2003 was a very difficult year for Hong Kong people... SARS happened. I recall having to take one of the most important public exams of my life the CE (O-level equivalent) exam. I have prepared for this since the beginning of high school because all stakes were on it, so I believed. With less in-class prep and an early release to stay-at-home self study. We took the exam with our mask on for the entire month pretty much. A not so pleasant novelty. I recall in our house we started the 1:99 ratio of bleach and water that was recommended for cleaning your floors etc and still worried you might get it. I luckily didn't live near the epicenter of the epidemic, ergo my family did not suffer the physical distress of getting it but also the decreasing cost of property there. This was all while the government was pushing to enact article 23 regarding national security laws. The focus was of course swiftly changed but not forgotten.
And in the midst of that, on the 1st April, April fools, the news that our beloved singer and actor Leslie Cheung took his own life became a rumor that I heard over ICQ but swiftly denied due to its ironic timing, like everyone did. By the end of the day, the local news confirmed the tragic demise and the mood of the whole of Hong Kong further plummeted. We still can't ascertain what was the real cause he jumped off Mandarin Oriental. He was at the peak of his career, very much in love. His last movie was a bit of a psychological thriller that may have messed with his mind a little. The least convincing rumor was that he found out he had aids. Either way it was heart breaking no matter what the reason was. I recall weeping as the TV showed the procession of his coffin leaving the ceremony venue and made a small march around for fans to say goodbye. Melancholic and melodic songs went on loop for a while and to be honest reverberated for the next 20 years.
That year, contrastingly and personally I did quite well, unscathed in the CE exam and went onto keep my place at the secondary school for A Levels. Not all students could. And students across the town had to have their their temperatures checked daily before entering the school premise to ensure SARs was really gone. Just as we thought it couldn't get worse, another bright super star was taken from us- Anita Mui of cervical Cancer. She was so stubborn that life without children was no way to live, and perhaps she wanted to reunite with her dear friend Leslie in their version of Heaven. Playing mahjong with the other greats. Needless to say I cried like a baby again.
The national security law seemed naturally not the government's priority and we all floated through life sans SARS almost unscathed. But life like karma, can be a bitch. In 2008 the economy crashed and we all had to figure things out other then this controversial national security law. Great we bought some time. We would regrow, Obama would help us and we will try to get out of this shit hole. But then 2014 rolled by real fast with many local issues still unsolved. Extortionary housing. Inflation that couldn't be matched by salary increase. While people started to Occupy Wallstreet, we started to occupy Central. I as a grad student on the other side of the world getting my masters thought students shouldn't give up their education which is an important part pf fighting this phenomenon. But it was good to know many political and legal academic pit tents on the road to tutor his student, The civil disobedience led to creative protest ways such as the incredibly beautiful Lennon wall. Students kept erecting signs for democracy and freedom of speech on the Lion Rock Mountain. They hiked up there and hand in had with lights portrayed their hope towards all this. And lit Astrology torches to laugh at the governments harsh sift of political dissents. They cleaned up after every protest. Little did we know a worse phase of the movement will come to haunt us. In 2016 they kidnapped bookstore owner which I recall was very irate about it. And then in 2019 they wanted to enact the extraditing law and the national security law which vaguely states how terrorism, subversion and secession can entail jail time. Countless protesters were assaulted by triads bribed by the government. The latter law is now enacted and has made residents scared of what they can say and whether the city has redeeming qualities to keep living there.
Going back to my personal life, 1st of Aprils has always bee dedicated to the tragedy of Leslie Cheung's. But every since I got married, and that my mother in law's birthday falls on that day, I now have this new ritual of spending time with her and getting to know her more. As a mom, I no longer have a lot of time to properly mourn Leslie, but I am happy that now on this day of the year it will finally be spent in the warm company of my Canada fam bam. No matter how grim previous April Fools have been, its imperative to know we must charge on and continue the abstract yet beautiful life of Leslie Cheung, our OG, our MVP.
I'm not one to be believe in reincarnations (I am somewhat Catholic) but the day before my daughter Celeste was born, James Redford whom I have had the pleasure to work with him in on a non-profit film premiere passed away. A part of me that wants to believe someone as benevolent like him can be our daughters Celeste's guiding angel, to find the things she holds dearly to her. Twenty four hours of labor and an emergency c-section after and... this COVID baby was here. And in case you don't know, its hard having a COVID baby. The sanitation levels are incredibly high and stressing. And the economy is crap.
COVID crippled the world pandemic has once again challenged us as communities to really pact ourselves back together, carefully gauge the trend, smartly strategize and have faith and be a responsible global citizen, get vaccinated, ideally the fourth booster too and we can strengthen the herd immunity. We need to examine the overlap of the three problems of: COVID, Climate Change and Classism.
20 years reflection: No matter how hard you can try and work, there will still be relatively poor, uneducated and hence unclean people that need our help in improving things before in expands into a global pandemic. When it does happen, we need to bravely band together and achieve herd immunity through vaccinations. In the long run, we need to stop Asian hate through educational community discussion. Now matter how dedicated you are with your dream job, sometimes systemic oppression means resigning to find better work. It might take months of job searching, applying and interviewing etc, but you get to really reflect and explore yourself and ask the questions: Where do you want to be in 5 years? Or like me, ask the where do you see yourself in 10 years. A teacher? A novelist? A content writer? The sky's the limit and as long as your work aligns with your core values and our core values as a community is robust, there's so many things we can do. Michelle Yeoh won best actress! So come on everyone! Let's get motivated!
So let's get started!
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