Creator of 'Lao Fu Zi' comic Alfonso Wong dies

[helen]

HONG KONG - Comic artist Alfonso Wong Kar Hei, who created the beloved "Lao Fu Zi" or Old Master Q comic series, has died, reported the Apple Daily and NetEase websites.

The Tianjin-born artist died on Jan 1 in the United States, said NetEase.

He died from natural causes, according to a statement released by OMQ ZMedia, the company that promotes and markets the Old Master Q comics and quoted by the website of Taiwan News.


Apple Daily reported that Wong was 93 years old while NetEase put his age at 92.

Wong, who moved to Hong Kong in 1956, has said: "My life is like comic strips, and I do my best to make Old Master Q, that is myself, to play the fool and entertain readers."

In 1962, Wong used his oldest son's name as a nom de plume to create the Old Master Q (Lao Fu Zi in Chinese) series, which appeared in newspapers and magazines.

Hong Kong people and fans abroad grew up reading the comic, which featured a cast starring Old Master Q, a mischievous, elderly and bespectacled man dressed in traditional Chinese attire.

The other regulars in the strip include Big Potato, Mr Chin and Miss Chan.

www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/creator-of-old-master-q-comic-alfonso-wong-dies?platform=hootsuite

[chansomvia]

A fantastic comic but many of his strips are about real life drawn in an entertaining way and captures the attention of the old and new, Chinese and non-Chinese readers. We shall miss him but brought many of his books with us when we moved to New Zealand. His jokes will never age. Off to Guangzhou and Taisan village on March 22 via Shanghai and back mid-April to await douglaslam arrival in New Zealand. Joe (how to enlarge font?) **************** Edit and use the Font size - cheers helen

[douglaslam]

Yes Joe, everything is on track for New Zealand in May. A friend last seen in 1975 will fly in from LA. She will spend a few days in Sydney, and then we both fly off for Auckland. In Auckland, her brother and his wife will fly in from Hong Kong. We'll stay at our mutual friend's place for a few day, see a little of the North Island and do a lot of eating. I'll meet up with Helen and her husband, naturally. Once I see my friends off back to LA and HK, my next stop is to South Island. It has been a few years in the making.

Lao Fu Zi 老夫子 was launched after I had left Hong Kong.http://www.oldmasterq.com/ Thus, I am not familiar with its early years. It was enormously popular. generations of kids grew up with it. There were movies cashing in on the comics popularity. The death of its creator will be mourned by the people of Hong Kong.

When I was working in Sydney's Chinatown through the 1980s, the place where I worked had newspapers, periodicals flown in daily from Hong Kong. Lao Fu Zi comics was always popular. I used to read every issue.

The decade I worked in Chinatown was the happiest years of my working life. I saw the growth of the Chinese community through two amnesties and the arrival of Indo-Chinese refugees. I made many friends, learned a lot about the Chinese community of old. Chinatown had a soul then, I knew almost every business house and old establishments.

Now, I know few people, Cantonese is not universal; it is just a tourism hub. I miss the past.

[helen]

Hi Douglaslam - email me later when you have the dates. I will ensure I have the time off work. Have penceilled in the time - in May