thoughts

I was browsing through some old articles and found this beautiful piece of thought by Lee Hom about Leslie Cheung who committed suicide on 1 April 2004 -- which first I thought it was some lame April Fool's joke. I got called from my auntie in HK and told me about this, I was actually laughing, 'till I saw the news that it was actually true.. It was a shocking news indeed -- I reviewed one of his movies "Happy Together" where he played as gay couple with Tony Leung as my last assignment back in uni. I wasn't a follower of his works, but I think he was or yet is still an Asian legend, which I think his movie "Farewell My Concubine" is one hell of good movie.

Uncle Leslie, you are dearly miss ...

It is so important that we tell one another how much we love them. Each person that we meet in life is a chance coincidence, and a unique encounter. Each person that we meet in life is a
living, breathing, loving human being. We often forget that dimension, don’t we?
It’s easier for use to categorize people and see their surfaces only, as suits
and ties, as record company staff, as fans, as stars, as Americans, as Iraqis.

We are all the same. We are all so weak and vulnerable, lonely and sad.
We are all twisted and sick, misunderstood and in pain. Yet we live for those
moments of parting clouds and warm smiles. I believe that each encounter with
another human being is a chance to create these moments, and am more convinced
today than ever, that "breaking the ice" and disarming our fellow human beings
of their fears and isolation is the key to letting us live in harmony. We should
all be able to be ourselves, and connected at the same time.

Leslie was beautiful, rich, talented, successful .. we all adored him. I can’t
imagine why he would, of all people, feel the desire to end that life. Yet
at the same time, I can. It’s so easy to fall so subtly down into that black
hole, to get consumend by the darkness, and before you realize what has
happened, you’re trapped inside. We all know the darkness. It comes and it
takes a hold of you like you haven’t got a say in the matter. It controls you.

Everytime I end up there, I am luckily pulled out by something, ..
anything, and lot, I wake up as if from a dream. The darkness is gone
without a trace, and I’m free. And in retrospect, I always find it funny how
simple and easy it was to get out. It is simple, and a lot simpler, when you
have people who are with you in your life. I’m not just talking about a
wife, or a girlfriend, but more so about the guy who works the counter at
the 7 eleven, the taxi driver, the guy behind me in line at customs … Eash
is a chance to help each other stay free and in touch with ourselves, to
nourish the living, breathing, loving human beings inside the superficial
shells of our bodies. Each is an opportunity for a parting cloud.

We come into this world alone. We leave alone. But in the meantime, we
are here together. Let’s try and function like a network, a team, a family, and
communicate with one another, because each of us is a part of the whole.

-extract from Lee Hom’s thought on Leslie Cheung death in April 2004-