It's on September 20, 1964, that Cheung Man-yuk was born in Hong Kong. At the age of 8, her family moved to England, where she began her school education. She frequently talked about feeling odd, as she was the only Asian student on the premises. But after finishing secondary school, she went back to Hong Kong, only to find that she couldn't understand a word of the language spoken, continuing her strange feeling of alienation. In a very short while, she began shooting TV ads and did some modeling. Maggie's big break came with her participation in the Miss Hong Kong Pageant in 1983. Her success in the contest would make her a potential candidate for the Miss World Pageant of the same year. Of course, after all this, there was just one logical step to take: learn to be a comedienne. Like any young actress debuting in the Hong Kong film industry at the time, Maggie shot many insipid comedies at first, with awkwardly translated English titles: The Frog Prince, It's a Drink It's a Bomb, Happy Ghost 3, Happy Fat New Year, Love Hungry Suicide Squad, Double Causes Trouble, etc.