Elizabeth "Liza" Wang Ming-chun SBS (born 28 August 1947), is a Hong Kong

diva Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is clo ...

, actress and MC. She is a personality in Chinese-speaking communities. She has been nicknamed "The Big Sister" in the Hong Kong entertainment circle.Xinhuanet.
Xinhuanet
". ''Fans jam-pack Liza Wang's free concert.'' Retrieved on 10 March 2008. Wang was a delegate in the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2, ...

from 1988 to 1997, and she is a member of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

.Cityu.edu.hk
Cityu.edu.hk
". ''城大將頒授榮譽博士學位予四位領袖.'' Retrieved on 10 March 2008.

Entertainment career

Liza Wang was born on 28 August 1947 in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, She moved to Hong Kong from Shanghai in autumn 1956 and signed up for Rediffusion Hong Kong's first Artist Academy class in 1967. From thousands of applicants, the 20-year-old Liza was one of the nine that were picked to attend acting classes. She was also the first to graduate from the academy.

Television

Her career has spanned four decades, since 1967. She began working for Rediffusion Television Limited (later renamed

Asia Television Asia Television Limited (, also known as ATV) is a digital media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television () on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial televisio ...

and now defunct) until she joined

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...

in 1971. She was one of the members of the all-girl music group

Four Golden Flowers The Four Golden Flowers was a TV theme song musical performance group in the early 1970s. They are one of the first all-girl modern music group in Hong Kong. The members include Lydia Shum (沈殿霞), Liza Wang (汪明荃), Felicia Wong (王� ...

. Wang initially made her mark in the entertainment industry in drama series. Her work in front of the camera was followed by that behind the scenes on television productions. In 2005, she received the Best Actress award during TVB's 38th Anniversary. She received this award the second time for her role in '' Wars of In-laws''. Wang received her first Best Actress award for her drama series ''

The Awakening Story The Awakening Story ( Chinese: 婚前昏後) is a 2000 TVB drama series. The story is centered on Shuet (Liza Wang), who wakes up from a 16-year coma after a car accident, and how she deals with all the changes that has happened since. Main Plot ...

'' in 2001. She celebrated her 40th anniversary in the entertainment industry in 2007.

Singing career

In parallel with her acting career Wang had a successful singing career, based on albums for her television series, consisting of TV theme songs. She has sung

cantopop Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") or HK-pop (short for "Hong Kong pop music") is a genre of pop music written in standard Chinese and sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production ...

as well as

mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Standard Chinese, Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; with later influences coming from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Ta ...

. She performed duets with singer

Adam Cheng Adam Cheng Siu-chow (born 24 February 1947) is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer. Career Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB ''Wuxia'' drama series based on the works of ...

. She continues to perform TV theme songs such as "東方之珠" for musical series like the 2006

Glittering Days ''Glittering Days'' may refer to: * ''Glittering Days'' (TV series) (東方之珠), 2006 Hong Kong TV series * ''Glittering Days'' (film) (万家灯火), 2009 Chinese film *'' The Glittering Days'' (星光灿烂), 2010 Malaysian-Singaporean TV ...

Cantonese opera

She experimented with stage musicals before becoming a

Cantonese opera Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China's Guangdong Province. It is popular in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau and among Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Like all versions of Ch ...

actress. It was within the Cantonese opera community that Wang met her longtime partner,

Law Kar-ying Dr Law Kar-ying BBS MH (born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong Cantonese opera singer and actor. Background Born Law Hang-tong on September 22 (August 27 Lunar), 1946 in Shunde, Guangdong as the eldest son of actor Law Kar-kuen (羅家權) an ...

. In 2005 the

Sunbeam Theatre Sunbeam Theatre () is a landmark theatre in Hong Kong showcasing Cantonese opera. It is located at 423 King's Road, North Point, near the intersection with Shu Kuk Street. History In the 1950s, many of the Shanghainese emigrants moved from Sha ...

