Wednesday, February 20, 2008

No Laughs, but Tears


Last night I was shocked to hear of Hong Kong comedienne Lydia Shum Tin-ha's death. She was 60.

She was suffering from bile duct inflammation, and liver and gall bladder cancer.

Shum was diagnosed with cancer over a year ago and was in hospital since October when she collapsed in her home.

It's sad to see another Hong Kong luminary gone. Affectionately known as "Fei Fei", Shum was known for her heavy build, black horn-rimmed glasses and infectious humour.

She didn't have her looks to reply on, but her quick wit and clean humour.

Shum was born in 1947 in Shanghai, the fifth of eight children of a wealthy family. At the age of 13, she started performing and went on to host over 5,000 variety shows on TVB and ATV in Hong Kong. She also had an English-language sitcom in Singapore called "Living with Lydia".

In 1987 she had her daughter Joyce who was later sent to Vancouver, Canada for schooling.

Over a year ago I was in Vancouver walking around a mall downtown when I saw Fei Fei from behind with her daughter.

They were just out shopping and spending some mother-daughter time.

Just by watching her on TV you could tell she was very personable, caring and of course funny. Her jokes weren't mean-spirited, but universal and witty.

She was definitely one of the most hard working entertainers in Hong Kong. And everyone will miss her.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

a great lady. brought a lot of happiness to millions of people in hong kong. she helped SCUCESS here fund raising on many occsions. i had the pleasure to have dined with her sister some two years ago. they look quite alike.