[2015.01.03] THE HONG KONG VOICE OF DORAEMON PASSED AWAY

The official voice of Doraemon in Hong Kong

Astrid Chan did not expect that her interview with Lam Po Chuen would be his last

Julian Cheung drew Doraemon to remember Lam Po Chuen

Elanne Kong provided her voice to Doraemon and thus got to work with Lam Po Chuen.  

Lau Wai Hung and Leung Lai Kun earlier interviewed Lam Po Chuen for Radio Hong Kong.  Before it was aired Lam Po Cheun has already passed away.

Jade Kwan

Hubert Wu

Alfred Hui

Lung Siu Kwan paraphrases the first verse of Hins Cheung's FOREVER YOUNG

Joey Man quotes the original Doraemon theme song online
courtesy of mingpao.com

Lam Po Chuen dedicated his life to voice work

Lam Po Chuen was the official voice actor for martial art star Sammo Hung

Tam Bing Man watched Lam Po Chuen start in the business.  He was present when Tam Bing Man received a honor earlier.

Lam Po Chuen's son in law, Lam Po Chuen, Ting Yu and his wife, Lam Po Chuen's wife and daughter Lam Chi Kwan attended Ting Yu's 80th birthday banquet

TVB posted a photo of Uncle Chuen and words of appreciation of its official facebook
courtesy of on.cc

Series: JEWEL IN THE PALACE, Character: Kang Duk-Gu

STAND BY ME: DORAEMON 3D will be released next month.  The line in the trailer "I can't really stay here, I really have to go!" cannot ring any truer.

Lam Po Cheun's THE GREEN ROOM interview will air on the 5th

Sammy

Ting Yu (left)

Au Shui Wa
courtesy of on.cc

Farewell, "Ding Dong'! Providing his voice for over 30 years to the famous cartoon DING DONG (DORAEMON), TVB veteran voice actor Lam Po Cheun (Uncle Chuen) passed away yesterday morning. His voice has brought endless memories to anyone from Post 70s to the Millennials, as many lamented his sudden passing! Uncle Chuen never said retirement in his life and thanked Ding Dong for bringing security to his life. Uncle Chuen in his final work said as Ding Dong, "I can't stay here anymore, I really have to go!" Although he is gone, his voice will forever be etched in the hearts of Hong Kong people.

Uncle Chuen was 63. His only daughter who currently works at TVB as a voice actress, Lam Chi Kwan felt the passing was sudden. "This morning at 8 something Papa got up and wanted to pick up his clothes. Suddenly he got dizzy. Mama was there at the time. After Papa fainted he passed away at home very quickly. Mama immediately called an ambulance for the Nethersole Hospital." She revealed that her father had diabetes. Papa's sudden passing has left her mother more than heartbroken. Her father did not leave any final wish. "His passing was so sudden, he didn't leave any message. For now we don't know how to handle his affairs. Because our family is Buddhist, the ceremony may be Buddhist." She also said that her father only wanted her to stay on the straight and narrow. He even thanked TVB for immediately providing assistance and condolences.

TVB enterprise communication department assistant director Tsang Sing Ming said that TVB was deeply sadden by the news and that the passing was an enormous loss to both TVB and the voice work team. He will keep contact with the family and provide assistants to his affairs. TVB's official facebook and Weibo posted Uncle Chuen and Ding Dong's photo as an eulogy. Artist Tam Bing Man who watched Uncle Chuen start his career and has worked together for over 40 years yesterday said, "'Chubby' was a quiet person, but he really was very willing to learn and hard work. The last time I saw him was just at a New Year's Eve job. I felt it was very sudden and sad. I know that he had diabetes. Earlier when he went to Tibet he had high altitude disorder. As far as I heard he has already recovered from that."

