1986 - A BETTER TOMORROW

Leslie launched a new album "Stand Up". The theme song in this album, bearing the same title, was the Chinese version of Rick Springfield's "Stand Up". In a very short period of time, this song became a big hit. Both commercially and artistically speaking, the design of the pocket for the album "Stand Up" could be said to be a breakthrough. It reflected very well Leslie's image at that time – very energetic and with a rock and roll feel. The picture of him on the cover of the album was not placed straight up but at an angle, which strengthened the feel of movement on the stage, and fit well with the style of the title song. Capital Artists used seven different colours for this album: red, orange, yellow, green, purple, white, and black. Many fans bought all seven colors for keepsake purpose, using only the black one for listening. The songs in the album were: "Stand Up", "Black Midnight", "Break Up", "Love Me More", "Crazy For Whom", "Love Weapon", "Opening The Mail Box", "Edged In The Bones And Heart", "Lonely Hunter", and "Lovely Girl". Leslie's fans liked this album a lot. Both the fast tracks and the sentimental songs were very well received and loved by them. Although many fans did not speak or understand Cantonese, just listening to Leslie's voice and the music touched their heart deeply.

Cinema City

At the beginning of 1986, Leslie signed a working contract with Cinema City Film Corporation ("Cinema City") that was established by three of the greatest comedians in Hong Kong: Karl Mak, Dean Shek and Raymond Wong. Tsui Hark, prolific director and producer in Hong Kong and Wong Jing, a director of numerous commercial films, together with the three owners of the Cinema City were present as witnesses when Leslie signed the contract. Under the umbrella of Cinema City, Leslie's career as an actor started to bounce highly.

If we still found Leslie at TVB, it was because he had to record some shows or to make MTVs, since he never played in any of the TV soap operas anymore. The small screen of the television could not accommodate his acting capability and beauty. In one of his numerous jobs at TVB, he sang trio with the Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng and George Lam. He also had done many studio recordings for TVB. As well, he had made an energetic MTV for the song "Stand Up". In one of the MTVs that Leslie made with Eliza Chan for the song "Woman in Love", the scene that we saw from the screen showed that Leslie and Eliza were having some sweet-talks, as a matter of fact, they were discussing about the mahjong games they played the previous night. Both Eliza and Leslie played mahjong together very often.

Then later Leslie, together with Anita Mui and Lui Fong, went to Sydney to do a concert at the Chinatown. The tickets were gone fast. At the concert, a fan sent a bunch of flowers to Leslie and asked him for his autograph. However, Leslie refused politely saying that he could not do it in the middle of the show right on the stage. When the fan asked if she could take a photo of him instead, Leslie said sweetly, "Let me do a pose for you". After the picture was taken, they shook hands. However, in Hong Kong, there were news saying that Leslie was arrogant and refused to do autograph for fans, while Anita had willingly done so on stage.

Leslie was very good in cooking curry chicken. In his early career, he often bought "live" fish and carrots from the wet market and boiled soup, which was known to be good for his throat and voice. He also was very good in frying eggs with char siew ("barbequed pork") and once even cooked for Florence Chan and close friends while he was touring. However, the food he liked most was Luk Che's cooking. He said Luk Che's cooking was delicious and not too spicy.

Together with four other actors from Hong Kong: Danny Chan, Jacky Cheung, Kenny Bee and kungfu superstar Jackie Chan, Leslie was asked to represent Hong Kong's entertainment industry to welcome Queen Elizabeth II from England. His godmother, Irene Tam was once honoured a MBE title by the British government.

First Film with John Woo

In 1986, Leslie co-starred with Chow Yun Fat in "A Better Tomorrow" directed by John Woo, which was widely considered as a trend starter for Hong Kong triad movies in the 1980s. Leslie's role in the movie was widely considered as his debut as a serious actor.

John Woo, who just came back from U.S.A., cast Leslie in his new film "A Better Tomorrow" which was produced by Tsui Hark of Cinema City. John Woo's name was not widely known then by the Hong Kong public even though he had made several films that were very successful in the box office. John Woo was the first director who taught Leslie how an actor should move in front of the camera.

