Philip Chan Yan-kin

Biography

Philip Chan Yan-kin is a Hong Kong screenwriter, producer, actor, singer, and company executive. Born in Hong Kong in 1945, he is the eldest of four brothers, and his father was a sanitation worker in the health department. He lived in a childhood in an old building on Shandong Street in Mongkok, Kowloon, and studied at several schools including Tak Ming School, Tak Wah School, and La Salle. As a teenager, he joined a band called The Astro-notes, which was the first all-Chinese student band performing English pop songs in the early 1960s. He served in the Royal Hong Kong Police from 1965 to 1976, reaching the rank of superintendent. He was the field commander during a 1974 bank hostage incident, which featured Hong Kong television's first live broadcast. He transitioned to the entertainment industry in 1976 and worked as a backing vocalist for many years with composer Koo Kar-fai. He holds honorary leadership positions in several Hong Kong film and arts associations and has specialized in conceptual planning of major entertainment events and marketing in Hong Kong and worldwide, including New Year's Eve celebrations at Times Square, Macau Venetian events, and Watson's Group annual dinners for twenty-eight consecutive years.