SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Former Hong Kong actress Amy Yip is easing her way back into the public eye after disappearing from the entertainment scene for more than 30 years.
The 58-year-old is currently in Singapore on the invitation of local film-maker Jack Neo, to be a special guest at the Lao Peng You Pa Pa Zao on Dec 15.
The volunteer initiative and mass walk event founded by Neo encourages people to come together to exercise and stay healthy, while making friends along the way.
A leading sex symbol of Hong Kong cinema in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Yip grew tired of the attention over her voluptuous figure and quit the movie industry after a few years.
She made her film debut in Who Is The Craftiest (1988) and her last film was Underground Judgement (1994).
Yip told Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao in an interview published on Dec 14 that she has managed to maintain her famously slim waist after so many years by following a healthy lifestyle after leaving show business.
“Exercise has become a part of my life, and I eat very healthily every day... no salt, no oil, no sugar,” she said. “The most important thing is not to have too much pressure in life. Everyone says that I am in good shape, and I want to say that even if I am not filming, I still need to maintain (the best condition).”
Yip – who visited the Malaysian state of Penang in September for the grand opening of The Leith Hotel, a boutique hotel in which she has an investment – also revealed that she has received movie offers and is looking at scripts.
One of the male stars she would like to work with is Hong Kong actor-director Stephen Chow.
“I had a good time filming The Magnificent Scoundrels,” she said, referring to the 1991 comedy film starring Chow and Hong Kong actress Teresa Mo.
Yip told Zaobao that she has become used to being single in the last six years, but will not rule out a new relationship. She started dating Hong Kong doctor Sammy Lui in 1992, but he died of a heart attack in 2018.
“I think being single is not bad sometimes. It is very comfortable to be alone in Hong Kong as you have your own personal space,” she said. “I can fall in love again if (someone makes my heart flutter) and I am attracted to the other party.”
She added of her criteria when it comes to a potential partner: “I don’t appreciate men without grace. Of course, as a woman, the most important thing is to have someone who can take care of me and cherish me.” - The Straits Times/ANN