bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

One of Hong Kong's best-known entertainers, opera singer and actor Tang Wing-cheung, died last night aged 81.

 Tang, known to audiences under the stage names Sun Ma Sze Tsang and Sun Ma Chai, was admitted to Canossa Hospital just before Lunar New Year after developing breathing problems.

 In recent months a family squabble over the fortune he amassed during a career which spanned seven decades has filled the entertainment pages.

 But last night his son Siu-chuen said the family had gathered at the hospital before his father died at about 8.30 pm.

 'All his children and close relatives were at his bedside,' Siu-chuen said.

 However, his estranged fourth wife Hung Jin-mui, 52, who he married five years ago and who is at the centre of a dispute with his children, was not present.

 Born in Shunde, Guangdong province, Tang is survived by his widow, two sons Siu-chuen and Siu-wing, and two daughters Siu-ngai and Chui-yuk, as well as three other children from three previous marriages.

 Tang began his career on the stage but transferred to films in the early 1950s. His best known roles were in comic movies portraying a lower class man trying to survive in society.

 He retired in the late 1970s and from then on only performed for charity, for which he raised millions of dollars.

 Candy Chea Shuk-mui, an RTHK DJ, said Tang was a consummate professional.

 'I remember a time he insisted on performing even though he was unwell. He said he needed to keep his promise,' she said.

 'I hope his whole family unites for his funeral, as a last tribute to him.' 



Family mourns loss of veteran film star Tang Wing-cheung