HONG KONG - Friends of Lydia Sum have defended her ex-husband Adam Cheng, after the actor was verbally attacked at a public memorial service for her on Sunday.

Cheng - who split up in 1988 with the comedienne also known as Fei Cheh (Fat Sister), months after their daughter, Joyce, was born - did not attend her funeral in Vancouver last week.

On Sunday, actor Alan Tang reprimanded Cheng at the memorial service held at the Hong Kong Coliseum. He asked Cheng to 'come up on the stage and tell us what you have done for Ah Fei and your daughter all these years'.

When Cheng, 61, tried to tell his side of the story, he was booed by some in the audience, who shouted 'shut up', 'heartbreaker' and 'cheap man'.

But Sum's friends including actors Law Kar Ying, Eric Tsang, Sum Sum, Nancy Sit and former radio presenter Pamela Pak spoke up for Cheng later. They also said Tang should have stayed out of the divorced couple's affairs.

Tsang was quoted as saying in Apple Daily: 'This was a memorial service, not a self-criticism session.

'Fei Cheh, Joyce and Adam were a family. Behind closed doors, they could have been close. Fei Cheh wouldn't have wanted to see such a scene.'

Sum Sum, a former girlfriend of Cheng's, noted that he did contact Joyce about visiting Sum in hospital and attending the funeral. Sum, 62, died in hospital on Feb 19. She was said to suffer from cancer.

'It's the thought that counts,' said Sum Sum.

Pak said: 'Alan Tang is too much. He might have been her old friend but Fei Cheh liked harmony.

'Fei Cheh wouldn't have liked this if she was here because this hurt the two loves of her life - Joyce and Adam.'

Tang, 61, has been Sum's close friend for decades.

They became sworn siblings with stars including Paul Chang, Willie Chan, Patrick Tse and Charlie Chin in the 1970s. The seven friends were known as the Silver Rat Pack.

On Sunday, Tang said many of Sum's friends spoke of their support for her daughter.

Pointing a finger at Cheng, Tang said: 'Doesn't she have a father? Why does the responsibility have to go to her mother's good friends?'

Cheng, who was not on the speakers' list, then went on the stage with Joyce and explained why he could not attend the funeral.

But he did not get round to telling the full story, when some of the more than 6,000 spectators shouted: 'Excuses!'

Joyce, 20, had to bail her father out by reminding the audience that they were there to remember her mother. She drew applause as she asked them not to allow gossip and misunderstandings to mar the occasion.

Tsang, who was the last of Sum's friends to speak at the service, was the first to praise Joyce for her handling of the crisis.

He said on stage: 'The thing Fei Cheh was most worried about was Joyce. But she has shown on stage today that she has grown up. As an uncle, I find it comforting. You have done well.'

Off stage, Tang was cold to Cheng, said reports.

After Cheng spoke, he walked to the front row, where Tang sat with showbiz couple Ivy Ling Po and Chin Han, and held out his hand.

But Tang did not shake Cheng's hand and waved him away, said Oriental Daily News.

A snubbed Cheng returned to his front-row seat.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times on Mar 4, 2008.