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Vivienne Chow

According to Chinese astrology,  people born in the Year of the Horse are energetic, high-spirited and love to take the stage to delight the crowd. That description is a perfect fit for the amiable Mak Ling-ling, one of the most famous fung shui  masters in town. 
This Year of the Tiger should  be an auspicious time for Horse people, especially in their career development. Sure enough,  Mak's  career has taken a twist. In addition to   reading people's fortune, she is making her film acting debut.  
What are your new projects for this Year of the Tiger? 
I'm making a film. It is my first time playing  a role that is not just myself - I'm playing Raymond Lam Fung's  mother in Barbara Wong Chun-chun's   movie about love between a mature woman, played by Miriam Yeung Chin-wah,  and a younger man, Lam. In the film, I'm a hip mum who owns a massage parlour, and I joke that I am  a friend of Lady Gaga - Lady Mama!
You are already an accomplished  public speaker   and  television show host. Am I right in thinking that acting is not difficult for you?  
You know what, acting is difficult. When I'm on my own, hosting a show, or talking about the 12 Chinese zodiac signs on television, I'm confident. My timing is good -  if I'm given 20 seconds to talk about one astrological sign, I can complete my speech precisely at  the 20th second.
Memorising the lines for a role is not a problem for me.  The toughest part is getting the right facial expressions in order to bring across the right emotions.  
For example, in one scene I had with  Chin-wah,  I  tell her I have  a problem with her going out with my son because she is  older. I had to study the characters so as to get the right mood. 
You need to use a lot of emotion in acting. The director and other crew members said that I showed talent,  but I think I could've done better. 
Will you give acting a second shot? 
Yes, if there's an opportunity. I love to perform. I also want to try  voiceovers or lending my voice to  a radio drama. I also enjoy filmmaking. This kind of work is all about teamwork, which is very different from reading fung shui for people. When I do my fung shui work, I'm on my own. But no matter how much I enjoy such  teamwork, I don't think I could handle being isolated in the middle of nowhere to make a film for three months. 
I think I would be good at doing comedies. Once I was approached by the directors of Infernal Affairs, Andrew Lau Wai-keung  and Alan Mak Siu-fai,  to play a character who  is fancied by two good-looking boys, with one of them being Daniel Wu Yin-cho.  I turned down the offer immediately. They are too good-looking for me. 
Aside from acting, do you have other performance projects in the works? Your previous singing project with rap duo Fama  was very well-received. 
I find it scary that people actually liked that singing project. But yes, I do enjoy singing and I hope I will have  another chance. MC Jin  (American-born rapper Auyeung Jin) said that he was going to write  a song for me, but I have yet to hear from him. 
Speaking of singing, I will be performing with Fama at the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall  in Guangzhou on April 23. They are still finalising the show details but if things go smoothly, I will be the first fung shui master to  deliver a singing performance in China.
What about your fung shui work? 
That is still my priority and I'm hoping to develop my business on the mainland. I go to there now at least once a week. Other than just reading fung shui for clients, I also work with property developers on strategical marketing campaigns, as well as speak at seminars, applying basic fung shui skills to human resources management. If you know some basic face reading techniques, it's much easier  to figure out someone's  personality and, in turn, your life in a management role will be a lot easier. 
Nevertheless, it's also good to perform. It's necessary to do something that deviates from your daily routine. I love what I do for a living, but doing something else that I enjoy is a great stress-relief exercise. 
You are one of the well-known alumni of Ying Wa Girls' School,  which is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year. The school will be undergoing massive redevelopment at its site on Robinson Road. How do you feel? 
 I support the redevelopment. The school campus was too small - I found it small back in the 1980s, so you can imagine how students must feel today. I have lots of happy memories from that time. My classmates are still close to me and I'm still in touch with some of the teachers. I loved the teachers back then because they were very devoted to teaching and, as a student, you could really count on them.
If you are asked to perform to help raise funds for the school's redevelopment, would you do it? 
Yes, definitely. 




Q&A: Mak Ling-ling