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Profile | Sam Hui, the ‘father of Cantopop’ whose relatable music and film roles struck a chord
He popularised Cantopop and helped revive Hong Kong cinema after Bruce Lee died. We look at the enduring legacy of the ‘Elvis of The Orient’
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This is the 45th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades.
Before the rise of the “Four Heavenly Kings” of Cantopop – Jacky Cheung Hok-yau, Andy Lau Tak-wah, Leon Lai Ming and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing – there was a “father of Cantopop” who laid the foundation for their success.
His name is Samuel Hui Koon-kit.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the singer, known as Sam Hui, helped popularise Cantopop by infusing his songs with colloquial Cantonese lyrics and Western pop elements.
He was widely praised for the relatability of his songs, which addressed everyday difficulties faced by the working classes.
Hui was born in Guangzhou, China, in 1948. His family fled with him to Hong Kong in 1950. They settled in the Kowloon neighbourhood of Diamond Hill before moving to a public housing estate in So Uk, in Cheung Sha Wan.
Mabel is a reporter on the culture desk. She graduated from Scripps College in Claremont, California with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies and Art. A bright-eyed kid at heart, she loves the feeling of discovering something new and finding underrated restaurants in her beloved home city of Hong Kong.
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