Hongkong crooner Sally Yeh, back with a new album, says she'll act for free for Zhang Yimou or Lee Ang

By Clara Chow

WHILE singer-actress Sally Yeh has made a musical comeback, her film career is still on ice.

The 41-year-old, who took five years off to enjoy marital bliss with mustachioed Hongkong crooner George Lam, has not received any film offers recently.

''I guess at that time I turned down too many offers. People got tired of hearing me say no,'' she said.

Her previous films include cult Hongkong works like The Killer and Peking Opera Blues.

But, she added with a tinkling laugh: ''If Zhang Yimou or Lee Ang asked me, I might do it for free.''

The 1.67-m-tall 1980s Cantopop star was in town for Channel 8's PSC Special variety show on Sunday night.

Despite the extensive media coverage on the show going head to head with Channel U's Ren Ci Charity Show in the same time slot, Yeh said she was not aware of the competition.

''I thought PSC was the only show in town,'' she said.

She also seemed surprised when told that Hongkong star Andy Lau was in town for the charity show. Eyes wide, she asked: ''I haven't seen him. Have you seen him?''

The singer also found time during her visit to promote her latest album, You've Heard.

The CD, which contains eight Cantonese tracks and two Mandarin ones, went on sale last month. While distributor EQ Music is unable to provide sales figures, the first single, Hurt, has spent three weeks on 93.3 FM's charts and is currently at No. 8.

At a press conference on Monday, she said she was making a comeback because she missed singing and her fans.

Looking sleek in a black denim jacket, black pants and diamante-trimmed beige top, she handled questions linking her return to showbusiness to her financial situation politely.

The Taiwan-born celebrity, who holds Canadian, British and Hongkong passports, replied in fluent Mandarin: ''My financial status is very stable. I'm not afraid of not having enough to eat.''

During a one-on-one interview with Life!, she chatted in English.

Asked about her two-record deal with company Music Icon, however, she was tight-lipped about the advance sum she was paid.

One thing she was constantly candid about is her marriage to Lam, 55. They wed in 1996, almost two years after he divorced his wife of 11 years, former record producer Ng Cheng Yuen.

Yeh's decision to quit the entertainment scene then was partly due to her reaching a musical impasse, and partly because of the well-publicised romance.

She said: ''I felt I wasn't helping myself by having more news about my personal life than my music.

''Now, I talk about my marriage because I have a good one and I can help people with relationship troubles.''

Motherhood, however, is not on the cards. Her husband already has two grown children.

She said: ''He's already been through Disneyland and growing pains. Would he want to do it after 10 years?''

During her hiatus, she kept busy by collecting miniature furniture like Le Corbusier chairs.

The devout Buddhist is equally sanguine when it comes to losing popularity to younger singers in her absence.

''Whether I was there or not, they'd have come up because they're talented in their own way. I want to go down gracefully.''

New acts which catch her fancy include Jay Chou, S.H.E. and F4. On Singapore songbird Stefanie Sun, Yeh stressed with a long-drawn vowel: ''She's cuu-te.''

But she declined to give the newcomer any advice: ''Maybe she should give me some. She's doing fine on her own.'