Sylvia Lai Sui-Pun (born 23 June 1951), also known by her stage name Sum Sum, is a semi retired Hong Kong singer and actress.

Background

Lai was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

on 23 June 1951. She was of Meixian,

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

ancestry. Her younger sister is Betty Lai Siu-man. In 1966, Lai, her sister and other four male singers formed a musical band ''BumbleBee'' to promote their traffic and road safety song in Hong Kong. In 1967, Lai joined RTV to attend its first Artist Academy. One of her classmates was

Liza Wang Elizabeth "Liza" Wang Ming-chun Gold Bauhinia Star, GBS Silver Bauhinia Star, SBS (born 28 August 1947), is a Hong Kong diva, actress and Master of Ceremonies, MC. She is a personality in Chinese-speaking communities. She has been nicknamed "The ...

. In 1967, Lai took the stage name Sum Sum (森森), while her sister's stage name went first as Bun Bun (彬彬) but soon changed to Ban Ban (斑斑). In late 1967, Lai contested and won the ''Hong Kong's Queen of Singing Diva'' (香港歌后) title, and was encouraged by

Robert Chua Robert Chua Wah-Peng (born 20 May 1946) is a Singaporean broadcaster and businessman. Background Born in 1946 in Colony of Singapore, on 20 May 1946, he has worked internationally in Australia, Hong Kong and China as well. Among other activities ...

to sign up to become one of

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB; zh, t=電視廣播有限公司) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong. The company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Canton ...

's first batch of actors and actresses. She also became a host in the TVB's variety show ''

Enjoy Yourself Tonight ''Enjoy Yourself Tonight'' or ''EYT'' is a popular variety show that was produced in British Hong Kong. It first aired on TVB Jade on 20 November 1967. The show lasted 27 years with its last broadcast on Friday, 7 October 1994. During the 1980s ...

'' (歡樂今宵). Sum Sum took up a training lesson of

Jeet Kune Do Jeet Kune Do (/ˌdʒiːt kuːn ˈdoʊ/; zh, c=截拳道, l=stop fist way' or 'way of the intercepting fist, j=zit6 kyun4 dou6; abbreviated JKD) is a hybrid martial art conceived and practiced by martial artist Bruce Lee. It was formed from ...

with

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

while he was in Hong Kong with his young son Brandon on 3 April 1970, prior to Lee's appearance in ''Enjoy Yourself Tonight'' four days later in 7 April. In 1972, Sum Sum formed a musical duo group Sum Sum Ban Ban (森森斑斑) with her sister. Ban Ban also joined in to host ''Enjoy Yourself Tonight'' with her sister in 1973. In 1979, they released their first album ''Star, Moon, Sun'' (星星.月亮.冇太陽). Sum Sum and Ban Ban left TVB in 1983 to join

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourn ...

to further pursue their acting and singing careers. In 1997, she was invited by

to host the reestablished but short-lived variety show ''Enjoy Yourself Tonight''. She also made live advertising roles for

HKTV Hong Kong Technology Venture Company Limited (HKTV, zh, t=香港科技探索有限公司) is a Hong Kong–based technology company primarily known for its e-commerce platform and once had plans to become a television station. HKTV currently ...

on a weekly basis. From 1999 onwards, Sum Sum, with her sister Ban Ban, would host and perform for several entertainment companies in many international venues and charity events, i.e. United States (Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Sacramento), Canada, Singapore, Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) and Macau. During that period on 27 September 2003, she was noted to be the first Chinese singer to perform with the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra at the Mississauga Convention Centre in

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

, Canada. Her last acting appearance was in 2006. In May 2012, she was interviewed in the ATV's television show ''aTV 100 Celebrities''.

Personal life

In December 1977, Sum Sum married Robert Lee (李振輝), brother of

. They had a son named Clarence Lee Ka Ho (李嘉豪) in 1980, and they divorced in 1983. Sum Sum retained custody of their son. Clarence's stage name is "家豪". She later remarried to Macao businessman Wong Chung-tak (王宗德). The ceremony was held at a hotel in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in 1992, prepared by her friend Louise Lee 李思棋. She later moved to

Macao Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world. Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sum, Sum 1951 births Living people 20th-century Hong Kong women singers Hong Kong people of Hakka descent People from Meixian District Hong Kong film actresses Hong Kong television actresses 21st-century Hong Kong women singers 20th-century Hong Kong actresses 21st-century Hong Kong actresses Cantopop singers Hong Kong Mandopop singers