Chan Shuk-leung, GBS (also known as Pak Suet-sin)
Chan Shuk-leung knew at 13 that she wanted to perform Cantonese opera. Although her father, opera legend Pak Kui Wing, wanted her to have formal schooling and not follow in his footsteps, she persisted and started her training in the early 1940s in Guangzhou. Despite her father’s fame, she took on tiny roles herself while watching the masters from the theatre wings night after night, reading Chinese literature and devoting herself to her training, eventually taking the stage name Pak Suet-sin. In 1956 she formed Sin Fung Ming Opera Troupe with her friend Yam Kim Fai, performing classics such as Tale of the Purple Hairpin, Princess Chang Ping, Love in the Red Chamber and Dream in Peony Pavilion. Pak has won many honorary titles and awards and is recognised for her importance in the history of Hong Kong Cantonese opera, helping to transform it from populist entertainment to an aesthetic form. In the early 90s, she set up the Yam-Pak Foundation for the care of the underprivileged and elderly and to support educational and medical services.
