Extract From The Book “108 Good Fellows” About Leslie (pages. 58 - 74)

Author: Jealousy
Published in Hong Kong in 2006

Translated by Daydreamer on 2006-11-09

Note from Daydreamer: Leslie is known to be a kind-hearted and caring person. What the author told us in this book once again proved how sweet he was. Dear Leslie, miss you much.

Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing – A Good Gorgor



I have got my mind set on Cheung Kwok Wing when I decided to write this book. He is someone in my life who has left behind many fragments. Too much recollection, yet too little space, but in any event I must write down a couple of good stories about him.

I admitted that I was partial towards Leslie, feeling always that he was someone who especially deserved our love.

Why?

Because he was good looking! Can’t help it, I am a girl too! Moreover, Cheung Kwok Wing’s beauty was both inside and out. He was the kind of unpretentious people who dared to speak up frankly. This superior quality, which was quite similar to mine, was highly appreciated. Thank you all for your appreciation.

Leslie was my buddy whom I got along with well. Although we did not spend a lot of time together (as a matter of fact, we did), every time when we met, we would keep chatting endlessly. We had many common viewpoints towards people and towards things. The Clipper Lounge in the Mandarin Hotel (that unforgettable Mandarin), The Café and Grand Hyatt were the places we loved to go. Whenever we chatted, it could last for at least a few hours, and on several occasions, it went on for over eight hours, that could almost break the Guinness World Records of the longest chat.

Although Leslie is not here anymore, however, this is an opportune moment to use this book to record some encounters I have had with him in the past, so that in future I may read them over and over again.

I have known Cheung Kwok Wing for many years. The impression he gave me has changed a great deal since I first met him – from someone whom I did not like at the beginning, to someone whom I appreciated a lot afterwards. Putting it in a more old-fashioned way, our acquaintance started because of predestination….

In 1977, Cheung Kwok Wing and I were neighbours. Both of us lived in Conduit Road in Central. He lived in No. 41 and I in No. 62 right across him. I always ran into him at the swimming pool of the estate complex where he lived. We were not acquainted at that time. I merely recognized him as one of the actors in Rediffusion Television.

To be honest, the Cheung Kwok Wing at that time was not someone whom I appreciated. I only thought that he was quite “good looking”. It never occurred to me that later he would become such an unforgettable good friend of mine.

Our first acquaintance happened at the hospital. At that time, my grandfather suffered from an acute illness and was admitted to a double-bedded ward in the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital. I often went there to visit him. One day, at the hospital I unexpectedly ran into Cheung Kwok Wing as his father happened to be sharing the same room with my grandfather. We started to say “Hi” and “Bye”. Since then, my impression on this “good looking” guy started to change. He often went to the hospital to visit his father, staying there from early in the morning until dawn. He was a son who truly showed filial obedience and devotion.

In the 80’s, when Cheung Kwok Wing sparkled in the music world, I was working in the Public Relations Department of the Commercial Radio dealing daily with singers and entertainers from various entertainment companies. Because of our jobs, we finally ran into each other again. However, each time I could only manage to steal a look at him as a “fans” did. We did not come forward to recognize each other as Leslie was already a superstar after all. I did not want people to say that I was trying to pretend that I knew him. That would be very embarrassing.

Until one day, Leslie came to the Commercial Radio to promote his record. We just exchanged a simple “Hello”. After I introduced myself, Leslie was surrounded by the reporters again as usual. The next day, Leslie came to the Commercial Radio again to be interviewed. Unexpectedly, he took the initiative to look for me which really made me feel extremely happy. This superstar was really friendly! At that time, I knew that he would be my friend.

Afterwards, when we brought up the topic about our past, he said that for a long time he had already recognized me, this long-time old neighbour, and he even remembered the anecdotes of the swimming pool and the hospital. Unable to restrain from ridiculing me, he said with a smile, “Why did you always take a huge portable radio when you went to the pool to have a sunbath? You were quite “obsolete”!”

Ha ha, he really recognized me, if I wasn’t that “obsolete”, how would I attract your attention?

Cheung Kwok Wing – A Shocking and Sad Decision

In 1989, Cheung Kwok Wing announced his retirement!

