Chin Kwong Yan (Uncle Chin)
錢廣仁（錢大叔）
Class of 1920 - Genius of Cantonese Music
1920屆畢業 — 粵曲歌影之才
Chin Kwong Yan graduated from St. Paul’s College in 1920. He co-founded the forerunner to the Chung Sing Benevolent Society and founded Hong Kong’s first Chinese-funded record company, New Moon. Chin was an actor, singer-songwriter, screenwriter, and director who dedicated his life to advancing traditional Cantonese music.
Chin began learning music when he was ten and co-founded Chung Sing in 1915, one of the other co-founders being his schoolmate, Ho Chak Man. Chin founded New Moon in 1926, with the help of his performer friend (and fellow Pauline) Sit Kok Sin. This coincided with the Canton–Hong Kong Strike; with cancelled performances, records became substitutes. This, plus public support for Chinese goods, meant New Moon experienced early success. Though the label folded shortly after the war, it left behind invaluable recordings of Cantonese music and influenced the industry’s post-war development.
Aside from producing records, Chin himself was a talented singer, specialising in the dahou (大喉 [daai-hau], ‘heroic voice’) style of Cantonese operatic music. He joined the world of film in 1935, involving himself in a total of twenty-eight productions.
Chin was also an active sportsman. Back at St. Paul’s, he had already represented China’s volleyball team in the Far East Championship Games and joined the Chin Woo Athletic Association in Shanghai.
Chin’s legacy on Cantonese music is palpable. New Moon brought many new talents into the spotlight. Embracing new formats, he brought the art towards a new, preservable medium.