Elanne Kong Yeuk Lam who has attended events with Uncle Chuen was very heartbroken by the sudden passing. She admitted, "I grew up with the voice of Doraemon, I started my career with it. The news is very hard to take!" She also remembered when they met he gave her some words of encouragement, which she still remembered now. She said, "He used Doraemon's voice to cheer me on. I can still remember it like it was yesterday!"

Starting his career in 1971 Uncle Chuen also participated in film voice work. He once was the official voice actor for martial art superstar Sammo Hung Kam Bo and the late film star Alexander Fu Shing. Uncle Chuen once thanked "Ding Dong" for bringing security to his life. He also joked that at first he "didn't have much feeling" for Ding Dong! Uncle Chuen once in an interview revealed that he had over 300 Ding Dongs in his collection at home. All of his watches and identification card covers had the Ding Dong logo. He even said, "There is no retirement in voice work, I will work until I can't anymore." At the same time he thanked his wife for taking care of the family wholeheartedly, so he was able to work in peace.

Uncle Chuen and "Nobita"'s voice actress Lo So Guen have worked together for many years. In 2006, Lo So Guen passed away due to illness. At the time Uncle Chuen said that his favorite line from DING DONG was, "Hey! Nobita hurry and get up!" Now, they will reunite in heaven again. Ding Dong can truly tell Nobita to get up again.

The King of voice actors Lee Po Chuen was born in 1951 and has been in the business for over 40 years. When he was little he dreamed about becoming a pilot. Later he developed a heavy interest in voice work and was determined to make it his lifelong career. Thus he wrote to TVB to offer his service. After successful interviews in 1971 he joined the TVB voice work team. His first assignment was FBI. In the 80s he left the company and in 1993 he returned to TVB until now. Last year he even received the 20 year long term service gold medal. He has provided his voice to countless characters. Aside from cartoons he also worked on series. Among them DING DONG (DORAEMON) is the best known and has become a collective memory!

Series: JEWEL IN THE PLACE (DAE JANG GEUM)
Character: Kang Duk-Gu
Quote: Jang Geum were often set up back villains and did everything herself. Kang Duk-Gu would constantly say to Jang Geum, "Jang Geum, why work so hard!"

Animation: DING DONG (DORAEMON)
Character: Ding Dong (Doraemon)
Best Quote: Whenever Nobita was slacking off, Ding Ding would always say to Nobita, "Nobita, stop sleeping!" "Nobita, don't be so lazy!"

Famous voice actor Lam Po Chuen's interview with TVB program THE GREEN ROOM's host Astrid Chan Chi Ching has not aired yet. Yesterday he passed away suddenly. In the interview he said that when he first received the assignment to provide his voice to Ding Dong, he thought it was a little strange since the Japanese voice had a female voice. Later he found out that actually the producer really liked his voice so he broke the rule and asked him. Although his voice for "Ding Dong" made him famous, he actually liked the most the character of Heshen in THE BRONZE TEETH series.

Universe has distributed DORAEMON 2D films over the years. Universe said about Uncle Chuen's passing, "We have worked together for over a decade, we are very sadden and heartbroken!" Uncle Chuen's final work for a Doraemon film would be STAND BY ME: DORAEMON 3D. Its distributor Intercontinental said that the news was too sudden, no one at the company was able to accept it yet. He was praised for being very familiar with Doraemon. During voice work when he found any mistake with the gadget translation he would immediately correct it.

Uncle Chuen appeared on a radio program on December 10th last year, which now has become his final interview. He mentioned that he was born in Macau and came to Hong Kong when he was in secondary school. After graduating he worked as an office boy. Due to elder Chiang Chung ping, he wrote to TVB to offer his service as a voice actor. "I saw how great he did with TARZAN and thought it would be a lot of fun!" His first voice work was the American series FBI. His first line was, "FBI, freeze! Drop the gun!" However at the time he had bad takes.

The passing of the official voice of "Ding Dong" Lam Po Chuen had many "Ding Dong fans" and artists who has worked with him eulogizing him.