At that time, I was stunned after hearing the news that he, such a popular superstar at the peak of his singing career, chose to retire so unexpectedly. In addition to feeling pity and regrettable, I also admired his courage to be able to put aside the fame and gain in order to retire so freely and easily. Leslie really was unique.

At that time, his decision was a big shock to all his friends.

I remember that once Leslie mentioned to me that he was prepared to retire from the music world. I thought he was merely joking. I felt dubious about it. When he told me the reasons to do so, I was of course speechless and my mood was complex. Afterwards, I did not pursue the issue any further.

Then after several weeks, Michael Lai held a Hat’s Party at the Regent Hotel in Tsimsatsui. When Leslie arrived knowing that Commercial Radio was being invited as one of the guests there, he came directly to my table and took me to a quiet corner. He gripped my hand tightly and softly told me, “I am going to announce my retirement from the music world tonight!”

Although he intentionally acted as if he was very relaxed and at ease, however, his tense facial expression could not be hidden. For me who sat right beside him got stunned immediately. I doubted if I had listened to what he said correctly. I could not imagine Leslie not singing, not standing on the stage any more. My heart shouted out loud, “What happens, Leslie? Are you just kidding?”

But after Leslie finished performing on the stage, in front of all the reporters, he announced that he would be retiring from the music world soon. My heart immediately turned cold.

That’s impossible. My heart kept asking, “Why?” So what he had told me earlier was true. I really was a fool!

After the announcement was made, Leslie came down the stage. He came and held me, I could feel his hands shaking. I believed that for him, that was a very important decision.

The most unexpectedly thing was Leslie had told me a month’s ago about his secret in advance.

I remember at that time, when Leslie knew that he would play in the movie “Farewell to My Concubine”, he was very excited. The day after he received that news, he immediately came to me and told me about the good news while holding my hands. Besides feeling happy for Leslie, I felt most grateful to him for trusting me so much, that really flattered me.

Therefore, although I had mixed feelings after hearing his retirement from the music world, as an old friend, I would respect his decision and forever support him!

Cheung Kwok Wing – A Hard-to-Come-By Gorgor

Some of my friends once expressed their jealousy towards me for working in Commercial Radio and being able to deal with so many stars every day and even befriend with some great ones. Although they could not see the blood and tears I had shed, frankly speaking I was really satisfied with this “privileged job”.

However, after I had been to Leslie’s house, I discovered that there was a job much better than my “privileged job”.

To be Leslie’s house assistant was the most privileged job in the world. They all received exceptionally good treatment that could not be found anywhere else. Surely “working for you [Leslie] is much better than to be a boss oneself”!

Having been to different houses of Leslie’s, no matter in Hong Kong or in Vancouver, they all resembled those of famous interior designers. Every little detail in the house could reveal the taste of the master.

But what interested me most was his house assistants’ resting place. The rooms were comfortably decorated and beautifully painted. One could tell that they were especially designed, and the other ordinary house assistants’ resting places could not be compared. Moreover, most of their electrical appliances were B&O products. In my house, the only B&O product was a telephone! How I envy them.

Seeing that, the thought of changing my job came to me, so I asked Leslie immediately, “Is there anything I can possibly do for you? Do hire me as your house assistant!”

He lightly tapped on my face and said, “House assistants are members of the family too, I of course treat them like my family.” He continued, “I designed all my houses personally no matter which one it was, matching the colour, setting the furniture, etc. and of course, that would include my house assistants’ rooms. However, since they work here and this is their home, I therefore have to discuss the design with them [Is it necessary to discuss and let them have a say? I would be so touched if you merely gave it to me]. After the decoration was done, I would ask them, “Do you like it?” to see whether they liked it or not.”

Leslie frankly said that many of the foreign maids were university graduates with profound education, like the one who worked in his house was originally a dentist, but due to her country’s economic depression, she had difficulty in finding a job, so she had to leave her home to come and work overseas. Actually they all had many bitter stories that no one knew.

Therefore Leslie was especially kind to them, treating the maids as his family members, trying his best to let them have a comfortable home, making them feel happy in their jobs, and if they were not happy about their jobs, Leslie would feel bad himself. He truly had treated them with respect.