In "A Better Tomorrow", Leslie played the role Sung Chi Kit, a righteous and idealistic young cop. He had an elder brother Sung Chi Ho (played by Tommy Ti Lung) who was, unbeknown to Kit, a criminal. Later Kit discovered what his brother was. It happened when Ho wanted to retire from the gangster world, but was betrayed by his follower (played by Waise Lee). Ho had a faithful friend, Mark, who was played by Chow Yun Fat.

In one of the scenes, Kit stood in front of the mirror after returning from an encounter with Ho and Mark. He looked at himself in the mirror, then smashed it angrily with his hand, causing blood oozing out of his hand. The blood was Leslie's real blood. The Director John Woo merely asked Leslie to stand in front of the mirror and used his own way to express his feeling. Without being told to smash the mirror, Leslie did so at his own initiative.

Leslie had marked in the whole film with his own rage – anger, impetuosity, and self-righteousness. As well, in the film, he was also obsessed with the idea of arresting the criminal gang and determined to deny his relationship with his brother. The newcomer Emily Chu played the role of Kit's wife. Behind the scene, Leslie jokingly addressed Emily as his wife, and Emily called him 'husband'. As a newcomer in the movie world, Emily Chu was lucky to be able to play with Chow Yun Fat, Jackie Chan and Leslie Cheung, the biggest actors of Hong Kong. When she was asked which actor she liked most; without hesitation, she mentioned Leslie's name.

In his working days at Cinema City, Leslie had an assistant whom he addressed as 'Auntie Ying'. This woman was very smart. Whenever Leslie made a little gesture or just looked at her, she would know right away what he wanted, be it a cigarette or a coffee. She always wore a vest with many pockets, inside which were full of the necessities for Leslie.

"A Better Tomorrow" was screened for the first time on 2 August 1986. Leslie saw the midnight show of the film with his friends including reporter Eunice Lam. All Leslie's friends knew at the time he was shooting the movie "A Better Tomorrow" that he was already a very successful singer and that he received the highest pay among all the actors, but at that night he said frankly, "Oh, my goodness, my character was not welcome. Everybody wished Chow Yun Fat to be alive, but I was the policeman who wanted to arrest him." He clapped hands when he saw himself appearing on the screen and asked his friends, "Was I good?" Surely Leslie was as pure as a child.

"A Better Tomorrow" proved John Woo's unrivalled Asian movie style. We could experience some of his very best and outstanding slow motion effects, special edit, dramatic score and non-stop action in that film. It broke the record of the Hong Kong box office. The film sent Chow Yun Fat to his stardom making him one of the biggest actors in Hong Kong. The film also revived Ti Lung's career. After this film, Ti Lung received offers to act in many movies again. The film placed John Woo's name as the most successful director in Hong Kong. It also lifted up Waise Lee's career. However, for Leslie, it was rather weird because "A Better Tomorrow" only strengthened his position as the most popular singer by the film's theme song Thong Nin Ching ("Past Love") and because of it, he defeated his long time rival Alan Tam. The most notable thing, however, was that "A Better Tomorrow" changed the theme trend of Hong Kong movies.

Before "A Better Tomorrow", the movie genres were mainly kung fu and comedy. However, after its successful box office, many Hong Kong gangster films suddenly emerged. Of course, not everybody was pleased with the phenomenal success of "A Better Tomorrow". Samo Hung Kam Bo whose films were often among the list of the champs at the box office felt threatened and said something unpleasant. In response to his comments, Chow Yun Fat said that he and Sammo Hung were both in the same boat only trying to earn a living in the film industry, therefore he should not defame the others.

