Yu Kai Cantonese Opera Singer 羽佳-粤剧歌手

[The donation ceremony for “Yu Kai’s Cantonese Opera Collection” exhibition was held today (January 15) at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. Picture shows the officiating guests (from right) the Chairman of Cantonese Opera Advisory Committee, Mr Charles Chow Chan-lum, the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mrs Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee, Yu kai, and the Chief Curator of Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Ms Belinda Wong Sau-lan.] January 15th 2011.

《羽佳粤剧藏品》展览捐赠仪式今天（1月15日）在香港文化博物馆举行。图示主礼嘉宾（右起）粤剧谘询委员会主席周灿霖先生、康乐及文化事务署署长冯贞淑仪女士,羽佳,及香港总策展人文化博物馆，黄秀兰女士。] 2011 年 1 月 15 日。

The person named Yu Kai (羽佳（1938年－）was my idol way back in the period 1950 - 1958. This is a little known personal history of mine. The story illustrates how easy it is for a young ten-year-old child to be influenced by idol worshiping to the extent that the young mind can go astray.

That year was 1950, I was ten years old then. Yu Kai was twelve. As a prodigy in Cantonese opera performer, he was touring Singapore and Malaysia giving life performances of the many historic operas that he had learnt and mastered since he was four years old. We shall talk about Yu Kia’s background story a little later. For the time being, let me relate how Yu Kai had almost turned my life upside down.

羽佳（1938年－）是我1950-1958年间的偶像。这是我鲜为人知的个人经历。故事说明了一个十岁的孩子是多么容易孩子受到偶像崇拜的影响，以至于幼小的心灵可能会误入歧途。
那一年是1950年，那时我才十岁。于凯十二岁。作为粤剧神童，他在新加坡和马来西亚巡回演出，将他从四岁开始学习和掌握的许多历史戏曲进行了现场表演。稍后我们将讨论 Yu Kia 的背景故事。暂时先说说于凯差点把我的人生翻天覆地吧。

I was living with my maternal grandma in Singapore Chinatown’s red district of Jiak Chuan Street, the ‘golden triangle’ of Keong Saik, Teck Lim, and Jiak Chuan Streets.

I was then studying at Outram Primary School in Primary 3.

My academic result was good, in fact excellent, for the first term of that year. At the term end examinations, my result was the best in the entire standard of four classes, each class with 38 students.

Then I came across Yu Kai. When he arrived to perform Cantonese operas at New World Entertainment Centre, I was fortunate to watch him perform. I was so impressed with his acting ability and his portrayal of various historic characters in so many opera stories. He remembered every word of so many opera stories, every opera lines, and every stage action, including the battling scenes where he had to perform summersaults and so many Kung Fu moves. He performed so well that I was falling head over heels with his talent. I learnt to sing his opera songs, and I committed into memory every word from his performances. I practised Chinese opera songs every day. And, yes, I had neglected my studies in all subjects other than my favourite - Mathematics.

我和我的外祖母住在新加坡唐人街的红区甲全街，这是 Keong Saik、Teck Lim 和 Jiak Chuan 街的“金三角”。 
那时我在欧南小学三年级就读。 那年第一学期我的学业成绩很好，实际上非常好。期末考试，我的成绩是全班四个班里最好的，每个班有38个学生。 
然后我遇到了羽佳。当他到新世界娱乐中心演出粤剧时，我​​有幸看到他表演。他的演技和他在众多歌剧故事中对各种历史人物的刻画给我留下了深刻的印象。他记得那么多戏曲故事的每一个字，每一个戏曲台词，每一个舞台动作，包括他必须表演跳伞的战斗场面和那么多的功夫动作。他表现得如此出色，以至于我被他的才华所折服。我学会了唱他的歌剧歌曲，我把他表演的每一个字都记在心里。我每天练习中国戏曲。而且，是的，除了我最喜欢的数学以外，我忽略了所有科目的学习。

See how Yu Kai did his acrobatic acts on stage here: https://youtu.be/Rt6DOPpo3D0

看看羽佳是如何在舞台上表演杂技的: 
https://youtu.be/5QFVabYW2-Y  Open this video to watch more 'KungFu' by Yu Kai.

