Master of finance and wing chun with movie-making under his belt

By day Checkley Sin Kwok-lam wears a suit and tie, but by night he transforms himself into a kung fu master worthy of his hero Bruce Lee. The 49-year-old could be called a jack-of-all-trades with a career spread over banking, martial arts and movie-making. But he is certainly not a master of none.

In business, he is chairman of First Credit, a company he co-founded to grant loans to small enterprises and individuals. At night time and weekends, he swaps his office attire for a blackbelt to teach wing chun to hundreds of students at his Man Keung Martial Arts Study Centre in Wan Chai. He is also a vice-chairman of the World Wing Chun Union.

His name has been spread across the entertainment pages of newspapers in recent years as an investor in the award-winning movie Ip Man, the story of the renowned kung fu master who taught Bruce Lee. Ip became a hero during the second world war in the fight against the Japanese.

'This was a movie not just about kung fu but about how to cope with tough times during war,' Sin said from his office. 'It emphasises the values of family, friendship and brotherhood.'

While insisting that the movie accurately depict wing chun, Sin said the movie also had to be entertaining.

'Bruce Lee was so successful because he depicted the real wing chun,' Sin said. 'That is exactly why I wanted to have a movie about the master, Ip Man.'