Leslie and Chow Yun Fat were among the Hong Kong Top Ten Most Popular Celebrities, chosen by TVB. Many jobs were offered to them, including the Miss Hong Kong 1986 Beauty Pageant in which Leslie was a guest performer. Leslie was also one of the three emcees of the beauty pageant. He proved once again his talent in languages at the question-answer session. He spoke some short sentences in different languages, including French, Italian and Russian. He even spoke his native language Hakka dialect. He asked some questions to a contestant, Lee Mei San, who finally was crowned as 1986 Miss Hong Kong. Leslie's questions helped Lee Mei San shine brightly at that interview round when she demonstrated her language flair. It was said that she can speak 13 different languages.

Leslie, together with Alan Tam, Jackie Chan and Anita Mui, congratulated Jacky Cheung because that day was Jacky's birthday. Jacky was a newcomer and obviously a talented singer. Jacky said Leslie loved his juniors and respected his seniors. Leslie also always gave warm feelings to Jacky. Jacky's girlfriend, May Low (now Jacky's wife), was a fan of Leslie.

In TVB's 1986 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Award, Leslie's song "Who Will Echo With Me" was chosen as the "Song of the Year". Leslie also received 2 other awards. When receiving the award from Tommy Ti Lung's hand, Alan Tam's fans immediately booed and yelled to Leslie calling him a gay. Leslie received more harassment than before when he came up to the stage to receive his three singing awards. Every time when he appeared, fans other than his own would cry out and ask him to step down. Some of them even called him crazy. Hearing this, Leslie's face turned pale. The MC defended him on the stage. "Don't be like that! We all know that Leslie has been working very hard to get to this position", he said. To the reporter, an Alan Tam fan said that the audiences who yelled to Leslie were not Alan Tam's fans. Then she asked why Leslie was the only one who received harassment from audiences. "Why the other artists did not receive the same harassment?" she asked. She even suggested to Leslie that he should do his own self-retrospection. Leslie said he had encountered too many ill treatments and too many unhappy things were happened to him in this entertainment circle. Two years ago when the success finally arrived, Leslie told himself that he would only stay on for 5 years and then would retire from the showbiz after that. In 1986, there was an article stating that Leslie Cheung would retire on 1989.

Happy 30th Birthday

One day in September, Leslie celebrated his 30th birthday with his fans. With the look of a teenager and the status of a teenage idol, many people did not believe in Leslie’s real age. Leslie said he was, as the title of the film, "Gone With The Wind", and that everyone should be looking ahead and not looking back. In his birthday celebration, Leslie stated that he had already had 2 "children". The audience was surprised and started to feel disappointed. Leslie immediately explained to his fans. He said he had taken the initiative of donating HK$6,000 from his income every year to his two god-children: a six years old boy and a two years old girl. The two children were refugees from Vietnam. Leslie mentioned that when he was once travelling on a plane, he read about these two children and was touched by their story, so he decided to help them. Not long after that Leslie increased the number of his godchildren to six. His godchildren came from Vietnam, Hong Kong and Africa. Leslie was a pioneer in the entertainment circle in Hong Kong to do this good deed. Chow Yun Fat and Simon Yam later followed suit.

At that time, Leslie lived in Federal Gardens, showing a big improvement to his standard of living. Jimmy Ngai did not get to meet with him too often now since Leslie got busier and busier everyday. He, therefore, like anyone else, eventually became Leslie's fan, reading about his news, requesting him for his autographs at his niece's request, watching him on television, going to his concerts, and sending flowers to his suite in Regent Hotel where he was staying during concerts. Occasionally, they would meet at parties, but could only manage to say "Hi" or "How are you?" to each other.

In the Coffee Shop of Regent Hotel, Leslie met his ex-girlfriend Teresa Mo again after separating for 10 years during which time she had gone to France. Teresa got divorced and was very shy when she met Leslie again. She did not know how to start a conversation with him. Leslie remembered that Teresa began their conversation by saying shyly, "I love your songs very much." The two became very good friends from then on.

