HK fans hail boy band from LA to UK - and it's torture for their husbands

From Hollywood to Big Ben, forlorn Hong Kong husbands could only watch and take photos of their wives whose passion for Cantopop boy band Mirror has reached fever-pitch outside of the SAR.

Fans of Mirror's Edan Lui Cheuk-on rented a truck with a screen on one side to play his hit music videos on repeat while driving along the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Dolby Theatre at the weekend.

Over 100 fans - including some who recently migrated to the United States - chased the truck around and caught the attention of Los Angelenos as they promoted Cantopop and their favorite boy band.

When the truck stopped at the TCL Chinese Theatre, fans holding signs posed in front of the screen and chanted his name.

While Mirror's mostly female fans seek to make their "beloved ones" known to the world, their actual husbands - who migrated with them - are in distress.

They said they thought they would finally "get our wives back." Instead, the wives have become more enthusiastic to promote their "imaginary husbands."

In London, fans of Mirror's Anson Lo Hon-ting gathered near the iconic Big Ben at the weekend to sign a banner that is touring "to meet fans around the world." Lo was unable to come due to border restrictions.

More than 100 Hong Kong women passed around the banner excitedly and chatted with "fellow wives," while their actual husbands were seen snapping pictures.

Last month, fans of Mirror's Ian Chan Cheuk-yin - who released a new title track Can't figure out - arranged to have his music video play as an advertisement on a big television at the busy Waterloo train station in London.

Posters of his new song were also spotted in signages across London.

The boy band, which was formed in 2018 by a ViuTV show, rose to popularity last year from frequent release of songs, dramas and variety shows. It has also have appeared in promotional materials of various brands.

A Facebook concern group named "My wife married Mirror, causing our marriage to be at stake" was formed in July by men whose wives worship the band. The page has nearly 340,000 members.

In a post, one husband who recently moved to the United Kingdom complained that he "could not get away from Mirror" even though he is thousands of miles away from Hong Kong.

He posted a photo of him finding Chan's leaflet slipped in his parcel delivery from an online shop, which turned out to be owned by another Hongkonger fan in the UK.

Last month, mainland authorities rolled out investigations to rectify over-idolization of singers and actors to dial down growing fan cultures.

Pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po reported that Mirror fans "spend money crazily for their idols."

The article cited examples of the band's concert tickets being scalped to up to HK$100,000 each. There have also been cases of fans forking out over HK$1 million in presents and events for their idols' birthdays.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com