Chen Yi Ning, known in the West as Isabel Chan or Yat Ning Chan, is a Chinese actress based in Hong Kong. Yat Ning Chan is the Cantonese equivalent of her Mandarin Chinese name. She has been active as a Cantonese language performer since 1998 and has taken part in films, radio, television and advertising work. She was featured in several films directed by Pang Ho-Cheung, including the romantic comedy, Love in a Puff.
Until 2007, Isabel Chan was a full-time insurance broker. She has, however, modelled, acted on television and in advertising, and acted in Cantonese language films and videos from 1999; her acting debut was in 1998. As of 2018 she has continued to act in films. She has worked on Hong Kong Radio TV, making music videos.
Singing trio MKB48
Under her Mandarin Chinese name of Chen Yi Ning, she is part of a singing trio called MKB48, or Mega Karaoke Bitches 48, named because the trio wished to disband when they reach the age of 48 years. They have revived Legend, previously sung by Raidas in the 80s, and When I Think of You by Danny Chan. The remake of Legend has been described as the "song of the year... "is once again inflaming the hearts of fans." Legend was "a classic work of integrating Chinese musical instruments with the popular British new wave style of the 80s." As of May 2017, MKB48 was considering a tour, after a successful performance in Guangzhou. During a live broadcast performance by the trio, Isabel Chan appeared to accidentally throw a punch at one of the other girls, while executing a dance movement. She apologised and there were no complaints.
Filmography
As Yat Ning Chan, or Isabel Yat Ning Chan
In 1999, she was in The Truth About Jane and Sam directed by Derek Yee, and played Nurse Joe Chan in Fly Me to Polaris by Jingle Ma. In 2000, she performed in I.Q. Dudettes by Frankie Chan, What is a Good Teacher, And I Hate You So, and a video Fei hu xiong shi zhi Zhong Huan cha shi xiong sha an. In 2001 she was in Yau leng ching shu. In 2003, she starred as Gucci in the video Kung Fu Master is my Grandma! In that year, she did four The New Option videos: The Syndicate, The Final Showdown, The Campaign, and Confrontation, and a series of four more with Cantonese titles: Fei hu xiong shi zhi jiu shi zhe, Fei hu xiong shi zhi jie jin feng bao, Fei hu xiong shi zhi fu chou and Fei hu xiong shi zhi bian yuan ren in which she played Bibi. In 2004, she was in Sex and the Beauties and PaPa Loves You, and played a teenager outside the curio shop in The Miracle Box. In 2005, she played the lead, Lisa, in Set to Kill by Marco Mak, and was in the film, The China's Next Top Princess. In 2007, she played Wai-Ying in Trivial Matters, in the segment "It's a Festival Today," produced by Pang Ho-cheung. In 2008 she starred in a short, called Mr Right. She was in Lazy Hazy Crazy in 2015, and in Paws-Men in 2018.
As Isabel Chan
In 2003, she played Joey in Looking For Mister Perfect and Blind Chu's wife in Colour of the Truth. She starred as young Flavia in Butterfly by Yan Yan Mak in 2004. In 2005, she was in Dragon Reloaded, and in 2006 she played Fonda's bridesmaid in The Shopaholics by Wai Ka-fai. She played Isabel in a series of three films directed by Pang Ho-cheung: Love in a Puff, Love in the Buff and Love Off the Cuff.
As Chen Yi Ning
In 2019, she played the lead in Missbehavior directed by Pang Ho-cheung.