Florence Chan Suk Fun found the first 12 years of her career working at Capital Artists Ltd. her happiest and most memorable time. Having the complete trust of Mr. Chan Hing Cheong, the manager of the Television Broadcasting and TV Enterprise as well as Capital Artists, Florence worked very hard and was loyal to the company. However, she did not have any good direction feel later on because many of Florence's colleagues who worked closely with her left Capital Artists one by one; even Mr. Chan did not manage the company anymore. Due to personnel and management change, Florence did not want to stay in the company. In the end of the year 1986, Florence left Capital Artists. She missed those artists whom she worked with, including Leslie, but she never thought of asking them to join her new company because they were employed and trained by Capital Artists.

Leslie, however, was different. The contract he signed with Capital Artists was on albums making only. Since he and Florence had been getting along very well, so after he finished the contract with Capital Artists, he supported Florence by signing his new contract with her newly established company. Florence was really grateful to him because even though he was under a lot of pressure, he still chose to work with her.

Before the new company was set up, Florence left Hong Kong for a week. Capital Artists and TV Enterprise tried to retain Leslie by asking his close friends to persuade him to think things over before he made up his mind to leave Capital Artists. They also reminded him that it might cause a lot of unforeseeable consequences if he left. However, Leslie never changed his mind. He chose to work with Florence.

1986 Concert

Leslie drew the year 1986 to a close with his concerts. Twelve very successful shows were performed in the Hong Kong Coliseum. The concerts were the follow-up of his two very successful albums in 1986: "Fire of Love" and "Stand Up". The concert began on Christmas Day, 25 December 1986, and it would end on 5 January 1987. The first sponsor of this concert was Konica, and the slogan of the commercial was "Whoever can replace you?" This was extracted from the lyrics of Leslie's No.1 hit song "Monica". The commercial was shot at a photo shop and the girls there were overjoyed to meet Leslie. They screamed with wide-opened eyes, just like fans did in real life.

Going back to the concert stage inside the Hong Kong Coliseum. When Leslie sang, fans never stopped waving the flashlights while the laser light flashed around the whole concert hall wonderfully. It felt like countless little stars were shining in the sky that night. The audience became twinkling little stars for the superstar Leslie Cheung in his Christmas concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Alex Man was among the audiences. The stage was shaped like a star. Leslie showed his charm and was extremely active. With the song "Only Because of You", he impressed people no longer as the cute big boy, but as a mature gentleman full of the charm of a prince. Eliza Chan was the guest for the first night, together they sang the song "Afraid Of Not Meeting Again" which was a popular love song of the year.

Although Leslie said that he was not good in speech, he still talked a lot so that people could get to know him better. "I seldom speak a lot. I just don't speak well. So I always choose to sing instead", he said. Yet the warmth of the fans broke his silence and Leslie expressed his thanks from the bottom of his heart.

"I love you!" he said. After this confession, he sang the song "Love Me More". Surely fans would not love him more, but love him most. After that he said, "I have my idols too. Let me tell you in their songs". Then he sang the well-known melody of George Lam's "Who is the Most Beloved". After that, he said, "And who do you think is the most beloved lady? Just wait and listen". Then he sang Paula Tsui's song "Affinity".

Leslie would not miss the chance of saying something in his concerts about Michael Lai, his tutor as well as godfather. The humorous Leslie called Michael the fat Garfield while Michael called Leslie the big monkey. After this conversation, a series of slow tempo hits and fast tempo numbers were sung by the super idol who drove all the fans to a state of craziness. There were fans dancing on their seats, clapping hands, some even leaning over the handrail in order to be closer to Leslie. The fans became even crazier when the beautiful dancers danced with their idol. The lucky dancers could stand so close to Leslie while they had to sit quietly.

The appearance of Leslie's special guests became useful not merely to add colours to the show, but also as a way to calm the fans down. Apart from Eliza Chan, Anita Mui and Connie Mak were also guests for different nights.

Love was the theme of another part of Leslie's performance. Through a number of love songs he told the fans of his own love experience. To Leslie, it all started with "The Love Fire". Poor Leslie, how could fans bear to see him being defeated in love, so they just shouted double hard to show their care and love.

