HONG KONG -- The Hong Kong entertainment world lost a familiar face last week when Ng Man-tat, a beloved star of local television and film who in later years appeared in movies on the Chinese mainland, died of liver cancer at the age of 70. Dubbed "Uncle Ng," he was best known for working alongside "king of comedy" Stephen Chow, often playing the role of his uncle or accomplice.
Ng's rise to stardom was a classic Hong Kong rags-to-riches story. Born in the southeastern Chinese city of Xiamen, Ng came to the then British colony with his working-class family at the age of five. He spent his childhood living in a baan gaan fong -- a small space partitioned by boards within a bigger apartment.
