The Different Paths of Two Hong Kong Superstars by Centaur Teenage moviegoers in Hong Kong during the 1960s were generally divided into two camps: “Fong Fong fans” or “Po Chu fans.” Two of Hong Kong cinema’s brightest stars, Josephine Siao Fong-fong and Connie Chan Po-chu were the objects of hero worship by a multitude of fans in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Chinese communities around the world. Connie Chan was the daughter of famous Hong Kong opera stars Chan Fei-nung and Kung Fan-hung, while Josephine Siao and her family were refugees from Mainland China. Both were born in 1947, Chan on January 1 and Siao on March 13; and both started their entertaining careers at a very young age, Chan at nine and Siao at six. Because of her parents, Chan was exposed to Cantonese opera at a young age. When she was five, she was sent to study with Fen Juhua, a respected practitioner of Beijing Opera. When Chan entered her teens, she began receiving opera training from the great Yam Kim-fai. Yam was a legend in her own time and renowned for playing lead male roles in operas and movies. Emulating her mentor, Chan played young male roles (sometimes alongside Yam), but she was comfortable playing female roles as well. As for Siao, she also studied opera under Fen Juhua’s tutelage, but she was better known as the “Little Orphan Annie“ of Mandarin soap operas. She was so good that, at the age of nine, she won the Best Child Actress award at the Southeast Asian Film Festival for her role in the The Orphan Girl (1956). As time went on, Siao’s fashion sense and proficiency in the popular song-and-dance genre gained the attention of the student audience, while Chan’s girl-next-door look and independent yet pleasant attitude won the love of the lower-middle-class girls with “rags to riches” aspirations. It’s important to remember the social background of that era. The 1950s and 60s were a period of rebuilding after the devastation of World War II. Women no longer stayed at home; post-war reconstruction of the economy meant more opportunities for women to work. The lesser educated found work in factories; these girls worked long hours under harsh conditions and found distraction in the movies. Being gainfully employed, they were able to afford the cheap tickets, buying a couple of hours of relief from their harsh reality. The late 60s and early 70s saw the waning popularity of Cantonese movies and gave proof of Siao’s adaptability and versatility. Siao blossomed into a seasoned actor, while Chan retreated into the background, becoming a mother and housewife in the distant land of North America. Siao’s career flourished as she starred in memorable movies like Hiroshima 28, Jumping Ash, Lam Ah Chun, Summer Snow, and Hu-Du-Men. She also worked behind the scenes, writing the screenplay for Lam Ah Chun and writing/directing the influential Jumping Ash, one of the films that signaled the beginning of the Hong Kong New Wave. Siao had become a force to reckon with in the Hong Kong movie industry. Her crowning achievement came in 1995, when she won the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear award for Best Actress in recognition of her performance in Summer Snow. Sek Kei, a movie critic and self-professed Po Chu fan, conceded in an article he wrote at the time, that Siao seemed to have become the victor in the unspoken contest between the two stars. Was this because of the Silver Bear won by Siao? He probably never imagined that four years later Chan would return to the entertainment industry. Or that Siao, having long been plagued with hearing problems, would gradually move away from showbiz and devote her time to charity and social work. Back in Hong Kong, Chan returned to a different stage and embraced the musical. She played the role of her mentor Yam Kim-fai in Sentimental Journey, a tribute to her life and contribution to Cantonese opera. The record-breaking show ran for more than a hundred performances. Next, Chan took a role in Red Boat, a play about the lives of the opera performers of Guangzhou in the 1920s. This spurt of activity has led to a revival of Chan’s career. She now has a third musical under her belt: Only You, which has already run for seventy performances, with the promise of more to come. In light of Chan’s comeback, it’s not so easy now to declare Siao the winner. But as the rivalry between fans of the two stars has mellowed with age, one thing becomes clear: the unique career paths of Chan and Siao are equally spectacular. Hong Kong film fans are blessed by both of these lucky stars! In 1995 Josephine won a Silver Bear for her performance in Summer Snow. And in 2007 Connie won a lifetime achievement award at the Hong Kong Drama Awards.