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Ashlyn Chak

This is the 40th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades.
Widely referred to as Ah Jie (“big sister”), Liza Wang Ming-chun has been a household name in Hong Kong for over half a century for her performances on TV and in Cantonese opera.
Born in Shanghai in 1947, Wang emigrated to Hong Kong at age nine, where she attended a prestigious private Catholic primary school for five years.
She had always enjoyed performing and took part in singing and recital competitions as a teenager, she told HK Magazine in 2009.

She scored six points in her secondary education exams, well below the passing score of 14, and sought career choices outside academics.
In 1966, she signed up for the first artiste class held by Rediffusion (which became Asia Television), the first television station in Hong Kong. She graduated top at age 20 while working on probation as a Cathay Pacific flight attendant, a job she ultimately left.
“I had two work opportunities. The wage at the television station was actually lower, but I felt I liked the work more and I thought it was fresh. At the time, TV was a very new industry. I didn’t know what it was but I wanted to do something new,” Wang recalled in 2020.
She started as a TV host in 1967 and acted in some small roles. In 1971, she joined Hong Kong broadcaster TVB and expanded into pop music, forming Four Golden Flowers with Lydia Sum Tin-ha, Felicia Wong Oi-ming and Teresa Cheung Tak-lan in 1973, while also developing as a solo singer.

The mid-1970s saw the peak of her musical career, mostly consisting of TV theme songs and music inspired by traditional Chinese culture and literature. Although the girl group was successful, the members shifted their focus back to acting towards the end of the ’70s as local TV drama was booming.
“My face looked best in period dramas, so at first I mostly did Huangmei and Shanghai opera [TV dramas],” Wang said in 2015.
“I became very popular from the start. In those days, there were many contests for the 10 best actors and actresses, and I always topped those lists … Some people wait 10 years for a great role. Me? I was really lucky. I’ve had many, many amazing roles in every stage of my life.”
In 1981, Wang became the first female entertainer in Hong Kong to be recognised as part of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons Selection, organised by the Junior Chamber International Hong Kong.

In the same period she released several of her best-known Cantopop songs, including “Hot Coffee” (1981), “Love Across Thousands of Rivers and Mountains” (1982) and “Brave Chinese” (1982).
Wang ventured into Cantonese opera in 1983 after experimenting with stage musicals. Since then, she has dedicated much time and effort to developing Hong Kong’s Cantonese opera scene, and has become one of its key figures.
“Cantonese opera is an incredible art form. It comprises singing, elegant scripts, costumes, make-up, kung fu, dozens of musical instruments, Chinese history and ethics,” she said in an interview with the Post.
Meanwhile, she has maintained an active music and TV acting career. She held her first solo concerts in 1995 at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hung Hom, Kowloon, and between 1999 and 2010 she won the TVB Anniversary Awards’ best actress award twice, favourite TV character award twice and best host award once.
It was in the Cantonese opera circle that she met her long-time partner, the actor and Cantonese opera star Law Kar-ying, whom she began dating in 1989.

In the years that followed, Law proposed to Wang numerous times – some of which were public, though perhaps not serious – but endured relentless rejection due to Wang’s previous failed marriage to a businessman that lasted from 1971 to 1983, to which she attributed her honed focus on work rather than romance.
Law was diagnosed with stage-three liver cancer in 2004. Although he recovered the following year, the diagnosis might have inspired something in Wang: in 2009, the pair tied the knot in Las Vegas after two decades of dating.
“[Law] is a reliable and trustworthy man … I would describe our relationship as a partnership. We’ve been together for so long and we still keep influencing each other. He’s like a beloved family member,” she said in a 2009 interview.
Wang also dabbled in politics. From 1988 to 1997, she served as a Hong Kong delegate to the National People’s Congress, during which time she commented that the Chinese government’s handling of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown was “breaking the hearts of the Hong Kong people”.

