Miriam Yeung: A look at the prolific Hong Kong singer and actress as she turns 46

As Hong Kong entertainer Miriam Yeung Chin-wah turns 46 today, we look back at a few of her biggest achievements in a career spanning almost 25 years.

The singer-actress, who is also a registered nurse, was named one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Persons" by the Junior Chamber International Hong Kong in 2005.

The Geneva-based Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids also appointed her as a special representative to promote HIV prevention and treatment.

MUSIC CAREER TAKES OFF

Yeung joined the entertainment industry after coming third place in the annual New Talent Singing Awards competition in 1995, which was co-organised by Hong Kong television broadcaster TVB and the now-defunct Capital Artists record company.

Fellow singers Sammi Cheng Sau-man, Eason Chan Yick-shun and Denise Ho Wan-sze are among other entrants who became popular artists after taking part in the competition over the years.

In a music career that has spanned almost a quarter of a century, Yeung has released more than 35 Cantonese and Mandarin albums, earning her numerous top female artist awards.

She has toured the world and performed to fans in mainland China and in countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, the United States and Canada.

Some of her biggest award-winning hits include Teenage Girl's Prayer (2000), Sister (2001), Unfortunately I'm an Aquarius (2003) and Small City, Big Things (2004).

VERSATILE PERFORMER 

As well as being a successful singer, Yeung has also been active in film and television and has starred in about 40 films.

She won the best actress gong at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards in 2013 for her leading role in romantic comedy Love in the Buff (2012).

In the film Yeung plays Cherie Yu, who has broken up with her boyfriend only to discover that they have both relocated to Beijing to start new lives.

In the Chinese capital, they find they cannot let go of their shared past even though they try dating other partners.

Yeung is also well known for her role in Little Big Master (2015) as a headmistress who single-handedly educates five remaining students in a rundown kindergarten.

"The reason I really wanted to do this film was because it reminded me of values that we might have forgotten: what does it mean to respect teachers and care for students? Is there anything more important than children? I hope this film can wake people up to the importance of education," she said in an interview.

A CHILD OF HER OWN

Yeung and public relations executive Real Ting Chi-ko married in Las Vegas in 2009 and welcomed the arrival of their son Torres Ting three years later, when Yeung was 38.

Before naming the newborn, they referred to him as RMB - short for Real-Miriam-Baby and renminbi. They later named him Torres, after Spanish footballer Fernando Torres.

Soon after giving birth, Yeung spoke about the societal pressure to lose the weight she gained in pregnancy, which she jokingly blamed on her husband.

"Everyone else can laugh about my chubbiness, but not my husband. He is partly to blame for the extra weight I've gained," Yeung joked. She had always been the prettiest girl in Ting's eyes, she added.​