When Leung went to the interview, she discovered the three announcer posts were already taken. She was disappointed and thought she would just have to give up. But a director gave her a script and asked her to read for three roles. She jumped in, and was offered a job as a voice actress.
In August of the same year, her dream came true when one of the announcers was absent. Leung stepped up and finally became a news anchor. Along with Pong Bik-wan and Lai Yuen-ling, Leung became known as one of the “Three Blossoms of Rediffusion”.
Being an anchor was not an easy job. In those days, there was no autocue and the presenters would get most of their news from the Government Information Service around an hour before they were due on air. Preparations were always hurried.
Leung’s scariest moment as an anchor was the one time she had to report the English News. The English anchor was not feeling well that day and Leung’s boss asked her to substitute. She was extremely nervous though everything went smoothly in the end. “I really wanted to hide myself under the bed after reporting,” says Leung. “That was an accident!”
Leung first started acting in dramas when they were still broadcast live for Rediffusion in 1957. She joined TVB in 1968, working steadily until she hit her career peak with A Kindred Spirit. The show, which ran from 1995 to 1999 is the longest-running drama show in Hong Kong TV history.
Leung’s character was an elegant, rich, knowledgeable but arrogant woman who always looked down on people. The role was a challenge to Leung, who is humble and polite in real life. However, by observing how so-called upper-class people behaved, she managed to play the role vividly and won wide acclaim.
But while everything seemed to be going well for Leung, she encountered a personal crisis when she least expected it.
Her youngest son, Yuen Wai-hung underwent extreme weight loss and was diagnosed with anorexia. He developed complications from pneumonia and passed away on the New Year’s Eve in 1998. He was 44.
“I miss him every day,” Leung starts, then stops and struggles to find the words. “I appreciated his splendid personality. He seldom lost his temper; he showed filial obedience to parents; he bought me lots of things.”
Leung has kept everything that her son gave her, including the gold tulip brooch and earrings she is wearing.