In 1996, she ran in Hong Kong’s provisional Legislative Council election but did not gain a seat.
In 2004, she was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong government for her involvement in the local entertainment industry as well as her community and social work. In 2022, she received a Gold Bauhinia Star.
From 1998 to 2018, she was a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Wang backed granting Home Return Permits to Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers who had been banned from entering mainland China since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, which would have allowed them to do so.
“There are so many things China needs to work on. Too many,” Wang told the Post in 2015. “The quality of its people and almost everything else.”
She also told the Post in 2015: “It’s not about whether I like or dislike China – I am Chinese. It’s that simple. As Chinese people, we should help the country to develop.”
In 2019, Wang signed a petition in support of China’s National Security Law in Hong Kong.
Most of all, she remains loyal to Cantonese opera and her role in Hong Kong’s entertainment industry. She was chairman of the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong between 1992 and 1996, and then again between 2007 and 2023.

In recent years, Wang has become known among younger people in Hong Kong for her eclectic way of posting group photos: instead of tagging others’ social media handles, she hand-writes their names on the photos. This unique style of naming individuals has led to the nickname “Wang Ah-Tag”.
In September 2024, she released a new single, “Make My Day”, and announced two November concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Guest performers at those shows included the Hong Kong singers Kelly Chen Wai-lam, Terence Lam Ka-him, Miriam Yeung Chin-wah, Joey Yung Cho-yee and Anson Lo Hon-ting of the boy group Mirror.
In spite of her long and versatile entertainment career, she has been an extremely rare presence on the big screen. Incidentally, she has a small supporting role, as Hong Kong’s secretary for justice, in Donnie Yen Ji-dan’s new movie The Prosecutor, opening in cinemas on December 21.


How ‘big sister’ Liza Wang has delighted Hong Kong music and stage fans for over 50 years

The Prosecutor: Donnie Yen literally fights for justice in action-packed court drama

The Hong Kong crossover stars who played movie villains, then nice-guy roles in TV shows

Last Song for You movie review: Natalie Hsu melts hearts in poignant fantasy romance drama

Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Interview with Liza Wang Ming-chun, entertainment veteran/singer and former NPC deputy for her views on local issues and upcoming concert with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra on Valentine’s Day. 29JAN15

Liza Wang attends an interview on January 29, 2015 before her Valentine’s Day concert with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra the following month. Photo: Nora Tam

Wang in an interview with the Post in 1987. Photo: SCMP

Wang in a TVB studio in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Wang performs at the “Take Off with Hong Kong” evening show at Hong Kong International Airport in June 2003. Photo: SCMP

Wang (left) and Law Kar-ying at the dress rehearsal of their show, De Ling and Empress Dowager Ci Xi, on January 12, 2009.

Wang (front row, in red) alongside then Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the HKSAR 20th Anniversary Variety Show, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, on June 30, 2017. Photo: Dickson Lee

Wang sits with (from left) Law Kar-ying, vice-president of the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong (CAAHK); Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu; and Leung Chun-ying, vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, at the CAAHK’s spring reception in Tsim Sha Tsui in January 2023. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Wang in an interview at the Metro Centre II in Kowloon Bay on October 20, 2018. Photo: Edmond So

How Hacken Lee, once snubbed by fans and Manchester United, thrives as a Cantopop star

Hacken Lee at an interview with the Post in 2002. Photo: SCMP

Hacken Lee Hak-kan at an interview with the Post in 2005. The singer is a prominent figure in Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, but his career has not all been plain sailing. Photo: SCMP

Hacken Lee at an interview with the Post in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Jackie Chan (left), Anita Mui (second from left), Cally Kwong (second from right), and Hacken Lee (right) attending a concert of the Japanese pop singer Saijo Hideki (centre) in 1989. Photo: SCMP

Hacken Lee at an interview with the Post in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Hacken Lee is a huge fan of the English football team Manchester United.

(From left) Cantopop singers Ekin Cheng, Hacken Lee and Leon Lai at the 18th Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award Presentation Concert in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Hacken Lee (left) and Alan Tam, pictured here performing after winning the Top Ten Gold Songs Award in 2003. Photo: AP

Hacken Lee performs at Hong Kong International Races opening ceremony at Sha Tin in 2022. Photo: Kenneth Chan

Why Miriam Yeung, leading Hong Kong singer and actress, ‘lost her whole self’ for a while

Leading Hong Kong singer and actress Miriam Yeung at an interview with the Post in 2017. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Miriam Yeung at an interview with the Post in 1997. Photo: SCMP

Yeung was named the best female singer in the Ultimate Song Chart Awards in 2003. Photo: SCMP

Yeung (centre) alongside Alex Fong in a still from the film Drink-Drank-Drunk (2005).

