Honorary University Fellows

An excerpt from the Vice-Chancellor's Address delivered at the Honorary University Fellowships Presentation Ceremony on December 11, 1997:

Ms Pak Suet Sin (in absentia) is a renowned Cantonese opera star who, with Ms Yam Kim-fai, undertook to improve and enhance Cantonese operatic art and nurtured young talents to ensure the continuity of Cantonese opera. Pak Suet-sin was a disciple of the artist Sit Gok-sin in her early career and performed with several troupes including Kam Tin Fa and Hung Wan. She met Yam Kim-fai while performing with the Sun Sing Company and the pair formed a strong artistic partnership.

In 1956 they found the Sun Fung Ming Theatre Company with the support of librettist Tong Dik-sang and opera star Madame Suen Yeung-nong. Yam and Pak staged a diversity of well-known operas in their bid to make Cantonese operatic art more accessible. Amongst at the most popular were The Purple Hairpin, Regeneration in the Red Plum Chamber and Princess Chang Ping.

Miss Pak was made a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in July last year. Her concern for the education and improvement of young people is such that she recently donated a large sum to the University of Hong Kong Foundation for Educational Development and Research. The Yam Pak Building has been so named as a token of the University’s gratitude to her.