In collaboration with High Life: Living the Good Life, VOICE OF ASIA is proud to present timeless articles from the archives, reproduced digitally for your reading pleasure. Originally published in High Life Volume 2 in 2016, we explore the many facets of the one and only Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh.
As an international acclaimed actress, Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh is the very personification of celebrity, having been recognized for her mastery in acting through numerous awards and high praise. In 2014, Michelle was announced as Resorts World Genting’s brand ambassador, in a mutual association of excellence and success.
Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn’t make you who you are. It is the rest of your story – who you choose to be.
Michelle (1962 – 1983)
The Girl from Ipoh
Before there was Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, critically acclaimed international movie star and global icon, there was Michelle, a girl growing up in the tinmining town of Ipoh, with a talent for sport and a passion for the arts.
More than anything else, young Michelle wanted to be a ballerina. She began formal training at the age of four, which continued all the way to the London Royal Academy of Dance.
It was at college that tragedy struck, in the form of a spinal injury suffered during a ballet practice session. The doctor told her that a rotated disc in her spine meant that she would never be able to stand the rigorous daily workout of a ballerina. The curtains closed on Michelle’s ballet dream that day.
She graduated in 1982, receiving a B.A. degree in Creative Arts with a minor in Drama. She returned to the country for summer break the following year, and participated in the national beauty contest where she was crowned Miss Malaysia.
Michelle Khan (1984 – 1996)
The Hong Kong actress
Michelle began her acting career towards the end of her term as Miss Malaysia, when she was invited by billionaire studio head Dickson Poon to do a wristwatch commercial with Jackie Chan in Hong Kong. Michelle was then offered a film contract by D&B Films, owned by Dickson Poon and Sammo Hung.
While working with D&B Productions, she was introduced to the Western audience using a less Asian sounding surname, Michelle Khan. In 1985, Michelle starred in her first major action role with Yes, Madam alongside Cynthia Rothrock, a breakthrough film which sparked the birth of the “Girls with Guns” genre. Michelle soon developed a well-deserved reputation in the Hong Kong movie scene for her ability to perform difficult and dangerous stunts, forcing her way into the all-boys action film club.
She would star in three more movies with D&B Productions before marrying Dickson Poon in 1988, much to the delight of Hong Kong high society. Dedicating herself entirely to her marriage, Michelle retired from her acting career. “It wasn’t a hard decision because I saw marriage as a full existence. I see someone now like Emma Thompson or Kate Winslet, who can juggle their careers and their family life, but that felt beyond me then,” explained Michelle.
Police Story III: Supercop marked the return of Michelle to the world of acting. When the movie made it onto the big screen in the US in 1996, she was advised to keep the name Khan because many of her overseas fans knew her name as Khan from her earlier films.
My career in the movie business began in Hong Kong, my heart has always been tied to Asia, and it is immensely gratifying to see international recognition for Asian cinema as a whole.
