Tsim Tung Brother Cream

{{Infobox Chinese

| pic = Brother cream in stall.jpg

| picsize = 220px

| caption = Brother Cream in 2012

| c = 尖東忌廉哥

| l = Tsim Sha Tsui East Brother Cream

| j = zim1 dung1 gei6 lim4 go1

| p = Jiāndōng Jìlián Gē

}}

Tsim Tung Brother Cream (also known as "Cream Aberdeen" or Brother Cream for short; 2005–2020) was a male British Shorthair cat who lived at a convenience store in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong.{{cite web | url=http://hk.asia-city.com/city-living/article/tsim-tung-brother-cream | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130424234617/http://hk.asia-city.com/city-living/article/tsim-tung-brother-cream | url-status=dead | archive-date=24 April 2013 | title=Tsim Tung Brother Cream | work=HK Magazine | date=28 March 2013 | accessdate=28 March 2013 | author=Yuen, Mark }} After disappearing in 2012, he became one of the most famous cats in Hong Kong. He died of stomach cancer on 24 May 2020.

Career

Tsim Tung Brother Cream was born in 2005 and lived at a convenience store in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong, owned by Ko Chee-shing, his owner.

On 10 July 2012, Brother Cream disappeared, allegedly stolen.{{in lang|zh}} (15 July 2012.) [http://the-sun.on.cc/cnt/news/20120715/00405_001.html 尖東貓王「忌廉哥」失蹤 - 太陽報]. Oriental Press Group, Fans of the feline helped to post notices alerting area people about the lost cat. He was allegedly released 20 days later. He was found 26 days later{{in lang|zh}} (18 August 2012.) [http://hk.news.yahoo.com/%E5%B0%96%E6%9D%B1%E5%BF%8C%E5%BB%89%E5%93%A5%E6%90%B5%E7%95%AA%E5%95%A6-%E5%85%A8%E5%9F%8E%E5%B0%8B%E8%B2%9326%E5%A4%A9-212102017.html 尖東忌廉哥搵番啦！全城尋貓26天 - Yahoo! 新聞香港] Ming Pao Daily News. in an alleyway and was returned to his owner. The cat had lost {{cvt|1.4|kg}} while he was away.{{in lang|zh}} (30 August 2012.) [http://www2.news.sina.com.hk/news/23/1/1/2758110/1.html 尖東忌廉哥重振雄風 - root - 新聞頻道 - 新浪網] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831140443/http://www2.news.sina.com.hk/news/23/1/1/2758110/1.html |date=2012-08-31 }} The incident was published on the front page of local Hong Kong newspapers,{{in lang|zh}} (28 September 2012.) [http://ol.mingpao.com/cfm/star5.cfm?File=20120928/saa01/mbk1.txt ŠúłřOLşô] 大姐大手記﹕鮑美麗夠紅忌廉哥巴閉舒淇最愛「契仔」朱古力]《明報》2012年9月28日. Ming Pao Daily News. and Brother Cream became one of the most famous cats in Hong Kong. A little over two months after the incident, the cat's Facebook page had over 26,000 "likes".{{in lang|zh}} [http://news.sina.com.hk/news/86/1/1/2790125/1.html 狂吸粉絲偶像寵物——油尖旺Style！ - root - 新聞頻道 - 新浪網] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130107233621/http://news.sina.com.hk/news/86/1/1/2790125/1.html |date=2013-01-07 }} On 31 March 2013, the South China Morning Post reported that Brother Cream had over 108,000 followers on Facebook.{{cite news | url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1203543/top-cat-brother-creamy-meets-fans-mikiki-mall-san-po-kong | title=Top cat Brother Creamy meets fans in Mikiki mall, San Po Kong | newspaper=South China Morning Post | date=31 March 2013 | accessdate=2013-04-17 | author=Choi, Christy}} As of May 2014, Brother Cream had over 160,000 likes on Facebook.{{cite web | url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E5%B0%96%E6%9D%B1%E5%BF%8C%E5%BB%89%E5%93%A5/117969648299869| title=Brother Cream | publisher=Facebook.com | accessdate=29 May 2014}} {{As of|2015|01}} he had more than 170,000 Facebook "likes".{{cite web |first=Yannie |last=Chan |url=http://hk-magazine.com/article/best-hk/hk-picks/13132/so-you-want-be-famous |title=Furry Minutes of Fame |work=HK magazine |date=29 January 2015 }}

Brother Cream had a partner named Sister Cream, a female, Scottish Fold cat with black and white colouring.

In May 2016 Brother Cream retired as "manager" of the store when it closed.{{cite news |url=http://www.chinadailyasia.com/photo/2016-05/25/content_15439083.html |title=Goodbye, Brother Cream |newspaper=China Daily |date=25 May 2016 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-36882918 |title=The politics of a martial arts book fair in Hong Kong |publisher=BBC News |date=26 July 2016 }} Living at home with Ko, he lost some weight; he appeared at a book fair in July 2016 to promote his biography.{{cite news |author=Central Station |url=http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=171916&story_id=46985247&d_str=20160725&sid=21 |title=Brother Cream cuts the fat |newspaper=The Standard |location=Hong Kong |date=25 July 2016 }}

Brother Cream died of stomach cancer at his home on 24 May 2020.{{cite news |last1=Aildasani |first1=Dannie |title=Beloved Hong Kong icon Brother Cream dies |url=https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/news/hong-kong/article/3086310/beloved-hong-kong-icon-brother-cream-dies |work=Young Post |date=27 May 2020}}

Books

In 2012 Ichiban Publishing published Brother Cream in East TST about Brother Cream. On 30 March 2013, Brother Cream was present at a book-signing event for the book at Mikiki mall in San Po Kong, in which hundreds of people showed up to see the cat; the cat's paws were scanned and stamps were created to act as a signature from the cat. {{As of|2013|07}} the book had sold more than 20,000 copies. His second book, Cream Chicken Soup, was published in 2013.{{cite news|last1=Tam|first1=Johnny|title=Brother Cream's 'Cream Chicken Soup' a bestseller at Book Fair|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1287988/brother-creams-cream-chicken-soup-bestseller-book-fair|work=South China Morning Post|date=22 July 2013}}

Advertising, television and merchandise

Brother Cream has received coverage on television shows. Due to his popularity, Brother Cream appeared in two television advertisement contracts in 2013, for Nikon and Wing On Travel. Brother Cream was also involved in the filming of a television series to be aired on Citybus, one of the major bus operators in Hong Kong. He (and his owner) were interviewed on CNN News in 2015.{{cite news |title=Hong Kong’s answer to Grumpy Cat |url=https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/05/07/exp-ns-hong-kong-brother-cream.cnn |work=CNN |date=7 May 2015 |language=en}}

Postcards were created that feature Brother Cream.