"Thank you!" was the heart-throbbing response from Leslie. He then sang the new song "You All Share My Heart" as well as the hit "Who Will Echo With Me".

On the Christmas Day of 1986, the concert ended relatively early at 10 p.m. The two-hour long gathering with Leslie was of course not enough. Fans therefore kept asking for encores. The generous Leslie came out and sang the pop song "Stand Up". Fans were still not satisfied. Leslie did not object to a second encore, this time even more generous. "OK! Just tell me what songs you want me to sing." Fans called out for more than 10 numbers. "Wow! I will have to sing till the morning then. Luckily, Michael Lai has compiled a medley for me", he said.

The special thing that Leslie did was running around the Coliseum shaking hands with fans while singing the medley. Girls went crazy, embracing and kissing Leslie. He almost fell over to their seats several times. After the medley, no one wanted to leave, and a third encore brought Leslie back on stage in a red suit singing the song "Striving Hard". That song ended the concert in deep sensation. That final, unrequited encore also summed up the show for many. Two words could be used to describe this concert: professional and spectacular!

1987 - THE PRINCE OF ROMANCE

At the end of March, Leslie started to live in his new house of around 3,000 square feet, located on the shores along Clearwater Bay with its fresh and clean air where Leslie could have good exposure to the sun. Sun tanning was his hobby. In his new house Leslie also practiced his other hobby that was interior decor. Basically Leslie did not like luxurious decoration. "I like something that is natural, comfortable and simple. I don't want golden colored furniture, for instance, because it gives an unnatural impression.” He coloured his room in black and white tones. He also used the same colour scheme for furniture. Luk Che decided to live with Leslie for three months; then for the next three months she would live in her own house in the eastern part of Hong Kong (which Leslie bought her as a gift). After another three months have passed, she would accompany Leslie again. Beside Luk Che, Leslie had a new 'maid' named Maggie, a 15 year-old girl who was absolutely crazy about Leslie that she enthusiastically wanted to work for him even without receiving a salary. That she could be in close proximity with her idol was the most important thing to her. At the last concert in 1986 she helped to tidy Leslie's costumes, and she would remind him to eat. She also asked Leslie what he wanted to eat. "The bird nest soup", Leslie answered her. The soup helped Leslie to keep his voice in good condition. Of course Leslie always tried to handle his fans wisely.

A Chinese Ghost Story

In the meantime at the beginning of 1987 Leslie made the next film for Cinema City. The title of the film was "A Chinese Ghost Story", yet another film that left its mark in the history of Hong Kong cinema. Like in "A Better Tomorrow" Tsui Hark had the main role as the producer. Tsui Hark was known as Hong Kong's Steven Spielberg. He created sophisticated special effects for this romance-comedy-horror film. Three cameramen made this film really unforgettable with its beautiful color and beautiful blue screen. Shirley Chan who just came back from France designed some special costumes for the story which was set in ancient China. Costumes made from metres of soft chiffon are draped around lovely young women as they flew through a night-time forest and lounge in tranquil lakeside pavilions. Romeo Diaz and James Wong were responsible for the music score. James Wong composed three songs for the films. Leslie and Sally Yeh each sang a song respectively while James Wong sang the third song. Hai Chung Man did a good job as art director. Tsui Hark entrusted the film directing to Tony Ching Tsiu Tung, a former kung fu instructor who was also credited as the action director for this film. He has certainly left his mark all over the film with his swift and eye-catching action sequences without ever disturbing the mythical feel of the picture. Tsui Hark also had three strong castings in Leslie, Joey Wong and Wu Ma. Leslie played a poor and innocent scholar who had no other employments prospects except that of a traveling bookkeeper sent out to remote areas to collect bad debts.