The program NEIGHBORHOOD TREASURES used Uncle Chuen's happy voice to deliver its Chinese title. Host Sammy posted on Weibo, "Farewell! From now on NEIGBHORHOOD TREASURES will be a little less fun."

Veteran voice actor Ting Yu was Uncle Chuen's mentor and his daughter's god father. He praised Uncle Chuen for his professionalism and reliability. Uncle Ting Yu said, "He was my first disciple. He was serious at work. Sometimes what I thought was OK he would ask to do over. His passing was an enormous loss to the voice acting world!"

The film DELETE MY LOVE (DELETE OI YUN)'s director Patrick Kong (Yip Lum Sum) once invited Uncle Chuen to provide his voice for the film. He pointed out that he personally went to the studio that day. "I am a fan of the cartoon. As soon as I saw him I felt like he was 'Ding Dong'. He looked very easy going and cute. The voice work was finished very quickly."

Veteran voice actress Au Shui Wa who provided the voice for Nobita's mother in DORAEMON was saddened to lose her colleague of 35 years. To remember her friend, she recorded a message in the voice of Nobita's mother. "Ding Dong, I am Mama. I am very heartbroken and very sadden about your passing, Mama will always miss you." The familiar voice and simply words spoke for many "Ding Dong fans".

Benny Lau Wai Hung and Leung Lai Kun earlier invited Lam Po Chuen to an interview on their Radio Hong Kong program. Yesterday Lau Wai Hung said that the program's topic was nostalgia. Lam Po Chuen was a DING DONG voice actor, a Hong Kong collective memory. Thus he wanted to invite "Ding Dong" be the program's final guest of the year. Yesterday before the final installment was aired suddenly the news of the passing arrived. He was both shocked and sadden.

Lau Wai Hung described Lam Po Chuen as someone who was not too talkative but was very friendly. He was a very nice guy. The subject of the interview started from his childhood in Macau, when he first started in the voice work industry to his work now. The always low key Uncle Po Chuen seemed to be narrating his own life, everything seemed to be arranged in advanced. Lau Wai Hung was asked if Uncle Po Chuen would consider retirement? He said that he definitely would not retire and would keep working. This interview left an unforgettable memory for Lau Wai Hung.

He said that Lam Po Chuen was a Hong Kong icon. Although few would recognize his face, people of all ages would recognize his voice. When they heard his voice they felt very intimate, happy and wanted to laugh. Over the years many people have grown up with it. He also said that Lam Po Chuen once sang two DING DONG songs when he provided his voice to the DING DONG play. At the time he recorded two songs. His singing voice was great. One of the songs FOREVER GOOD FRIENDS was particularly touching to relive.

Jade Kwan Sum Yin said that 11 years she worked on a commercial with Uncle Po Chuen and posted her photo with Ding Dong at the time. She said, "Uncle Po Chuen, your voice has brought us joy that we grew up with. I was fortunate enough to work on a commercial for Ding Dong 11 years ago and work with Uncle Po Chuen! Have a safe journey! Forever miss you!"

Hubert Wu Hung Kwan said, "One of the lessons that had to be learned in 2015 is to cherish. Have a safe journey, Mr. Lam Po Chuen, thank you for giving us our childhood memories!"

Alfred Hui Ting Hung described Lam Po Chuen's voice as the documentation of a legend. He said, "The 2015 lesson subject is still cherishing. A voice documented a legend, for an era etched the memory of childhood. Thank you Mr. Lam Po Chuen for bringing us sounds of laughter for a lifetime."

Lung Siu Kwan quoted the first verse of Hins Cheung King Hin's FOREVER YOUNG. "Ding Dong can you never grow old, grow tall with me." on paper to remember this unique voice.

Joey Man Yi Man quoted the Ding Dong television series theme song lyrics, "Ding Dong, everyone likes you. Even kitten is proud of itself!" to remember the cartoon of the past and the voice that grew up with us and will forever be missed.