How Miriam Yeung, Canto-pop star and actress, changed her attitude to work and life
Why should a Canto-pop star who is also an award-winning actress take the lead in a little film about the plight of five kindergarten kids? That was probably the question that flashed across Miriam Yeung Chin-wah's mind when she was approached to work on Little Big Master by the film's executive producer, Daneil Lam Siu-ming (who also heads Universe Films).
Why should a Canto-pop star who is also an award-winning actress take the lead in a little film about the plight of five kindergarten kids? That was probably the question that flashed across Miriam Yeung Chin-wah's mind when she was approached to work on Little Big Master by the film's executive producer, Daneil Lam Siu-ming (who also heads Universe Films).
Yeung had reasons to be sceptical when she heard about "[producer] Benny Chan's very nice project about schools". Its director, Adrian Kwan Shun-fai, whom Yeung soon found out to be an extremely easy crier, is a notable Christian filmmaker whose credits include gospel films Life is a Miracle (2001), The Miracle Box (2004) and Team of Miracle: We Will Rock You (2009).
Apart from making sure that the production would provide sufficient care to its child actors and cater to the daily schedule of her two-year-old son, Torres, Yeung was intent on ensuring the film didn't end up being overly didactic, because "Hong Kong audiences don't have much patience for that", she says.
It wasn't until she realised the film is based on a true story that she became convinced. Predominantly shot on location, Little Big Mast er is based on the case of Lillian Lui Lai-hung, the former headmistress of an elite school who, in 2009, decided to take up a HK$4,500-a-month job at Yuen Long's run-down Yuen Kong Kindergarten to single-handedly continue the education of its five underprivileged pupils.
"The reason I really wanted to do this film is because it reminds me of values that we might have forgotten: What does it mean to respect the teachers and care for the students? Is there anything more important than the children? I hope this film can awaken people to the importance of education," says Yeung.
The chance to portray a big-hearted educator has personal significance to the 41-year-old performer. Her father taught English at both primary and secondary levels at the Tung Wah Schools for almost four decades, went on to teach part-time upon his retirement, and has only recently stopped working.