North Point North Point is a mixed-use urban area in the Eastern District, Hong Kong, Eastern District of Hong Kong. Located in the northeastern part of Hong Kong Island, the area is named after a cape between Tin Hau, Hong Kong, Causeway Bay and Tsat Ts ...

, Hong Kong's only regular venue for Cantonese Opera performances, was planned to close following a change of ownership. Wang decided to negotiate with the new owner, who then promised to extend the contract with the Cantonese Opera groups. Wang then criticized the Government for its lack of support for Cantonese Opera, and the Government promised to adopt Wang's request. Wang was Chairman of the

Chinese Artist Association of Hong Kong Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong () is a non-profit association of Cantonese opera groups and artists in Hong Kong, established in the 1880s. In 1953, it registered as an organization in Hong Kong. It is a professional organisation for Can ...

(香港八和會館) from 1992 to 1997, then again from 2005 to 2009. In 2007 Wang was awarded the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award. She was later awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the

City University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...

. In February 2009 Wang fought for the development rights to restore the

North Kowloon Magistracy The North Kowloon Magistracy (北九龍裁判法院 / 北九龍裁判司署 before 1 July 1997) is a historic building and former Magistrate's Court located at No. 292, Tai Po Road, Shek Kip Mei, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The building was erecte ...

building (北九龍裁判法院) in

Sham Shui Po Sham Shui Po is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei (). It is located in and is the namesake of the Sham Shui P ...

.The Standard HK.
The Standard.com
.

Retrieved on 13 March 2009. The building was originally proposed to be a new

training and performance center. Hong Kong's government granted the bid to the US

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private nonprofit art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. Founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the Unit ...

. Wang was upset over the loss, and said the government was only paying lip service to causes such as Cantonese opera. The magistracy building is to be turned into a school specializing in creative and

digital media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ' ...

Political career

Pan-democrat home return permits request

Since the 1997 transfer of sovereignty, the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

have banned 8 of the 25 Hong Kong

pan-democrat The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic L ...

legislative councilors. They are barred from the mainland except for tours organized by the government. On 6 March 2008 Wang began publicizing the need to grant 24

Home Return Permit The Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents, also colloquially referred to as a Home Return Permit or Home Visit Permit , is issued to Chinese nationals who are permanent residents of or settled in Hong Kong and Macau as the ...

to the pro-democracy lawmakers.The standard HK.
The standard HK
". ''TV star hopes home visits can turn democrats into patriots'' Retrieved on 10 March 2008

Government Committee

On Apr 29, 2020, The Hong Kong SAR announced the appointments to the Cantonese Opera Advisory Committee which aims to promote the development of Cantonese opera, facilitating the transmission of this world intangible cultural heritage item, for the period from May 1, 2020, to April 30, 2022. Wang is one of the members.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Wang mentioned that it was good timing to invite the democrats to enter mainland China in time for the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. The Pro-Beijing party

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) is a pro-Beijing conservative political party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Starry Lee and holding 13 Legislative Council seats, it is currently the largest party in the l ...

member

Tam Yiu Chung Tam Yiu-chung, GBM, JP (; born 15 December 1949) is a pro-Beijing politician in Hong Kong. He is a current member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Leg ...

responded that the Olympics was not a good reason for changing what the central government used to do. Her concerns baffled her colleagues in the

. Democrat member

Albert Ho Albert Ho Chun-yan (; born 1 December 1951) is a solicitor and politician in Hong Kong. He is the former chairman (2014–2019) and vice-chair (2019–2021) of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, and f ...

said the issue of a home visit permit was such a rightful thing. It has never been mentioned by any politician but a performer. He appreciates Wang's efforts. Wang is a member, but not a standing committee member of the CPPCC.

