Hong Kong's 'Madonna' dies, aged 40

The Chinese-speaking world was yesterday mourning the death of the woman known to many as Asia's greatest diva - the singer and actress, Anita Mui.

The hugely-popular entertainer died in a Hong Kong hospital just four months after revealing that she had cervical cancer and declaring that she would win her fight. against it.

The loss of that battle stunned an army of fans who followed every detail of a career which began with singing in night clubs at the age of four and which ended at the age of 40.

Although cut tragically short, her career embraced a formidable body of work. Her break came in 1982, when she won a talent singing contest. She went on to make 39 albums in Mandarin, Japanese and, above all, Cantonese, delivered in her strikingly deep voice. In her first decade as a professional, she sold some 10m albums and won critical acclaim as an actress.

She starred in movies alongside the likes of Jackie Chan, the actor and Kung Fu king. After her death, he appeared on Hong Kong television to pay tribute to his co-star and friend. "She didn't belong to the entertainment industry," he said, "She belonged to all Hong Kong people."

The image which the unmarried Ms Mui crafted for herself incorporated being the alluring queen of "Cantopop", and a fashion icon - she was dubbed Hong Kong's Madonna because she was constantly having make-overs - with work as a serious and dedicated philanthropist and pro-democracy campaigner.

She was increasingly active in raising money for cancer, an illness that also claimed the life of her elder sister, Mui Oi-fong, in 2000. Just over a fortnight ago, crowds gathered to see her at a fundraiser for her book,

The Heart of the Modern Woman, an exploration of love and relationships from the profits went to the Children Cancer Foundation. But she was too ill to attend.

The impact of her death was reflected in the response of Hong Kong's newspapers. They flooded the streets with special commemorative editions, with photos of the Asian stars who streamed into her hospital to see her before her death - they included Andy Lau, Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Sammi Cheng and the Bond girl Michelle Yeoh - and accounts of her final efforts to defy her illness with a series of concerts in November. One Cantonese radio station paid tribute by broadcasting her music non-stop.