Mr Charles Chow Chan-lum, an Honorary Fellow of the Academy since 2017, has contributed significantly to the promotion and development of the Cantonese opera. He has been an active member of the Cantonese Opera Advisory Committee and the Cantonese Opera Development Fund Committee for many years, and was appointed Chairman of the Cantonese Opera Advisory Committee for 6 years from May 2010 to April 2016. Under his able leadership, he led the Committee to achieve its mission in facilitating further development of this heritage art form.

Mr Chow was the first chairman of the Hong Kong Inter-School Cantonese Operatic Singing Competition and an advisor to the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong, also known as Barwo. Mr Chow is also a Director of Lam Kar Sing Foundation Limited, and one of the chief editors for the 5 publications about Dr Lam Kar Sing, the renowned Cantonese opera singer. He was a researcher of “A Study of the Cantonese Opera Master Lam Kar Sing’s Vocal Techniques”, published by the Academy’s School of Chinese Opera.

A staunch and loyal supporter of the Academy, Mr Chow served on the Academy Council for 9 years, taking the role of treasurer of the Academy Council from 2010 through 2015. Mr Chow has provided invaluable advice to the Academy Chinese Traditional Theatre programmes, as well as to EXCEL, the Academy’s continuing-education arm, enhancing their overall development, curricula, and operations. He has also given dedicated support to the School of Chinese Opera and the Young Academy Cantonese Opera Troupe, contributing greatly to the extension of the School’s undergraduate degree programmes from 3 to 4 years.

Mr Chow has served as an external member of the School of Chinese Opera Advisory Committee since 2018, and was a production advisor on a film produced by the Academy on Cantonese opera in 2021. He served as a co-opted member of the Academy Development Committee from 2016 to 2019, and has been a board member of the Young Academy Cantonese Opera Troupe since 2016. Mr Chow is currently serving as a member of the Audit Committee and the EXCEL Board of Governors of the Academy. He has been a scholarship donor and a seat sponsor of the Academy SAPA Ball for many years.

With great commitment to give back to the community, he is currently a member of the Chinese finance ministry’s Foreign Experts Consultative Committee on China Independent Auditing Standards. He is also a member of the RTHK Programme Advisory Panel. Mr Chow was a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee for Guangdong Province; the deputy chairman of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Committee; an examination panelist of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants; former president of the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong; former chairman of the Chinese Entrepreneurs Organization; a former member of the Committee on Venue Partnership with the Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department; and the honorary advisor to the Lions Club of Huaxia Hong Kong.

Mr Chow is a certified public accountant in Hong Kong as well as a chartered accountant in Scotland. He graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1974. He was awarded a postgraduate diploma in accountancy from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, United Kingdom in 1975, and a postgraduate diploma in Chinese law from the University of Macau in 1987.

A renowned professional, Mr Chow has served on the boards of several publicly listed companies including an independent non-executive director and Audit Committee Chairman of Chinese Aerospace International Holdings Limited, an independent non-executive director of Pak Tak International Limited, an independent non-executive director of CEC Holdings Limited, and an independent non-executive director and Audit Committee Chairman of Maoye International Holdings Limited. In recognition of Mr Chow’s contributions to the community, he was awarded the Medal of Honour by the Hong Kong SAR government in 2013.