Joey Wong was Leslie's ghost-lover controlled by a thousand-year old tree demon that depended on a regular supply of fresh human blood to obtain the essence for the transformation into a deity. Wu Ma played a rough-hewn master swordsman with a soft core, provided a strong foil to the lovers. He threads between the love and ghost themes fluently, filling in the story gaps, raising laughs, adding a bit of poignancy. The breakthrough special effect of this film was the creation of the tongue of the tree demon. Every crew was extremely busy creating this with heavy and big plastic material. Leslie was hit with a bout of influenza from filming many night scenes where he had to immerse in cold water such as in a river or in a bathtub. We wondered how he could manage to appear fresh and natural. A reporter took photos of Leslie's steamy scene with Joey Wong but his camera was seized by personnel hired by Cinema City management. Leslie had no inkling of this incident but he only found out later when reporters accused him of hiring someone to seize the camera. A reporter who had followed him around for two weeks finally became his witness for Leslie always went back to his home after shooting ended. One day the reporter asked for permission to enter his house. Leslie who had changed into a bathrobe did not refuse him but he declined to have his picture taken because he had a cold.

"Where is your mistress?" the reporter asked Leslie. Leslie retorted, "When will Chow Yun Fat get married? He is my elder brother, he should marry before me." The reporter answered, "Chow will marry in May this year." "Oh, if it is like that, I won't use this as an excuse anymore" said Leslie. Then he tidied his goods on the table. The reporter took pictures of his bedroom, his living room, his workroom and his bathroom. He used two colors: black and white. His house was very comfortable, and had great lightings.

"A Chinese Ghost Story" received many praises and awards from many international film festivals. Alison Jobling, an Australian film critic wrote, "It's impossible not to love Tsui Hark's masterpiece." She gave this film 10 float chiffon veils out of 10. Alison Jobling was of the opinion that Leslie looked about 14 years old but in fact he was actually 30. Finally Ms. Jobling can only sum this film up by saying this: "'A Chinese Ghost Story' is one of the best Asian films ever. Indeed, it's one of the best films ever. This one film, wirework, chiffon, crumbling buildings and all, is worth a good dozen of any explosion-and-car-chase-filled spectaculars. It's also responsible for the conversion of a good many people to a passionate love for Asian film. I haven't met anyone, either in cyberspace or in meatspace, who doesn't love this film, so see it on the big screen while you can, and find out what we're all raving about." “A Chinese Ghost Story” premiered on Hong Kong cinemas on 18 July 1987. It was still on cinema screens almost a month after. Following the success of "A Chinese Ghost Story", Joey Wong started to have a solid career but Hong Kong film industry typecast her as a beautiful long-haired ghost. Together with Leslie, she began to draw many admirers from Japan and Korea.

Leslie vs Alan

Leslie together with his driver arrived at the venue of a charity concert where many Hong Kong artists had assembled. After the concert, Leslie got into his new car which was recently imported from Japan, only to discover that the car had been vandalized. It was covered with scratches. The scratch marks appeared to have been by a sharp object such as a knife.It was more than likely an act of malice by Alan Tam's fans. Leslie was very dejected. As usual Alan Tam and his fans denied all involvement in this malicious incident. If they were not responsible for it, then who could the culprits be?

Leslie Cheung with his great vitality and his experiences of many unlucky accidents attracted the attention of Ms.Tang Oi Lam. Ms. Tang was a famous disc jockey at RTHK, which often organizes charity shows performed by singers. She later withdrew from broadcasting after her marriage. She wrote the article below:

Leslie Cheung has great vitality, more than any ordinary person. The story of how Leslie was jeered at when he was a new singer can be heard occasionally. For today's fans, it is unimaginable to believe that those humiliating scenes ever existed for Leslie. Every time that Leslie was on stage during the early days, the audience habitually booed at him. They also used offensive and obscene language towards him without reason. It was no better than what we see nowadays when Li Chi was on stage. As an outsider at backstage during Leslie's early performances, I felt uncomfortable. How could anyone on stage face this kind of humiliating experience? But Leslie maintained his self-control and soldier on with his performance. Though his singing skill was not as mature as it is today, Leslie carried himself with elegance and dignity. After completing his performance on stage, the jeering from the audience continued. I never understood this negative emotion. But Leslie bowed deeply to the audience and strode to the back stage. He never looked back and left without a word. The young man left a great impression on me. I witnessed his strong will and determination to perform. I felt his great vitality. To be honest, at the time some of the people within the entertainment industry took pleasure in witnessing Leslie's misfortune. Also, there were those who felt that Leslie was treated unfairly. It was beyond understanding as to why the audience treated Leslie that way. Maybe it had something to do with his trendsetting style on stage. At that time the audience could hardly accept a smart newcomer with a confident attitude performing like a superstar on stage. Or maybe it was his frankness. Singers used to say something like, "Hello everyone. I hope you like my songs". Who would want to hear Leslie's frank words, "I know you don't like me, but I will do my best until one day you do."

