GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA: Hong Kong former child star Fung Bo Bo plans to move to Penang and write her memoirs.
Known as the Oriental Shirley Temple, Fung said she had found “a beautiful place that overlooks the blue sea” and will be moving here in November.
“I love Penang because there’s a lot of history here and the architecture is beautiful, influenced by the many cultures — it’s all very romantic.
“When I write my memoirs, I want to be inspired by a quiet place and I think I’ve found it here, though I’d better keep the exact location a secret,” she said, adding that the move would probably coincide with Dr Sun Yat-Sen’s “Penang Conference” anniversary on Nov 12.
Fung said she had many fond memories of the island when she came here to promote her movies in the mid 1960s.
“I stayed at Dr Sun’s office in Jalan Datuk Keramat, which was rumoured to be haunted,” she told reporters after a press conference on the 100th anniversary celebration of Dr Sun’s Penang Conference yesterday.
Fung, who shuttles between Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, married Malaysian architect Yoong Siew Chuen in 1997.
Starting from the 1960s, Fung acted in over 240 movies. Half were made before she turned nine years old. Now she only acts “occasionally, when the roles are suitable”.
She was also the script consultant of Road To Dawn, a movie about Dr Sun when he sought refuge in Penang from July to December 1910.
One of her popular works is the famous video drama series Empress Wu (Moe Chak Thin), which portrayed her as a powerful empress during the Tang Dynasty.
Fung said it was only recently that she made peace with her past.
“As a child actress, I never watched my own movies. In a way, I was rejecting my past because of the many hardships I faced.
“Some days I would be working on three movies at a time.
“There were days when I had to stay up past midnight, waiting for the adult actors to show up because they were too busy smoking opium,” she recalled.
Fung will be leading the Min Sin Seah education association’s delegation to Taipei, Taiwan, from Thursday to July 26 in conjunction with the 100th anniversary celebrations. -The Star/ANN