It was quite unbelievable that the Cheung Kwok Wing who was most loved and adored on stage could sometimes be so caring and kind; but the Cheung Kwok Wing off stage was truly like that, he was never arrogant. No matter it was his family, friends, driver, or house assistants, he would treat them equally. Even towards his maids’ rooms, something so unimportant, he would care about that too. In my mind, Leslie was simply a monster, a beautiful monster.

Cheung Kwok Wing – A Sincere and Kind-Hearted Gorgor

One day after I immigrated to Vancouver, I received a phone call from Leslie in Hong Kong. From the other end of the line, it came his serious voice asking only one question, “You should have known so-and-so pretty well? What do you think of him?”

This so-and-so was a behind-the-scene person whom Leslie knew well. I also knew this person and understood his character well, however, it was someone whom I did not want to talk about, so I merely said, “Sorry…No comment!”. In less than a second, I sensed the key point of it, I then asked, “How much have you been cheated?”

But Leslie merely said, “Money does not stand for everything. What I’ve lost are “friendship” and “trust”. Because of his kindness, Leslie never said anything bad about that person, not even a sentence, nor had he announced that person’s wrongdoing to the public. He just said lightly, “Okay, I understand. The only thing I can do is to understand this person anew.”

Understand this person anew? You should terminate your friendship with that person soonest. There wasn’t any need to understand anew?

Leslie, you were too kind!

Cheung Kwok Wing – A Gorgor who Cherished and Cared about His Friends

Leslie was always generous to his friends. He was never calculative towards them. All these years, I had requested him many times for help because of our friendship, and Leslie never said “no” because all those requests were within his ability.

In 1994, in a personal capacity, I was responsible for the administrative work in promoting Sandy Lam’s second heat song ‘The Naked Secret”.

After Sandy and I had a heated argument for four long hours over the long distance phone, I finally managed to persuade her to do a drama version to be broadcast in the radio. When I was worrying about whom I should pick to play the male role, a familiar name emerged in my mind: Cheung Kwok Wing!

Wasn’t Leslie the most suitable candidate?

But at that time, Leslie had already been retired from the music world, could that be possible?

I had to give it a shot!

Leslie always loved Sandy dearly. I remember that once Leslie made a special trip to Taipei. He called me and Sandy from the lobby of the hotel saying that he would like to come up to our room to inquire about Sandy’s status after hearing that she was upset about her career. Leslie spent almost half a day in the room talking about this issue, so based on their friendship, Leslie would do it….

I therefore called Leslie in Vancouver and told him about my plan. Leslie agreed without any hesitation. He even said sweetly, “No problem, since you asked.” This really made me very happy. To match our recording schedule, on his way to Singapore he even made a special trip to Hong Kong and stayed there for one night.

Leslie asked me to book in advance the CBS Recording Studio, as well as the recording engineer Ah Chuk. Everything was prepared and ready, all we needed was Leslie.

On the night of recording, Leslie arrived punctually as usual.

I asked him whether he had any comments on the script. Leslie said he did not have any problem with it basically. No change was required because he respected the efforts of the scriptwriter. That night, we only recorded Leslie’s monolog (as Sandy was in the States shooting the cover for the record) and the recording processed smoothly.

Having received such a big present from Leslie, Sandy of course had to thank him for his kind help. Who would know that after Sandy finished shooting the record cover, she could not wait but flew directly to Vancouver to thank Leslie personally. They met for dinner in Vancouver, then on impulse, drove to Lee Chung Sing’s [Sandy Lam’s ex-husband] studio, borrowed some recording equipment and re-recorded the whole song again, that became the final version found in Sandy’s Medley Album.

Leslie had helped many people, and Sandy was only one of them.

It looked simple to record that tape, however, in fact there were many difficulties behind it since Leslie had already retired from the music world, so for him to do something relating to music seemed was an act of self-contradictory. He as a result had to face a lot of pressure. However, Leslie indeed loved and cared about Sandy, he did not care how other people looked at him. Once again, he was ready to sacrifice.

Just like that, we could feel how much Leslie cared about friends!