Yeung and Shawn Yue in a still from Love in a Puff (2010).

Yeung and Tony Leung Ka-fai pose with their best actress and best actor awards backstage at the Hong Kong Film Awards presentation ceremony in April 2013. Photo: SCMP

Yeung and her husband, Real Ting, at the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui in April 2016. Photo: SCMP

Yeung greets fans alongside a delegation of mainland Chinese Olympians at gala show at Queen Elizabeth Stadium on August 30, 2024. Photo: SCMP/Eugene Lee

How Hong Kong actor Louis Cheung emerged from the shadow of his singer wife Kay Tse

Louis Cheung in an interview with the Post in 2011. At one time , Hong Kong tabloids mocked the singer, songwriter and actor for being less successful than his pop-star wife, Kay Tse. Now he is flying high. Photo: SCMP

Louis Cheung and Kay Tse arrive at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards presentation ceremony in April 2023. Photo: Sam Tsang

Louis Cheung (centre) pictured with fellow musicians Goro Wong (left) and Barry Tam, in 2004. Photo: SCMP

Cheung at an interview with the Post in 2007. That year, he took home the best composer title and a silver award for best singer-songwriter in Commercial Radio Hong Kong’s Ultimate Song Chart Awards. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Peter Chan, Ivana Wong, Dayo Wong and Cheung in a still from Table for Six (2022), currently the fourth-highest grossing Hong Kong film of all time. Photo: Edko Films

Cheung in a still from Keeper of Darkness (2015). He was nominated for best supporting actor in the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards.

Cheung at the gym; this selfie was posted on his Instagram in July 2024. Photo: Instagram/louischeung2013

Tse and Cheung at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards in 2024. Photo: Sam Tsang

Cheung in a still from The Narrow Road (2022). For the part, he was nominated for best leading actor in the 2022 Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan and the 2023 Hong Kong Film Awards. Photo: Golden Scene

1980s Hong Kong pop idol Danny Chan’s bittersweet success story: his talent, fame, the tabloid rumours, his retirement and early death

Singer Danny Chan Pak-keung puts one of his albums in a time capsule in 1991. Photo: SCMP

Danny Chan was one of Hong Hong’s “Three Kings and A Queen of Cantopop” in the 1980s, with fellow idols Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui and Alan Tam. Photo: SCMP

Yvonne Siu, project manager of TVB, presents a souvenir to Danny Chan in 1984. Photo: SCMP

Chan singing at his own birthday party in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Chan (left) and Jacky Cheung Hok-yau at the Top Ten Pop Stars Election in 1987. Photo: SCMP

There were numerous rumours about a relationship between Pansy Ho and Chan. Photo: Weibo

Chan performing at a concert to promote Aids awareness in 1990. Photo: SCMP

Chan was taken to Queen Mary Hospital after collapsing at home on May 19, 1992. Photo: SCMP

Flanked by singer Anita Mui Yim-fong and actor Chow Yun-fat, Danny Chan’s older brother Chan Pak-ling carries his younger brother’s picture at the singer’s funeral in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Music

Hong Kong’s pop culture icons

How Kelly Chen, Cantopop star and beloved Hong Kong actress, has captured the hearts of music and movie fans for three decades

Kelly Chen pictured in 1997. The secret to the Cantopop star and actress’s success? “I’ve just tried my best to grab any opportunity.” Photo: Dickson Lee

Chen (right) is presented with a prize at the Ultimate Song Chart Awards ceremony in January 1996 by Taiwanese singer Wu Chien-lien. Photo: SCMP

Chen (left) and Yutaka Takenouchi in a still from “Calmi Cuori Appassionati” (2001).

Chen (right) and Donnie Yen in a still from “An Empress and the Warriors” (2008).

Chen and her husband, Alex Lau Kin-ho, pose during their wedding ceremony at the InterContinental Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui in October, 2008. Photo: SCMP

Chen performs in the Grand Variety Show in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on June 30, 2007. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Ekin Cheng, Chen and Tony Leung Ka-fai in a still from “Horseplay” (2014).

Chen (left) and Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a still from “Infernal Affairs III” (2003).

