Born in Guangzhou, Yam Kim-fai came to Hong Kong after World War II where she dedicated her life to Cantonese opera

She performed in ‘virtually only’ male roles before her death in 1989

“Cantonese opera’s brightest star dies at 76,” ran a South China Morning Post headline on November 30, 1989. Yam Kim-fai passed away at her Happy Valley home of complications from pneumonia. She had “suffered a series of heart problems in recent years and came out of hospital on November 10 to convalesce at home”, reported the Post.