A Legacy Upheld and Continued

When Cantonese opera was overshadowed by the rise of new, more modern forms of entertainment in Hong Kong in the 1970s and audiences started to dwindle, Lam Kar Sing took the inspired decision to sign a contract with Rediffusion Television to produce a Cantonese opera series. His idea was to ride on the fast-growing and highly popular medium of television not only to revive interest among former fans but also to introduce the genre to the uninitiated. It proved a highly successful move: the audience base was widened and more people were attracted to the theatre.

In parallel with his concern for the local audience, Lam also worked hard to promote Cantonese opera on the international scene. He toured the United States with the Kwan Lun Opera Troupe as early as 1967, and he later led tours to Singapore in 1981 and North America in 1993. In this way he took the initiative to establish Cantonese opera as a recognised art form within traditional Chinese theatre.

Lam retired from the stage in 1993 but continued to play an active role in promoting Cantonese opera by setting up the Lam Kar Sing Foundation, a collaborative platform that allowed Lam to work with a variety of government departments, schools and social organisations. Lam recorded his stage experiences in a series of books entitled Virtuosity and Innovation – My Performance Style to provide a reference work for future generations of performers. He also hosted a number of talks and seminars with the aim of passing on the Cantonese opera tradition, one of which was “The Masterful Legacy of Lam Kar Sing – A Sharing Session on the Inheritance of Cantonese Opera” jointly organised with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in 2012.

Lam was highly respected for his achievements in Cantonese opera and his contributions to the art form: he received honours from both the British Hong Kong Government and the Hong Kong SAR Government; he was awarded an honorary fellowship in 1999 and an honorary doctorate in 2010 by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts; he was presented with the Xiqu Life Achievement Award 1999 by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council in 2000; and he was given the Life Achievement Award by the Chinese Society for Theatre Performance in 2010. What’s more, Lam’s classic work Torn between Love and Hate was voted one of the Top 10 Cantonese Opera Songs of the Century by the public in a poll organised by Radio Television Hong Kong in 2013. All of these accolades bear testimony to the high regard in which he was held by both the Cantonese opera community and the public at large.