[2025.06.27] FISH LIEW LAMENTS BEING BORN IN THE WRONG ERA

Running into the Hong Kong film market in a cold winter, Fish Liew worries about the lack of work

Malaysian director Chong Keat Aun learns that Fish Liew wants to return home to make a movie so he takes the initiative to make contact. They click right away.

Fish Liew says that the hardest part of making PAVANE FOR AN INFANT is speaking Cantonese with a Malaysian accent. Because working in Hong Kong has made her Cantonese fluent, she has already forgotten the tone of how Malaysians speak Cantonese
courtesy of singtao.com

Fish Liew Chi Yu came from Malaysia to work in Hong Kong for 12 years, and won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress with ANITA (MUI YIM FONG). Her acting skills have been affirmed, and she should be able to show her strengths. However she helplessly ran into the Hong Kong film cold winter period, as an actor she too was worried that she would not have a job in the future. She screamed, "Why me? Why entering the cold winter period when I am at my most 'hit'!" Liew Chi Yu's current mood was the same as the role of "Lai Sum" in the movie PAVANE FOR AN INFANT, as both felt that they had a long way forward. She admitted that if she lost her career as an actor, she would be forced to change careers in order to make a living. She has already planned to improve herself and develop another way out.

Liew Chi Yu came to Hong Kong from Malaysia in 2012 for work. She returned home last year to star in the Malaysian director Chong Keat Aun directed PAVANE FOR AN INFANT (YIU LAM FAN SAI). Chong Keat Aun said that Liew Chi Yu after winning an award with ANITA (MUI YIM FONG) revealed in interviews that she would like the opportunity to return to Malaysia to make movies. So he contacted her and they clicked right away. After having the core character of Liew Chi Yu, he invited Ben Yuen Fu Wah and Natalie Hsu (Hui Yan Yi) to participate. "I have watched many works of Fish (Liew Chi Yu), and the most impressive was A GUILTY CONSCIENCE (DUK SIT DAI JONG). The eyes were so dramatic and delicate. This time working with her, I found that she asked about everything. I don't mind at all though, it is a good thing for actors to take the initiative."

PAVANE FOR AN INFANT tells the story of the Liew Chi Yu played "Lai Sum", a long-term employee of an "abandoned baby pod" in Kuala Lumpur. Against the voices of opposition, she worked together to accompany women of all ethnicities to face the dilemma of bodily autonomy. Liew Chi Yu explained that that she wanted to ask about the PAVANE FOR AN INFANT's story and the character Lai Sum's thinking clearly. After all she has been in Hong Kong for 12 years, most of the movies she performed in were commercial films. The pace has been relatively fast, and she was worried about not adapting to the local rhythm. In addition with few dialogues she had to rely on her eyes and body movements to express herself, so she was so nervous. As the saying goes people gets timid when they are close to home, she wanted to perform a little better so her family could be proud of her. "People who know Liew Chi Yu know that I am anxious and timid. When I hear the staff yelled 'Let's welcome......' Before my name was mentioned, I have already taken off. Eating and touching up makeup were also very fast, I could not quit the habit of being anxious. It could be both good and bad. When it was good then I seriously have to make it its best. When it was not I didn't want to think too much. Now I have already tried to strike a balance between the two."

Chong Keat Aun recealed that Liew Chi Yu's pace outside the film was also very fast, and he often reminded her "don't be so fast" during filming. Liew Chi Yu felt that the most difficult part of PAVANT FOR AN INFANT was to speak Cantonese with a Malaysian accent because she rarely spoke it when she was a child, but after coming to Hong Kong for work she practiced fluent Cantonese and forgot the tone of Cantonese spoken by Malaysians.

Already made a name for herself, Liew Chi Yu said that although film production has been difficult, she has enjoyed that actor life very much and felt very lucky. Since winning the Best Supporting Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards, film offers have continued. Before filming PAVANE FOR AN INFANT, she made two sets of ViuTV dramas MARGARET AND DAVID TIE and CICADA CYCLE. She was very happy to be able to devote herself to playing the role of Lai Sum, forgetting Liew Chi Yu's own problems. "There are many problems that I needed to be solve. Filming allows me to escape reality for a while, but I have learned from "Lam Sum" to face different difficulties. No matter how big things happen, I can't see the future. Life still has to go on, it will always pass. Knowing how she lived her life, I may be able to take less wrong turns."

Liew Chi Yu felt that Lai Sum resonated with her, as they both felt that the road ahead was boundless. Because Hong Kong films have entered a cold winter period, she was worried that she would be unable to work as an actor. "Affected by the global situation and economy, everyone is living in an era with a long road ahead. I have a feeling of why me, and why I was at my most 'hit' period, the film industry actually entered the cold winter period? Maybe if I was born 20 years earlier, the environment would be different and I would be able to show my strength; but I don't get to say that. I am thinking about whether I only have acting in my life? What can I do if I lose my job one day? I should find more things that I love to further my education. I love movies, I may try to do behind-the-scenes work, or learn to cook." She lamented that the development of technology has caused modern people to fall into the trap of technology. "Everyone will have a short period of happiness when they wake up and look at the phone, but how would they deal with themselves without the communication between people?"