Sun Ma Sze Tsang

Biography

Sun Ma Sze Tsang, born Tang Wing-cheung on 20 June 1916 in Shunde, Guangdong, was a renowned Cantonese opera and film actor, Cantonese singer, and philanthropist. His parents divorced when he was eight, and after enduring a difficult childhood, he ran away from home and lived on the streets. In 1925, at age nine, he was taken in by a wandering artist and trained in performance, later catching the attention of master He Sze-chi who arranged for him to study under He Sze-nin. At age ten, he made his stage debut at the Lai Tai Theatre and reunited with his biological mother. At eleven, he performed in Shantou under the name "Tai Ping Tung Yat" and was hailed as a "child prodigy" for his talent in imitating Ma Sze Tsang, prompting his master to give him the stage name "Sun Ma Sze Tsang." At seventeen, he studied under Xue Jue-xian and later traveled to Shanghai to appreciate Peking opera, learning from Lin Shu-sen and Gai Jiao-tian, developing his own distinctive singing style. In 1953, he became the first chairman of the Hong Kong Eight Guilds Association upon its formal re-registration, serving until 1957 and later being re-elected for terms from 1972–1976 and 1986–1988. During the 1950s, he won the title "King of Civil and Military Roles" multiple times in newspaper polls. He also won the "Top Ten Cantonese Film and Drama Stars" award 14 times in the Wah Kiu Yat Po poll (1957–1970) and once in 1972, making him the most awarded male artist in that poll's history. Known as the "Charitable Opera King," he participated in numerous charity fundraising performances since the 1950s, including many years on the TVB charity program "Joy Fills Tung Wah," where he performed famous Cantonese songs as the finale fundraising segment.