I could not recall when the exact moment when some girls told me that they liked Leslie's song, "The Wind Blows On". They also begged me to take them to the studio so that they could take a look at Leslie in person. Some young friends sang and danced together to the song, "You used to love me so much regardless of everything". What's going on here? Leslie is still Leslie! The world has changed. Maybe the audience who jeered at Leslie in the past has grown up, matured and understood their mistake. Or maybe the pace of time finally caught up with Leslie. Now Leslie's every move on stage brings up a deafening roar of approval and applause.

His frankness only increases his adorable charisma. Who can ever resist Leslie again? Recently Leslie's expensive car was vandalized, generating a great deal of suspicion between the two groups of fans that led them to fight each other. What will it produce in the future? To a performer who has experienced so much and is at his peak, this is merely a minor episode of his career and it isn't worth mentioning. I think that Leslie views it this way and so does Alan Tam.

Nina Li Chi (later she became Jet Li's wife) told Leslie that she was very afraid when the audience booed her. Li-chi was crowned "Miss Asia" in a beauty pageant of the same name that was organized by ATV in 1986. She came from Mainland China and consequently her Cantonese accent was very different from the local Hong Kongers. Whenever she made an appearance in public, she would be booed for no apparent reason. Leslie comforted her by saying that the audience will stop their booing when they get tired of doing it.

Some time ago at a variety show an artist threw a piece of cake at her face on stage. In the 1980's artists love to throw cakes at each other's faces and she cried at the back stage. "They should not embarrass a girl like that", said Leslie to a reporter disapprovingly. Leslie also cited an incident of George Lam who was also very angry when an artist threw a cake at him. That day was his birthday. He was supposed to celebrate and cut the cake at a Karaoke club. Everybody knows that Lam is a serious person. He did not expect someone would throw the cake at him on the stage. He was so angry that he cancelled the birthday party. "This is my new suit. It is very expensive", said Leslie imitating Lam's tone. "There was another reason for his anger; his little son and daughter were watching the show and he was worried that they would find it funny and imitate it." But Leslie has a different view about the unhappy incident at Anita Mui's birthday party. At that party Jackie Cheung got drunk and upset Anita. Leslie said Anita is a playful person that you would not take her warning too seriously so he does not blame Jackie Cheung. Moreover, this is a private party and you would not make a display in front of the public. Leslie also said he makes friends with his co-stars. He is friendly towards Joey Wong in a way that she would treat him like a brother or a boy friend. Joey called Leslie as "Gor-Gor" meaning elder brother. For Leslie, Ti Lung is like a father or brother. Chow Yun Fat and his wife Jasmine Tan are good friends of his.

