Jaspers Lai has been challenged by Stephen Chow to put his money — and the burnt ashes of a Lunar New Year decoration — where his mouth is.

In order to win a personally calligraphed chuntiao from Stephen, Jaspers recently replied in a comment to the former's Instagram post, where Stephen was choosing "fated people (winners)" from.

Jaspers, 35, wrote: "Give me, give me, I'll burn it and drink it!"

A chuntiao is a traditional decoration for the Lunar New Year, typically a piece of red cloth with blessings written on it.

Taiwan actress Alyssa Chia, Hong Kong actor Edison Chen and Taiwan singer Nine Chen have been selected among other lucky participants, and now it seems fate has chosen Jaspers as well.

The 60-year-old Kung Fu Hustle director uploaded an Instagram Story post last Saturday (Jan 28) with a screengrab of Jaspers' comment, instructing him to record video footage of him burning and drinking the chuntiao.

"Stephen has selected me," Jaspers then wrote on his Instagram post. "Do I really drink it?"

Responding to queries by AsiaOne, it seems Jaspers is still ambivalent about it.

"To be honest, I'm a little bit reluctant… After all, it's such a rare opportunity, out of tens of thousands of people, I was one of the 20 who was lucky enough to be chosen… If I really burn and drink it, it would be such a waste."

However, orders are orders, and Jaspers doesn't want to ignore one from his idol.

And Jaspers also sees this as an opportunity.

He said: "There's no object that truly lasts forever in this world. The chuntiao will lose its colour over time, but the blessings and memories it contains can be preserved forever.

"If I can make everyone happy or have them excitedly anticipate [my next move] by doing this, I am very willing to [burn and drink it]. Leaving an impression on everyone — now that's eternal."

Jaspers also cheekily added: "Anyway, if the chuntiao is placed in my house, I'm the only one who gets to see it!"

So why did he even come up with that idea in the first place?

Explaining his choice of comment, Jaspers said: "Truth be told, when I first saw Stephen's Instagram post, I didn't think too much about it. I just thought it was fun. I just want to say, 'Give it to me, I will cook it and drink it!'

"I didn't notice what he wrote at all and I didn't know he was giving it (hand-written chuntiao) away. I only discovered that it was a giveaway afterwards, and then later I found out that I was chosen, I really feel so fortunate!"

An inspiration

As a comedian himself, Jaspers himself has taken inspiration from many of Stephen's works, he shared with AsiaOne.

In particular, the comedic scenes he crafted earlier in his career were influenced by Stephen, including the iconic buck-toothed persona that he plays for his YouTube, Ya Good Channel.

Even his recent Lunar New Year movie, What! The Heist has elements of Stephen's influence in it, Jaspers revealed.

In fact, Jaspers also said that viewers have told him they can see a "shadow" of Stephen's works in the movie, while also reflecting Singaporean and Malaysian humour.

"The director and I hope that our script will pay tribute to Stephen," He said. "Little did I know that just as our movie was released, Stephen would send blessings to us [in the form of this chuntiao]. So I feel that this might be an arrangement of fate itself."

As for Jaspers' personal favourites when it comes to Stephen's movies, he said that he really likes both King of Comedy (1999) and its sequel, the New King of Comedy (2019).

Explaining his choices, he shared: "Stephen expressed some of our innermost feelings as artists, and then used funny and nonsensical ways to bring out the reality of it, so that the audience can fully experience our suffering through laughter and enjoyment."

He added: "I hope that after receiving this blessing from Stephen, I may have the opportunity to co-operate with him in the next year or two."

What! The Heist also features Mark Lee, Henry Thia and Patricia Mok and is currently showing in cinemas.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com

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