Sonija Kwok Sin-nei (, born 22 July 1974) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

actress who worked with

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 ...

from 1999 to 2015. Since 2015, she has been managed by GAIA Entertainment.

Early life

Kwok was born in

and is of mixed three quarters Cantonese and one quarter English parentage. Kwok immigrated to

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

from Hong Kong. She initially attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, but transferred to

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

where she completed her BA major in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. After obtaining her degree, Kwok joined

Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...

as a flight attendant.

Career

After a short stint as a flight attendant, Kwok returned to Hong Kong in 1999 and competed in the 1999

Miss Hong Kong The Miss Hong Kong Pageant (), or Miss HK () for short, is an annual beauty pageant organised by local Hong Kong television station, TVB. The pageant was established in 1946, and acquired by TVB in 1973. The current Miss Hong Kong is Denice Lam ...

pageant. During the semi-final, she won the Miss Photogenic award making her a favourite to win Miss Hong Kong following the precedent since 1996. She subsequently won the title "Miss Hong Kong" in July 1999 as well as Miss International Goodwill and Miss Intelligence. Coincidentally, all the winners of the Miss Hong Kong pageant spanning 1997 to 2000 are from

, Canada. After winning the "Miss Hong Kong" title, Kwok participated in numerous

events. In February 2000, she represented Hong Kong at the 2000

Miss Chinese International Miss Chinese International Pageant (, formerly 國際華裔小姐競選), or MCI () for short, is an annual international beauty pageant, organized and broadcast by TVB, a network television station in Hong Kong. It was established in 1988 and th ...

pageant in

Las Vegas, Nevada 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 ...

. She was crowned as the winner and also won two other awards. She is considered one of the most successful winners, as she,

Michelle Reis use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , nationality = , citizenship = , alma_mater = Maryknoll Convent School , ...

Hera Chan In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

, and

Grace Chan Grace Chan (born 23 June 1991) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian actress, television host, and beauty pageant titleholder. She was the winner of Miss Hong Kong 2013 and Miss Chinese International 2014. Early life Grace Chan was born in Hong Kong and ...

are the only three Miss Hong Kong pageant winners to have held both titles. Reis was the winner for the pageant's inaugural year in 1988, while Chan won in 2014. After her success in both pageants, she represented Hong Kong at the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

2000 pageant held in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. Although she did not feature in the top ten list, she was included in the top ten list of "Miss Photogenic" featured on the Miss Universe's website main page. She is the last representative from Hong Kong to participate in Miss Universe contest. She has appeared in many TVB television series and has starred in other TV shows, series, commercials, and entertainment functions, as well as being a spokeswoman for many beauty and other commercial products in Hong Kong. She has also appeared in television series which are produced in mainland China.

Personal life

Kwok married Chinese martial arts

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Zhu Shaojie (朱少杰) in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

in 2011. The pair met in a film shooting in China a year earlier. Kwok was previously romantically linked to TVB stars

Deric Wan Deric Wan Siu-lun (born 18 November 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, singer, and songwriter who has starred in numerous television series and released several studio albums. His representative works include a duet with Nadia Chan, a cover of the s ...

and

Steven Ma Steven Ma Chun-wai (born 26 October 1971) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. In 1993, Ma won a record deal after winning first place at an annual singing contest in Hong Kong, later releasing his debut album, ''Lucky for Meeting You'' (幸運就 ...

Maid assault

On 24 March 2009, Kwok was attacked by her maid, who bit her arm, pulled her hair and held a knife to her neck. This followed Kwok's reporting to the police of an earlier incident in which the maid, apparently distraught over the break-up of a relationship, held a knife to her own throat and was calmed by Kwok. The helper was subsequently held in a mental hospital.

Awards

;Miss Hong Kong 1999: Miss Photogenic, Miss Intelligence, Miss International Goodwill, Winner. ;Miss Chinese International 2000: Winner, Miss Internet Popularity, and Miss Vegas Gorgeous. ;

Starhub StarHub Limited, most commonly known as just Starhub, is a Singaporean multinational telecommunications conglomerate and one of the major telcos operating in the country. Founded in 1998, it is listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). History ...

TVB Awards 2010: My Favourite TVB Female Character 2009: Ying Jing-Jing 邢晶晶 (

D.I.E. Again ''D.I.E. Again'' - Death Investigation Extension II (Traditional Chinese: 古靈精探B) is a TVB modern comedy-action series. It stars Roger Kwok , Sonija Kwok , Nancy Wu , Edwin Siu , Derek Kok, Kwok Fung , Rain Lau , Mimi Lo, Kitty Yuen & Jess ...

)

Filmography

Television series

Film

Sonija Kwok at chinesemov.com
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References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kwok, Sonija 1974 births 21st-century Hong Kong actresses Actresses from Vancouver Canadian actresses of Hong Kong descent Canadian film actresses Canadian people of English descent Canadian television actresses Cathay Pacific Flight attendants Hong Kong emigrants to Canada Hong Kong film actresses Hong Kong people of English descent Hong Kong television actresses Living people Miss Chinese International winners Miss Hong Kong winners Miss Universe 2000 contestants Naturalized citizens of Canada Simon Fraser University alumni