A charity sale of Chen’s clothes, shoes and handbags took place in April 2023. Photo: Facebook/@kellychenwailam

How Hong Kong boy band Grasshopper, protégés of Cantopop legend Anita Mui, blazed a trail with their intoxicating dance pop music

(From left) Edmond So Chi-wai, Remus Choy Yat-kit and Calvin Choy Yat-chi of the Cantopop group Grasshopper at an interview with the Post in 2006. The boy band, formed in 1985, are still performing today. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Calvin Choy Yat-chi, Edmond So Chi-wai and Remus Choy Yat-kit, pictured in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Cantopop diva Anita Mui with Grasshopper at the Chinese Gold Songs award presentation ceremony at the Hong Kong Coliseum in January 1989. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Edmond So, Calvin Choy and Remus Choy at the opening of the Aiwa Music Expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in August 1991. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Calvin Choy, Roman Tam, Edmond So and Remus Choy backstage at a concert in Shanghai in July 1993. Photo: SCMP

(From second left) Edmond So, Remus Choy and Calvin Choy at the Ultimate Song Chart Awards presentation ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, in January 1996. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Remus Choy, Calvin Choy and Edmond So at an interview with the Post in 2010. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Calvin Choy, Remus Choy and Edmond So on stage during TVB 55th Anniversary Gala on November 19, 2021. Photo: Getty Images

Takeshi Kaneshiro, one of the ‘most good-looking’ actors in Hong Kong cinema and star of some of Wong Kar-wai and Peter Chan’s best movies, is a man of mystery

Takeshi Kaneshiro at an interview with the Post in July 2004. Kaneshiro, who debuted as a singer in Taiwan in 1992, has not been seen on the big screen since 2017 – but remains as popular as ever. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhou Dongyu in a still from “This Is Not What I Expected” (2017).

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Brigitte Lin in a still from “Chungking Express” (1994). 

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Kyoko Fukada in a still from the drama series “God, Please Give Me More Time” (1998).

(From left) Xu Jinglei, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Jet Li, Jacky Heung and director Peter Chan promote “The Warlords” at an event in December 2007. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from “Perhaps Love” (2005).

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Michele Reis in “Fallen Angels” (1995). Photo: Block 2 Pictures and Jet Tone Contents

Takeshi Kaneshiro in an interview with the Post in December 2006. Photo: SCMP

Acting with Michelle Yeoh, modelling at 12: the Cinderella story of Isabella Leong, who passed up Hollywood to have children with Richard Li, younger son of Li Ka-shing

Isabella Leong Lok-sze promotes her 2014 appearance in a stage play. Photo: Felix Wong 

Isabella Leong in an interview with the Post in 2005. The Macanese actress put a halt to her acting career when she began dating Richard Li, the younger son of Li Ka-shing. Photo: SCMP

Leong (left) and Chapman To in a still from “Isabella” (2006).

Leong (left), Jaycee Chan and Charlene Choi at the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards in April 2007. Photo: SCMP

Luke Ford (left) and Leong in a still from “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” (2008).

Leong, Richard Li and their son, Ethan Li, in April 2009. 

Leong and Jim Chim at an event to promote “Sign of Happiness” in February 2014. Photo: SCMP

Leong in a still from “Murmur of the Hearts” (2015).

(From left) Leong, Paul Chun and Faye Yu in a still from “Love After Love” (2020).

Aaron Kwok, dancer, singer, actor, husband to Moka Fang, and father – how he went from being one of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop’ to all-round star

Aaron Kwok with the prize for best actor he received at the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2016. Photo: Edward Wong

Aaron Kwok at an interview with the Post in 2009. Kwok started his career as a background dancer nearly four decades ago. Now he is a beloved Cantopop singer and actor – and a smitten husband and proud father of two. Photo: SCMP

Kwok (right) alongside fellow Cantopop singers Andy Lau (left) and Jacky Cheung at an RTHK event in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Aaron Kwok, pictured in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Kwok won the Best Actor prize at the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2016. Photo: Edward Wong

Kwok (right) and Charlie Young play a troubled couple in “After This Our Exile” (2006).

Kwok performs at an event organised by RTHK at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in 2001. Photo: SCMP.

Kwok (left) and Chow Yun-fat in a still from “Project Gutenberg” (2018).

