Waking up to a brand new day is a blessing most of us take for granted, but not getai singer Angie Lau.
At the start of a Facebook livestream posted by her elder sister, singer-actress Liu Lingling on Tuesday (August 22), Lingling shared that even though Angie’s water retention issues in her heart and lungs (cardiopulmonary edema) have been resolved, the cancer cells have spread to the rest of her body, including her lymph nodes, lungs, throat, bones and brain.
This was the first time that 55-year-old Angie, who appeared in the livestream, had revealed her face and spoken publicly about her cancer since the announcement of her relapse in March this year.
The 22-minute recording has so far received about 180,000 views, 2,300 comments and 4,100 likes as of writing.
Angie elaborated in the clip that a tumour in her brain had grown larger. “An earlier scan had detected a brain tumour. A month later, the tumour was found to have grown larger, so I could only go through electrotherapy and take medication.”
Lingling added that in order to sustain her life, “the medications have to be taken long-term”, and “it’s exorbitant”.
Besides updating viewers on Angie’s medical condition and expressing their gratitude to the public for their continued support, the sisters also requested for financial help to help Angie “get through this difficult time”.
Angie shared in the video however, that she’s thankful for support in all forms. “You give me love, I’ll also thank you very much”.
Said Angie: “I don’t like doing livestreams, and I don’t like to ask for help. But I have no choice, if I don’t ask for help, I worry that I won’t even have the opportunity to have the energy and positivity to face life and fight cancer, because I still have to support my two children.”
Stating that she’s a single mum, she added: “If I had a ‘normal’ family, I wouldn’t have to do this.”
Angie expressed as well that “no one knows what lies ahead”.
“I don’t even know if I can wake up the next morning“, she said, but added that she plans to stay positive and fight to overcome the disease.
The video has been met with an outpouring of support from netizens, with Lingling chiming in the comments section to thank their supporters.
Cancer relapse
Angie was first diagnosed with third-stage breast cancer and lymphoma in 2014 but recovered soon after treatment.
However, she suffered a relapse earlier this year.
In March, one of Angie’s students had posted a photo of her on a hospital bed and wrote: “Angie’s cancer has relapsed. Over the past four months, she has been unable to teach or perform due to her illness.”
Members of the audience had also noticed how Angie, who was a mentor for contestants on talent show Golden Age Talentime, had difficulty speaking in complete sentences for certain episodes and was unable to complete the filming for the show.
Back then, getai organiser Aaron Tan shared on Facebook that Angie’s cancer had affected her throat, heart, lungs and bones. She was admitted into the hospital for 12 days, from March 16 to 27.
Aaron also launched a Facebook fundraiser for her medical expenses.
In June this year, Angie shared that her condition was under control, but added that she was suffering from depression and insomnia, as well as pain in various parts of her body.
She also stated that she was struggling to cope financially due to the hoarseness of her voice — a side effect of her treatments — making it hard for her to perform or host for income.
Having expanded her music abroad to Taiwan in the 80s, Angie is also recognisable under the name of Jiang Yinjie.
In 2018, she was the winner of Mediacorp’s GeTai Challenge before becoming a mentor on Golden Age Talentime till March this year.
