Lydia Shum's death robs the screen of a rich talent and a woman destined to perform
Ask Hongkongers what they will remember best about Lydia Shum Tin-ha and the likelihood is that the majority of them will say it is her gleeful cackle and her rallying cries of 'Ho yeh! Ho yeh!' (very good). Despite being trapped in a career that required her never to make a change - not even with her hairstyle - Shum took to her career and her life with gusto.
In the finicky world of entertainment, which demands physical perfection, Shum's long and highly successful career was one that bucked the system.
Her rotundity (she weighed in at 91kg and boasted a 112-cm waist at one time) - which led to the popular nickname Fei Fei - never stopped her from bringing delight to her audiences. Who can forget the sight of her stepping on fresh eggs and leaving them intact? Or the sight of her twirling in a tutu separated from her 'ballet partner' David Lo Tai-wai with a balloon? Or the astounding nimbleness she showed when she performed the split?
Shum (also spelled Sum) was destined to perform. Born into a Shanghainese family of six girls and three boys in 1945, Shum grabbed whatever opportunities she could to perform. When the family moved to Hong Kong, a sister's friend told her about a role 'for a fat girl' in a Shaw Brothers movie. Shum wheedled her mother into taking her to the audition. It was an ideal role: all that she had to do was to drink a bowl of soup. And then began a love affair with the screen - both big and small - that would last more than 40 years.
Shum hosted more than 5,000 variety shows and appeared in more than 100 movies. In the early movies, she played comic relief to stars such as Josephine Siao Fong-fong and Connie Chan Po-chu in films such as A Girl's Secret and Happy Years.