During June that year, 1950, I was determined to go to met up with Yu Kai and to be his disciple, learning from him as my “Sifu”. Yes, I ran away from home. I walked to New World Entertainment Centre. I reached the back stage of the theatre and I did meet up with Yu Kai. I was however stopped by his parents and was literary ‘thrown out’ of the theatre.

I was all alone for three days, walking aimlessly between New World at Jervois Road and Chinatown’s Eu Tong Sen Street - a long stretch of approximately ten kilometres. I slept in parks. I begged for food, literary from door to door. I met up with the Chinatown gangsters, and I was about to be recruited as part of their members when their leader returned from his sojourn and he persuaded me to return to my grandmother.

1950年6月，我立志要去见羽佳，做他的弟子，学他为我的“师父”。是的，我离家出走了。我走到新世界娱乐中心。到了剧场的后台，果然见到了羽佳。然而，我被他的父母拦住了，被“赶出了”剧院。
我一个人呆了三天，漫无目的地走在苏杭路的新世界和牛车水的余同森街之间——大约有十公里的长路。我睡在公园里。我挨家挨户地乞食。我遇到了唐人街的黑帮，我正要被招募为他们的成员时，他们的头目从他的逗留中回来，他说服我回到我祖母身边。 
Open this video up by clicking here. https://youtu.be/vkY-Uyiuqck   

I did return home, but my attention was then turned away from my school work. During the second school term, my academic result had fallen to 90th out of 150 students and by the third term, I failed the final examination in all subjects other than Mathematics - a subject that I still top the overall standard. I was, however, made to retain in Primary 3 for another year. In those days, there were three primary levels and eight standard levels and two higher school certificate levels before university.

I cannot imagine what would have happened to me had I not returned home!

我确实回家了，但我的注意力从学校作业上转移了。在第二学期，我的学习成绩在 150 名学生中跌到了第 90 位，到第三学期，除了数学以外的所有科目的期末考试我都没有通过——这门科目我的整体标准仍然名列前茅。然而，我被要求在小学三年级再保留一年。那时，大学前有三个初级水平和八个标准水平和两个高中证书水平。我无法想象如果我不回家会发生什么！

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Now let us look at Yu Kai’s background story. https://youtu.be/U-MRHpuHElA

Yuja (1938-) was a Hong Kong Cantonese opera student and film actor in the 1960s and 1970s. Her original name was Zhai Yujia. Her father was Wu Sheng Zhai Shancong and her mother was Hua actress Zhou Shaoying. Yuja began to step on the stage at the age of ten, and took the lead at the age of fifteen, and was known as a child prodigy. Tang Disheng once praised him, “Kong Rong can make pears at the age of four, Jun Jin is also amazing at seven years old, and when Getai was born Lv Bu, he was also a formidable child in the pear garden.”

羽佳（1938年－）是六七十年代香港粵劇文武生及電影演員，原名翟羽佳, 父為武生翟善从, 母為花旦周少英。羽佳十歲開始踏上台板，十五歲担綱，被譽為神童。唐涤生曾讚賞他「孔融四岁能让梨，君今七岁亦神奇，歌台一出生吕布，亦是梨园可畏儿。」

Yuja has studied the Northern School martial arts with the famous Northern School masters Huang Fushan, Tian Qifang, Yuan Xiaotian and Qi Yukun; and also studied Chinese martial arts with Chen Hanzong and Liu Zhan. In terms of singing skills, he has followed Lu Jiachi, Zhang Sheng, Wang Yuesheng and Luo Baosheng to learn to sing Cantonese opera; Feng Heting learned to sing Beijing accent.

羽佳曾跟北派名師黃鳯山、田其芳、袁小田和祈玉崑等學習北派武藝；又跟陳漢宗及劉湛學習國術。 唱功方面，曾跟隨盧家熾、張生、王粵生及羅寶生等名家學唱粵曲；馮鶴亭學唱京腔。

Yuja founded the Qinghong Jia Opera Troupe with Nan Hong, and also organized the Jia Bao Opera Troupe with Li Baoying. They bid farewell to the Cantonese opera stage in 1993. In 2011, he donated a large amount of his collection to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, including more than 2,000 pieces of costumes, scripts, bridges, photos and props.

羽佳曾与南红創立庆红佳剧团，亦曾与李宝莹组织佳宝剧团，於1993年告別粵劇舞台。2011年他將大量珍藏捐贈香港文化博物館，包括戲服、劇本、戲橋、照片和道具等共二千多件。