Village mourns grandson of late movie vet

A 25-year-old grandson of late actor Shing Fui-on died in a rollover crash in Sai Kung early yesterday.

The driver, Shing, was heading along Clear Water Bay Road for his Sai Kung home in his Honda at 4.12am.

Upon reaching the roundabout at the road's junction with University Road near the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, he apparently lost control of the care and hit the sidewalk, according to police.

The car then hit a "give way" sign, careened 30 meters across into the opposite lane and hit another sign in the center of the roundabout before going across both lanes again and ramming into an eight-meter-tall in a flower bed and overturning.

Shing was trapped inside the flipped-over vehicle and had to be pulled out by firemen.

Sustaining serious head injuries, he was taken to Tseung Kwan O Hospital unconscious and declared dead at 5am.

The police's Kowloon East traffic special investigation team is looking into the accident and appealed for witnesses to contact them at 3661-0260.

Shing's father, the son of the actor and his first wife, confirmed the death, but refused to say more: "Thank you for caring, but there is so much that I have to do now."

The father went to the scene of the accident and the hospital afterward.

Shing was with a car waxing firm and not known for speeding, so his relatives were all taken aback by the tragedy.

Villagers at Nam Wai village, where Shing lived with his parents, expressed sorrow.

They said Shing was the late actor's favorite grandson, and only 13 when he died in 2009 at the age of 54.

Shing Fui-on was a supporting actor in more than 350 movies and dramas portraying villains and comedic characters, using his built and deep and grumpy voice to great effect.

He was a lifelong Nam Wai resident and elected village chief five times since 2003.

In 2004, he was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma - a rare tumor in the head and neck that spread from the back of his nose - and died from complications from hepatitis B resulting in liver cancer in August 2009.