The Golden Bell Awards, an annual Taiwanese television production awards ceremony, marked its 54th year on Oct. 5, 2019.

One of the most touching moments, which was the highlight of the night, was when veteran Taiwanese host Chang Hsiao-yen received the lifetime achievement award.

Chang received a standing ovation when she went on stage.

Spent almost her entire lifetime in showbiz

The 71-year-old Chang has spent close to her entire lifetime -- a whopping 66 years -- in the entertainment industry.

Chang debuted as a child actress when she was five years old.

In 1958, she won her first Best Child Actress award at the Asia Pacific Film Festival -- a feat she repeated as she won the next subsequent two years as well.

While most know her as a television host, Chang has been an actress, radio DJ, and even a managing director of television channels.

In total, she has acted in 67 films, 1,005 television series episodes and hosted 8,128 episodes of shows, as well as major ceremonies, such as Golden Horse Awards (five times) and Golden Bell Awards (four times).

She has been nominated 16 times for the Best Host award and bagged six of them.

Incredible figure

Chang has definitely been an irreplaceable and incredible figure in the entertainment industry, touching the lives of many colleagues that she has worked with.

A compilation of interviews screened during the ceremony summarised Chang as a hardworking, humble, caring, and insightful veteran.

She was said to not compromise her core values for easy views, and has mentored many junior artistes, such as her two disciples ⁠— Bu Xue Liang and Mickey Huang.

In the introduction, Bu shared that Chang told him that he would be performing till 50 years old at the time when he debuted at around 23 years old.

Bu did not believe he would last so long and now he is already 54.

Bu added that Chang always spreads positivity to the people around her.

Many celebrities have also been sharing photos taken with Chang in response to a campaign #一人一張小燕姐, started by Huang to express appreciation towards her.

The hashtag is translated as #1Person1PhotoWithYen

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3J_DZMlC_T/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3PmkoJlcXX/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3MLWnZDp6J/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3OfvKCHnL-/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3L0LarBnQ8/

Sharing award with 94-year-old mum

Chang's 94-year-old mother made a special appearance on stage to share the moment, even though Chang said that she refused to appear on any of her variety shows.

Chang thanked her mother for bringing her to watch films when Chang was only two years old, as well as accompanying her to shoots back then.

Chang said that her mother has a high emotional quotient, as she often claimed that she does not watch any television programmes.

Chang then revealed that her mother said so because she did not want to make Chang feel bad for not doing well. 

Neither did she want to make Chang feel arrogant when she then became successful.

Chang also thanked her dad who taught her to be a respectable person who takes her work seriously, to hold high standards of herself and to be kind to others.

Moving thank you speech

In her speech, Chang said that "it felt quite good to be receiving the award while she is alive" and she is proud to have her two disciples, Bu and Huang, on stage with her.

She proceeded to thank everyone for loving her and expressed gratitude for those who made it possible for her to pursue her passion this far.

Chang recalled that there were many moments in life she felt anxious about losing her job.

However, she was fortunate enough to be given the chance to host successful variety, shows such as Super Sunday (超级星期天), Million-Dollar Class (百万小学堂) and SS Hsiao-yen Night (SS小燕之夜).

These shows had also tided her through difficult times in life, such as picking up Million-Dollar Class at around 60 when she was really devastated by the passing of her father and husband.

She thanked the television audience whom she described as "fickle-minded lovers" for tuning to her shows, as well as special guests, production crews for supporting her through the years.

Lastly, the speech ended with a rather poignant note as Chang bade goodbye to everyone and hoped to meet them again if fate allows.

You can watch the entire segment here:

Top photo from screenshot from 2019 54th Golden Bell Awards YouTube video.