Reminiscence
There's so much to write about Leslie that it's hard to
put all down in words. 46 years of life is not a short period and
there's no way one can best and fully document Leslie's life
story except the man himself. However, there are definitely some
milestones in Leslie's life that I feel are most memorable and
had left a very deep impression in me. So let me start with the
year...
1977
I wasn't even born yet when Leslie came into the entertainment
industry after winning the first runner-up title in a singing
competition. He was very much a fresh rookie and inexperienced in
the way the entertainment industry worked. It wasn't a smooth
road to success for Leslie. He had been booed at when he
performed on stage; he had been misunderstood several times due
to his straightforward personality. Leslie had earmarked this
period as the time where he still had a 'chicken voice', a
reference to his powerless and high-pitched singing vocal.
1983
It was the year Leslie first tasted sweet success after eight
years of hardship in the industry. He was finally being accepted
by the picky public as he had beautifully and skillfully sung the
song, 'Wind Continues To Blow'. His singing skills had improved
tremendously, able to go through a repertoire of songs with ease
and confidence. Finally, his hard work had paid off, and there
was no turning back for him... until...
1989
By this time, Leslie's singing skills had progressed to a higher
level and he sounded so good, so professional. Thus, it really
came as a shock to the music industry, especially his fans that
he announced that the 1989 concerts would be his farewell
concerts. No one really knew why he had made such a decision
until some time later, he revealed that he had received offerings
for the dead during the past years. One can only imagine how
uneasy and upset he must have felt to receive such things... In
that concert, he had not bothered to hide his sadness and had
openly shed tears while singing his renowned song 'Wind Continues
To Blow' I too cried with him when I saw that. It is hard to let
go of some things which you have worked so hard for... And Leslie
had to go through that pain.
1990-1996
During these years, Leslie had taken things at a slow pace,
resting in Canada where he had a very carefree life. Besides
enjoying his carefree life in Canada, he had also done another of
his favourite activity: acting. He had acted in twenty-two movies
in these seven years, among which he was more widely recognized
for his roles in 'Days of Being Wild' (which he has won the title
of 'Best Actor' in Hong Kong's equivalent to the Oscar Awards),
and in 'Farewell My Concubine' (which catapulted him to
international fame). That period must be one of his happiest
days...
1995
Leslie made a comeback in the music industry, with a much more
powerful vocal! That must have thrilled his fans for they had
been waiting for Leslie to sing again. Of course, he had been
criticized for going against his words that he would never sing
again when he had his farewell concert in 1989. I would say that
these people should be grateful that they could hear Leslie sing
again. Two years later, Leslie held his first concert in Hong
Kong Coliseum after eight years of 'retirement'. Oh yeah, Leslie
still looked great at the age of fourty. In fact, I simply loved
how he looked on the album cover of his comeback album,
'Fondness' --- so blissful and innocent.
2000
This was the year which Leslie had suffered the most. He was
badly and unjustly criticized by the media and critics for his
Passion Tour concerts. His Passion Tour concerts had been deemed
by the Hong Kong critics as being a X-rated performance, what
with him donning a skirt and sporting long hair. They failed to
take into consideration that this was altogether a totally
different standard set for future concert performances: it has
progressed to offer the best visual and audio presentations, with
a perfect blend of stage costumes and stage settings. Not many
people seemed to appreciate the hard work he had put in for this
Passion Tours except his fans, friends, family members and his
concert crew. He had taken the critics' bad remarks on his
Passion Tour concerts to his heart so much so that he started to
suffer signs of Depression...
2002
Leslie delivered yet another splendid performance in his role as
a psychologist in the movie, 'Inner Senses'. Rumours had it that
Leslie had gotten too engrossed in this role and was unable to
pull himself out of this role. There were also rumours about him
being possessed by dead spirits. Although Leslie never really
admitted that he suffered from Depression, it had became apparent
to some of his close friends that he had the telltale signs of
Depression. And with the influx of acid from his stomach to his
throat affecting his vocal cords, it had brought a tremendous
blow to Leslie, the perfectionist, as he felt that he wasn't able
to sing as well as he could in the past. This had definitely
aggravated his condition.
2003
The final straw came on April 1, 2003. Leslie must have decided
that he had enough and had taken the final plunge of his glorious
fourty-six years of life from the 24th storey of the Mandarin
Oriental Hotel in Central, Hong Kong. His last words had struck a
painful chord in all his family members, friends, fans, and the
general public: "I had done nothing wrong in this life. Why
must it be like this?" This sentence was enough to let the
whole world know how traumatized he must have felt, right up to
the last few seconds of his entire life. With his plunge, he had
not only taken his own life away, he had also taken the hearts of
many people with him...
Leslie, you had made this world beautiful with your existence. We
had not only lost a beautiful voice, we had lost you, as a
wonderful person. Life still goes on, but it will never be the
same without you. May you rest in eternal peace……
With Love,
- Ziares Chan from Singapore