Matt Chow Hoi-kwong was born in Hong Kong on 4 August 1968 and is nicknamed Uncle Beach. A screenwriter, director and host on Commercial Radio's second channel, he grew up in Lai King Estate in Kwai Chung, the son of a seaman. He studied arts subjects at a Kwai Chung secondary school but was nearly expelled in his second year, and only a form teacher's threat to resign kept him there until the fourth year; after poor results and conduct he repeated the year at a Delia Memorial school and finished secondary five, then worked as a transport labourer and a document courier. In 1989 Joe Ma brought him into Television Broadcasts as a lighting assistant, and he soon became a trainee writer at Asia Television. Introduced to Commercial Radio by Sandra Ng, he co-hosted the cult chat show on Channel 903 with Ng, and hosted the late-night programme Night Open with Grace Yip and another presenter, plus an Asia Television variety show with Lily Lee and Choi Kwok-wai, becoming one of the station's best-known voices. He spent many lean years in film, once borrowing to get by, yet wrote for producers such as Wai Ka-fai, Johnnie To, Peter Chan and Joe Ma, his credits including Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1997), Shanghai Grand (1996), Bio Zombie (1998) and Golden Chicken (2002). In 2014 he wrote and directed Golden Chicken S, continuing the series. He later stepped back from radio to host the online channel Three Uncles' Park, and still takes part in stage work and scriptwriting. He is known above all for urban romantic comedies and for shaping the nineties Cantonese talk-show persona.
Chow made his name through late-night radio chat and urban comedy: his long-running Commercial Radio shows shaped a very Hong Kong brand of motormouth humour, and in film he wrote grounded dialogue for Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 and Golden Chicken before taking over the Golden Chicken series as writer-director, extending the earthy vitality of Sandra Ng's character.
Achievements
- 1989 · Joined Television Broadcasts with Joe Ma's help, beginning his screenwriting career before moving to Asia Television.
- 1997 · Wrote the screenplay for Too Many Ways to Be No. 1, directed by Wai Ka-fai.
- 2014 · Wrote and directed Golden Chicken S, continuing the Golden Chicken series.