Helen Tam Yuk-ying
Helen Tam Yuk-ying, known affectionately as “Tam Yuk-ying jeh jeh” (sister), hosted TVB’s children’s programs for 32 years and now co-hosts TVB’s evening soft news show “Scoop.” When news surfaced this March that the station had plans to fire Tam, a storm of netizens rallied on her behalf. She tells Yannie Chan about having dim sum with Sir Run Run Shaw and why she’s not interested in having children.
I’ve always lived in Sai Wan Ho. I stayed in the dormitories of the Taikoo Dockyard, which is now Taikoo Shing. It was a little community with four buildings, football fields, a clinic, a swimming pool and a cinema.
I remember that even when martial law was in place [in the 1967 riots], we could get out of the house because it was still within the dormitory.
My grades weren’t good enough for me to go on to form six. But I liked going to school, so I looked for classes I could attend. TVB dramas were very popular so I applied to TVB’s training program.
After a year in the program, I believed that I wasn’t suitable for the job and I didn’t sign the contract. I didn’t like the working environment —people swore on set a lot. They swore in such a casual manner. I didn’t like it.
I couldn’t find anything else to do and I became an artist with TVB in the end. A year later, TVB assigned me to host a children’s show. It was a daily 1.5-hour show, and we worked hard to prepare the different sections. I was young and, at that age, I loved working.
The other TV station was relatively weaker, and children had fewer after-school activities then, which resulted in my show being very popular.