Kwok with his wife, Moka Fang Yuan, in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. Photo: Kenneth Chan

How Hong Kong actress Carina Lau rose to stardom from her ‘mainland girl’ roots, overcame topless photos scandal and wed Tony Leung Chiu-wai

Carina Lau Ka-ling. Photo: Instagram/@carinalau1208

Hong Kong actress Carina Lau Ka-ling, pictured in 1993 soon after her career breakthrough in a Wong Kar-wai film. Married since 2008 to fellow actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, she is known for her style and class, and some iconic roles. Photo: SCMP

Cheung Siu-fai and Lau promoting TVB series “The Turbulent Decade” in 1986. Photo: SCMP

(Clockwise from top right) Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, Lau, Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Tony Leung Chiu-wai on the set of Wong Kar-wai’s movie “Days of Being Wild” in 1990. Photo: SCMP

Carina Lau in a still from “Ashes of Time” (1994).

Carina Lau and Nicholas Tse celebrate with their trophies after winning the best actor and best actress awards at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2011. Photo: SCMP

Carina Lau and Tony Leung at the opening night of hit musical “Les Miserables” at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Carina Lau in a still from “In Your Dreams” (2018).

Lau and Leung at the 16th Asian Film Awards in March 2023. Photo: Dickson Lee

The rise of Hong Kong actress Sharla Cheung, star of Stephen Chow and Wong Jing films, and the surprise movie she made after retiring

Sharla Cheung, Stephen Chow SIng-chi (centre) and Ng Man-tat in “All for the Winner”. Photo: Handout

Actress Sharla Cheung Man at the Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony in 2005. Discovered in the 1980s by Wong Jing, she starred opposite Stephen Chow, Andy Lau and Chow Yun-fat in a string of 1980s and 1990s box office hits. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Sharla Cheung, Stephen Chow and Ng Man-tat in a still from “All for the Winner” (1990). Photo: Win’s Movie Production

Stephen Chow (left) and Sharla Cheung in a still from “Fight Back to School” (1991). Photo: Win’s Movie Production

Sharla Cheung in a still from “Fist of Fury 1991” (1991).

(From left) Ng Man-tat, Stephen Chow and Sharla Cheung in a still from “Fight Back to School”. Photo: Win’s Movie Production and I/E Co. Ltd

Hong Kong actress Sharla Cheung attends the opening ceremony of the Entertainment Expo in Hong Kong in 2005. Photo: Reuters

How American-born Chinese actor Daniel Wu juggled Hong Kong and Hollywood to become a star in both films and TV on two continents

US-born actor Daniel Wu, star of Westworld, Tomb Raider and Shinjuku Incident, fell into acting while on holiday in Hong Kong, getting cast in an ad. This led to role after role, and 25 years later, Wu has nearly 70 films under his belt. Photo: Harry C

Wu and Alicia Vikander in a still from “Tomb Raider” (2018). Photo: Warner Bros Entertainment

Wu next to Jackie Chan at a promotional event for “Shinjuku Incident” in Malaysia in 2009. Photo: Handout

Wu (left) and Stephen Fung play gay lovers in the film “Bishonen” (1998). Photo: Far-Sun Film

Wu with his award for best supporting actor for the film “New Police Story” at the 41st Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan in 2004. Photo: Reuters

Wu (centre) on the set of “One Nite In Mongkok” in 2004, with director Derek Yee (left) and actress Cecilia Cheung. Photo: Handout

Wu (right) in a still from “The Heavenly Kings”, the 2006 mockumentary film he directed, alongside “bandmates” Conroy Chan (left), Andrew Lin (second from left) and Terence Yin (second from right). Photo: Handout

Wu in a still from “Into the Badlands” season 1. Photo: James Dimmock/AMC

Wu and Michelle Yeoh in a still from “American Born Chinese”. Photo: Disney+

Wu and Lisa Selesner celebrate their marriage in 2010. Photo: Berton Cheng

How Sammi Cheng became a Cantopop superstar, celebrated actress and style icon, but has endured a rocky relationship with husband Andy Hui

Profile | How ‘big sister’ Liza Wang has delighted Hong Kong music and stage fans for over 50 years

Liza Wang, 77, actress, singer and Cantonese opera star, is still performing and releasing new music over half a century since her TV debut