Show must go on says, says Lu Ping's violinist daughter-in-law

A shared love of classical music will unite the grieving family of Lu Ping , Beijing's former Hong Kong affairs chief who died last Sunday aged 87, says his violinist daughter-in-law.

"Wherever I play, he's always with me. Actually I don't feel he is gone," said Yao Jue.

Lu served as director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office from 1990 to 1997, the year Yao married his eldest son, Lu Gong, and settled in Hong Kong.

"Gonggong [grandad] loved his granddaughters, Isabella, 16, and Clara, 12, and picked their Chinese names, and he was very supportive of my career," Yao told the Post.

The news of his death put the violinist in a quandary as she was preparing for a sell-out concert for underprivileged mothers next Tuesday at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.

Rehearsal week was interrupted by trips to Beijing in the run-up to the funeral, which takes place tomorrow at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in the presence of dignitaries including Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying. But the concert will go ahead - thanks to Lu.

"My father-in-law did everything for his country selflessly. So for me to cancel the concert for the disadvantaged would really upset him," Yao said.