Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan and son Jaycee at an endorsement event in Shanghai in April 2008. The Straits Times/ANN
How will anti-drug ambassador Jackie Chan react to the arrest of his son, actor Jaycee Chan, on drug charges? Not very favorably, going by the things he has said about 31-year-old Jaycee over the years.
Jackie’s stern, authoritarian style of parenting has resulted in some choice quotes about his son. Here are 10 of the best.
1. On his decision to leave his son out of his will: “If he is capable, he can make his own money. If he is not, then he will just be wasting my money.”
2. On raising Jaycee: “I really regret not sending him into the army in the past, to give him more experience and temper his character.”
3. Most fathers would be happy if their sons ring them up on Father’s Day, but not Jackie. He scolded Jaycee instead, explaining: “I am not into celebrating any holidays as we should be nice to each other and treasure our family every day.”
The tough love may have backfired, because Jaycee, who used to call his father at least twice a year, reportedly stopped reaching out to him entirely.
4. On training Jaycee in martial arts: “When he was young I tried to train him in martial arts but he said: ‘I don’t want to become like Bruce Lee’s son, with everybody telling me how good my father was’. I just think my son is too lazy. I tell Will Smith: ‘Can I adopt your son?'”
5. When Jaycee is brought up in an interview for The Karate Kid in 2010: “I don’t want to talk about him. Every time I talk about him, it makes me so angry. He just… I don’t know. Maybe because as a father I always want my son to be perfect.”
6. Jaycee, worried about rumors on the Internet saying Jackie had died, gave his father a call to check on him. He got a earful instead, with Jackie saying: “Do you wish I were dead?”
7. Jackie is apparently a domineering dad, even decreeing that his son had to keep his hair long as he was growing up. Jaycee told The New Paper in 2004: “Maybe it’s because he can’t keep long hair himself. I never bothered to ask [the reason]. He will nitpick over the smallest things, like how I place my shoes. But he has always been like that, and we’re used to it.”
8. Workaholic Jackie seems to devote his attention to his career instead of his family. Jaycee said in 2012: “In the past, I only saw him six times in six years. He worked too hard!”
9. On fatherhood: “I really don’t know if I’m a good father or not, because I’ve never looked after my son or sent him to school. The one time I went to pick him up, I went to the wrong school.”
10. On his relationship with Jaycee: “My relationship with Jaycee is more like a friend. It is the same as how I was with my father.”
RELATED STORY
Jackie Chan in Beijing to see jailed son Jaycee