Ms Lai learned to sing laments as a child and began to teach lament singing to her friends and neighbours in 2003. In 2015, Ms Lai collaborated with the South China Research Center of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to organise the Fisherfolk’s Lament Conservation Project, and began to train up future lament singers with the support of the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust and the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office. Since then, Ms Lai and her students practice singing regularly through their Lament Workshops.
Ms Lai and her students have performed lament singing in various public occasions, including the Asia Ethnic Cultural Performance organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in 2016, the Heritage Connect – Sing a Long Song organised by Radio Television Hong Kong in 2018, and Singing Nanyin as We Go@Dukling organised by the Gong Strikes One in 2019.