HOW ABOUT 90'S?

90's - far away so close, when some of us graduated from university, doubting about our future and identity like Hamlet's "to be or not to be": to be Yuppies, to be one of the “ME” generation or the grunge? Pro-life or pro-choice? Bush or Clinton?

It was when Macau policemen studied at the new wing of University of East Asia and we teased them for pretending to be “Top Gun” guys while Tom Cruise strived to prove his talent in “Born on the Fourth of July”. “Retired” Leslie Chueng returned and seduced Maggie Cheung in “Days of Being Wild”, saying he was a little bird without feet which had to keep flying. “Monica” was not his hit song but the intern having an affair with Bill Clinton!

We got our first jobs. We switched from jobs to jobs, pagers to mobile phones, cameras to digital models, bars/pubs to Taiwanese tea houses. We had several email addresses plus icq numbers. Telecommunication gave us a big hand and also kept us at arm's length; CD was too expensive, comparing with black plastic record and fake CD was a God's gift. Young men sang "That's Why You Go Away” and young women tried “Big Big World” in Karaoke.

We watched Japanese VCD, comparing “Long Vacation” with “Love Generation”. We watched how fairy tale ended when Princess Diana spoke about her broken marriage. Then She got a medal of “legend”, joining the queue of Wong Kar Cui and Kurt Cobain while Elton John sang “Candle in The Wind”. We watched how Madonna and Faye Wong got married, pregnant and divorced. We watched how the economy turned sour.

We learnt from reality bites. We fussed, cried, got drunk, sang, praised for true love or career or whatsoever we craved for or we kept searching. We realised “MARRIAGE IS NOT FOUR BARE LEGS IN A BED” or maybe “ALL PERFECT MEN WERE GAY” or “PERFECT MARRIAGE = YOUNG HUSBAND + OLD WIFE”. We were older but wiser, more anxious but stronger. In addition to sons/daughters, some of us have started playing more roles: We became husbands/wives, fathers/mothers or even divorcee.

It was our golden decade. “We live the lives we choose. We fight and never lose for we were young and sure to have our ways”.

If we are still young (at heart), we will have our ways.

A FOND FAREWELL – LESLIE WILL NEVER GROW OLD

I was washing dishes in the kitchen while I found Leslie’s smiling face on TV. I have been his fan since I was a kid. It was a piece of incredible news that made me want to call somebody. “Is there anyone I should call? “I kept thinking as if one of my relatives/friends has passed away. My autistic younger brother, Peter, a fan too will never comprehend this and it will be cruel to do so.

He went to Mandarin Hong Kong on purpose! He was suffering relationship/emotional problem? Love is so scary that it makes everything possible/impossible or shall I replace the word “love” with “depression”? Scary is human beings’ attitude towards anything which grants us licences to save/kill!

“When one door is closed, another is opened.” Then the entertainment industry/CD shops/record companies will earn “quick money” in addition to those supplying/selling N95/8210/3M face masks, boosting the dying economy in Hong Kong. While some people rush to pharmacy, others will run to CD shops. Leslie has closed his own door.

“Like beautiful women, the world isn’t allowed to watch heroes growing old” a famous Chinese saying or a curse, in fact. Leslie will never grow old. He will always be “Handsome Go Go”.

Being a perfectionist, that is what Leslie wants?