This is the 76th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades.

Over the past decade, many Hong Kong entertainers have ventured across the border into the lucrative mainland Chinese market. Kay Tse On-kay, however, remains anchored in her hometown.

The Cantopop singer launched her “Tidal” world tour in late 2025 to mark her 20th anniversary in the industry, and there are plans to bring the celebrations back to Hong Kong in the near future.

Perhaps this dedication to her birthplace comes from Tse’s own background. Born in 1977, she was an only child raised in Wang Fuk Court, the housing estate in Tai Po, in the New Territories, that was devastated by a fire tragedy in 2025.

She began playing the piano at age six, and she attended Valtorta College, a secondary school in Tai Po, where she scored 21 points in her 1994 Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination.

Tse studied translation and linguistics at the Open University of Hong Kong – now Hong Kong Metropolitan University – before transferring in 2002 to the University of Hong Kong. There she was discovered by composer and lyricist Adrian Chow Pok-yin after winning a singing contest.

After graduating in 2005, she released the independently produced studio album Kay One. Most of the tracks were written and composed by Chow.