With a $400,000 subsidy from the $12 million Cantonese Opera Development Fund, he will open a one-year course to 30 students, charging $6,000 for the full course or $4,000 for regular sit-ins.

Candidates will be screened with interviews, written tests and sample compositions, as well as by writing a full script for dissertation.

The fund was set up last year by the Cantonese Opera Advisory Committee through public donations. Receiving 37 proposals totalling $15 million, it has paid out just $1.3 million this year.

Mr Yip said it would be hard to find suitable candidates as they would have to be knowledgable in Chinese literature and history and - most importantly - passionate enough about Cantonese Opera to endure an unstable income.

'It is never easy to be a scriptwriter. You can be without a job for months or years,' he said, having been in the industry for more than 50 years. 'And being a full-time Cantonese Opera scriptwriter is even tougher.'

The price of a four-hour script, which takes an experienced writer at least a month to finish, can range from $10,000 to $100,000, depending on the writer's reputation and the client's ability to pay.

The lack of performing venues is also driving newcomers away.

'The industry is tough. We don't have enough young people on every level - from those on the stage, to production of stories to music.

'But how can you blame them for not joining? We don't have our own permanent performing venue, and the rents are staggering. It can take months of waiting before a budding talent can finally have a chance to be on stage. There is simply not enough opportunity.'

The same sentiments have been echoing in the industry. The Choi Fung Cheung Opera Troupe is among the many groups that barely break even.

The troupe has given $20,000 to subsidise a performance. It will cost at least $60,000 to rent a venue alone. They will still have to pay out of their own pockets to support their performance.

'We have to think of ways to make ends meet constantly, which makes it extremely difficult for us to concentrate on our performance,' said Maggie Wong, the group's leading actress.

'Now we are trying to get rent remission from public performing venues.

'I don't like to grovel for money. Being a Cantonese Opera performer in Hong Kong is tough. We don't get enough respect or support.'

Mr Yip said he had no expectations for what his students would achieve in their careers.

'Cantonese opera has survived all these years, but it is difficult to tell what will happen in the next few years,' he said. 'We will keep fighting to have a place of our own in the West Kowloon cultural district, though it sounds distant to us at the moment.

'I can only wish that my students won't give up on the art, no matter what they are faced with.'