Looking back at 2023, a series that shone a spotlight on major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades proved popular with readers. Profiles of Isabella Leong Lok-sze and sex bomb Amy Yip Chi-mei in particular struck a chord.
1. Girl power
In May, Richard James Havis profiled Anita Yuen Wing-yee, known as the Audrey Hepburn of Hong Kong cinema, who made her mark playing forthright women.
2. Isabella Leong’s charmed life
In August, the Post took a look at the Cinderella story of Isabella Leong, who passed up Hollywood to have children with Richard Li Tzar-kai, the younger son of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing.
3. A Hong Kong sex bomb
In April, we recalled how Amy Yip, Hong Kong sex symbol of the 90s, made her mark in erotic films without ever baring all – and insured her breasts for US$250,000.
Yip starred in soft-core porn films such as Erotic Ghost Story, Robotrix, and the 1991 cult classic Sex and Zen, and during her career was a favourite of the paparazzi, something she enjoyed. “Since I was 15, I have wanted people to stare at me in the streets,” she once said.
4. Tony Leung Chiu-wai in the picture
We recalled what the actor said about that gay sex scene with Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing in Happy Together, Wong Kar-wai’s advice on acting, and how Stephen Chow Sing-chi got him into the entertainment business.
5. Chow Yun-fat’s American story
American producers woke up to Chow Yun-fat’s potential after the success of Hong Kong action film The Killer, and he moved to Hollywood to try his luck there. In January, we considered why his early Hollywood hopes were dashed.
6. A different side to Sammo Hung Kam-bo
For decades, Sammo Hung was a force in Hong Kong cinema, wearing many hats: actor, producer and martial artist. In November, we recalled some of the less well known facets of Hung’s life and career.
7. A man of mystery
In July, Ashlyn Chak wrote about why Japanese-Taiwanese actor 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 films, is such a man of mystery.