Community work

As a mainstay at the

television network, Wang has gained almost legendary status for her efforts not merely as an entertainer but also as a philanthropist with a heart for social works and for improving lives in rural

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and other areas. Within Hong Kong, she has also been an MC hosting TVB

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...

s for

Tung Wah Group of Hospitals The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (), with a history dating back to 1870, is the oldest and largest charitable organisation in Hong Kong. It provides extensive education and community services through 194 service centres spread across Hong Kong. ...

and many other charities. Wang, being a two-time cancer survivor (first

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

then breast cancer), decided to be an executive committee member of the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society. A series of informative radio talk shows on

RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...

was also hosted where medical specialists were invited to discuss the many types of cancer. She has helped raise charities, awareness and funding for cancer patients. Recently a free concert was given at

Tin Shui Wai Tin Shui Wai New Town is a satellite town in the northwestern New Territories of Hong Kong. Originally a ' fish pond area, it was developed in the 1980s as the second new town in Yuen Long District and the eighth in Hong Kong. It is due northw ...

for 4,500 residents; the concert was filled to capacity and hundreds were turned away. The crowd prevented guest performers like

Miriam Yeung Miriam Yeung (born 3 February 1974) is a Hong Kong actress and Cantopop diva. As of 2020, she has released more than 35 albums and has starred in more than 40 films. In 2012, Yeung won the Award for Best Actress at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards ...

and

Denise Ho Denise Ho Wan-see (born 10 May 1977) is a Hong Kong-based Cantopop singer and actress. She is also a pro-democracy and Hong Kong human rights activist. In 2012, Ho came out as lesbian, the first mainstream Cantonese singer to do so. In 2014, H ...

from arriving on time. Denise Ho ascribed the audience overflow to Wang's popularity.

Personal life

Liza Wang was married to businessman Lau Cheong Wah from 1971 to 1983 and they remain good friends. In the late 1980s, she met

, openly acknowledged as her partner for over twenty years, and whom she married on 2 May 2009 in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Being a native

Shanghainese The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the Districts of Shanghai, central districts of the Shanghai, City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as ...

, Wang speaks fluent Shanghainese and has always identified as a Shanghainese.

The nickname of "Wang Ah-Tag" owing to social media usage

In recent years, Liza Wang has increased her usage in social media. However, upon uploading the photos with others, she has been handwriting the names of others on the photos. These handwritings have been occasionally described as "Wang Ah-Tag".

Filmography

Television series

Films

* 1969 ''Singing Darlings'' * 1980 ''Miss Not Home'' * 197i ''The Sausage Chase'' * 1979 ''Full Moon Scimitar'' * 2015 ''ATM'' Liza Wang at chinesemov.com
/ref>

Awards

Honors

Silver Bauhinia Star The Silver Bauhinia Star (, SBS) is the second Bauhinia Star rank in the honours system of Hong Kong, awarded to people who have taken a leading part in public affairs or voluntary work over a long period. The award was created in 1997 to repla ...

(2004) * TVB Best Actress (2001, 2005) * RTHK Gold Needle Award (2005) * Mont Blanc de la Culture International Award (2007)

References

External links

Official Liza Wang web-siteOfficial Liza Wang Forum
, - ! colspan="3" style="background:#DAA520;" ,

TVB Anniversary Awards The TVB Anniversary Awards (), officially known as the TVB Awards Presentation, is an annual awards ceremony honoring TVB's programming achievements in Hong Kong television; despite claims that it is the region's equivalent to the American Emm ...

, - , - ! colspan="3" style="background:#DAA520;" ,

Top 10 Chinese Golden Songs Award {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Liza 1947 births Delegates to the 7th National People's Congress Delegates to the 8th National People's Congress Hong Kong film actresses Members of the 10th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 11th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Hong Kong television actresses Hong Kong television presenters Hong Kong women television presenters Living people People's Republic of China politicians from Shanghai Singers from Shanghai TVB veteran actors Hong Kong Cantonese opera actresses Members of the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 20th-century Hong Kong actresses 21st-century Hong Kong actresses Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 1998–2000 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2000–2005 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2007–2012 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2012–2017 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2017–2021 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2021–2026 Actresses from Shanghai 20th-century Hong Kong women singers 21st-century Hong Kong women singers Recipients of the Silver Bauhinia Star Chinese film actresses Chinese television actresses 20th-century Chinese actresses 21st-century Chinese actresses Hong Kong idols