Veteran comedian Lo Hoi-pang
At age 67, veteran comedian Lo Hoi-pang has suddenly found himself in the midst of a career revival thanks to the viral popularity of his new TV show “Hong Kong Gossip,” in which he tackles current affairs through uncanny impersonations of everyone from civil servant Michael Suen to pseudo-model Chrissie Chau. He tells June Ng about swimming over from China, the key to imitation, and why age is never an obstacle.
I was born in Guangzhou. My dad owned a factory there, but after the Communists took over, everything was confiscated.
Being rich was a curse. Because of my capitalistic family background, I had no future. I had to become a farmer.
Naturally, I wanted out. I decided to swim to Hong Kong and illegally immigrate in the 1970s.
I was a really good swimmer, you know—I was on both the school swimming and water polo teams. I could live in water for days at a time, even if I were covered in moss.
I’ve never swam again since then. Mission accomplished, you know.
When TVB held their third “Artist Training Class for Television,” I quit my factory job to enroll. I was 30-something, but luckily TVB had loosened the age requirements that year.