the 1990s, Bonnie Lai Suk-yin surprisingly left acting in 2002 after starring in ‘Counter-Receipt Task Force’.

Image: Golden Harvest

Douban notes that Bonnie Lai Suk-yin later returned to the screen for short bursts in 2006 with hosting for ‘Afternoon Momo Tea’, playing minor roles in ‘Big City Story’ and in ‘Chef Corner’ in 2011.

Image: Golden Harvest

Outside of her professional career, Bonnie Lai Suk-yin was married to Hong Kong martial artist, actor, and close working partner of Jackie Chan, Kenneth Low Wai Kwong, in 1998. The couple had two sons and divorced later in 2006, according to Tencent.

Image: Baidu

Sina reports that Bonnie Lai Suk-yin remarried in 2007 to plastic surgeon Angus Hui, with whom she would go on to have two sons from her second marriage.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram

Bonnie Lai Suk-yin’s second marriage was tumultuous, as Sina once reported back in 2013 that Angus Hui was once caught in infidelity by the actress herself, which led to a very public dispute on the streets of Hong Kong.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram

Fast forward to 2023, Baidu reports Bonnie Lai Suk-yin has made another comeback in acting since her 2011 role and starred in ViuTV’s 2023 TV series, ‘Legal Affair’. The series is still airing, and given her passing, ‘Legal Affair’ is now considered her posthumous work.

Image: ViuTV

According to an 8days report, Bonnie Lai Suk-yin showed no signs of intending to end her own life, as she was seen celebrating Christmas with her husband and four children and was actively posting on Instagram about the holiday celebrations.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram

Channel News Asia reported that her son was the first to find her unconscious body at home the next day, on December 26, and rushed Bonnie Lai Suk-yin to the hospital. It was there that she was declared dead.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram

Despite having no farewell note at the scene, Bonnie Lai Suk-yin did send a worrying text to her husband before she died, stating, “See you in the next life”, China News Network reports. It was then that her family members rushed home to find her unconscious on the floor.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram

Bonnie Lai Suk-yin’s passing is a tragic one, as 8days confirmed that the star took her own life. She sought treatment for her depression, which she had been experiencing for 20 years, according to Chengdu News, but the treatment had mixed results.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram

According to an update on January 26, Bonnie Lai Suk-yin's place of death was being sold for a lower price (10 million HKD) than other similar properties in the area, and the sale and low selling price are most likely due to her death in the flat.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram

Given that the property is now up for sale, it is likely that the surviving members of Bonnie Lai Suk-yin's family are looking for another place to stay. Which is deeply understandable given the traumatic circumstances surrounding how her body was discovered.

Image: bonnie_lai_suk_yin_ / Instagram