Three Important Films

"A Chinese Ghost Story", "Rouge" and "A Better Tomorrow II" were three films starred by Leslie in 1987. All three were high quality, commercially successful films that set trends for subsequent Hong Kong films. When released in 1986, the first "A Better Tomorrow" marked a turning point in Hong Kong action cinema with its highly stylized modern-day gangster violence, and earned a healthy HK$40 million at the box office. The film established John Woo's reputation. It also prompted a large part of Hong Kong's male population to imitate Chow Yun Fat’s signature trench coat, despite sweltering weather. Also in Korea, the male population copied Leslie’s hairstyle in the film. John Woo disclosed how the first of the Tomorrow trilogy was almost never made. He was living in Taiwan at the time and drinking heavily, frustrated by continued lack of recognition as a director. Fortunately, Tsui Hark paid him a visit and encouraged him to channel his raw feelings into a script, made casting recommendations and helped Woo see the film through. Working with Hark was his 'good fortune', says Woo. For "A Better Tomorrow II" (Leslie was nominated for best actor in this film), the character (Sung Chi Kit) played by Leslie was killed off in the story because Tsui Hark and Cinema City had plans for Leslie to continue starring in "A Chinese Ghost Story"'s sequels. Monetary gain is still an important factor in filmmaking.

Shows at Ocean Palace

For a total of 15 days, from 29 May till 12 June 1987, Leslie held Night Club Shows at the Ocean Palace. Leslie seldom performed in nightclubs after he achieved superstar status. He accepted the invitation mainly because of the sincerity of the boss of Ocean Palace. The other reason was, in a smaller venue he can get closer to the audience. It was also a different experience for the audience. This series of concerts attracted more than 10 thousand fans. Those were successful shows as witnessed by all those that were in attendance. Leslie's performance was as good and professional as always. The concert began with the song "Admiration" followed by a dance medley. Leslie sang many of his hit songs; both old and new, fast and slow numbers during the one-hour plus show. Somebody commented that he tended to say too many naughty jokes, but there was a night when he was quite restrained. The only joke he said was, "Thank you for your sanitary napkin" when a girl handed him a napkin for wiping his sweat. Then Leslie flew to Los Angeles to hold one of the series of his US/Canada Concert Tour. He sang "Past Love" (Thong Nin Ching) in almost every place he that he held the concert.

Summer Romance

In the music field, Leslie competed closely with Alan Tam for the title "The Most Popular Male Singer in 1987". Every reporter agreed that in the film arena Leslie was right there in front leaving Alan very far behind him. On the night of the award ceremony, Alan Tam was the winner although Leslie's "Summer Romance" album had sold 700.000 pieces in Hong Kong and broke all record. This year it was Alan Tam's turn to win but everybody knew that next year it would be Leslie's turn. That night Alan Tam announced that he would decline all kinds of music awards in future. The atmosphere became tense, and Leslie came up to Alan Tam's side; he asked him to take a photo together. He then told reporters that they are good friends, unlike what is written in media.

Coming back to the album, "Summer Romance". This is the first album of Leslie after he left Capital Artist. Originally the main function of Florence's company, Hang Sing ("World Artist Enterprises"), was to solely act as an agent for artists; looking after music rights and organizing live concerts but the management also wanted a department to cater for the production of music albums. However Leslie was under tremendous pressure but his integrity stood him well in the face of any threats. Florence did not want to give him added pressure so she postponed her plans of producing his album till later. Instead she began negotiating with some record companies to produce Leslie's album, and finally, she selected Cinepoly, because Cinepoly offered them very good conditions and lots of freedom.

It was said that the sales of "Summer Romance" reached 700,000 copies in Hong Kong only, broke the sales record and the album sold out on the three day of its release. Even the poster was in popular demand. Those posters posted up at the record shops and mini buses were often stolen by fans. After his announcement to leave Capital Artist to sign a deal with Cinepoly, people thought that Leslie was taking a risk due to the fact that Capital Artist is the sister company of TVB, therefore his chance of promotion on TV would be affected because of a conflict of interest. However this was not the case at all.TVB still wants him to be in their music programs and gala shows. Leslie said tactfully, "This shows that TVB is not narrow-minded and the audience still wishes to see my performance." A reporter asked, "So you have great confidence?" "I am not telling the truth if I said I'm not under pressure. This is my first album with Cinepoly and everybody is monitoring this closely to see if it's a success or failure. Moreover this is the first time I assumed the role of a producer, I have to shoulder all the responsibilities," Leslie replied. Leslie regarded this as a test to his ability and the result proved to be a tremendous success. There were many popular songs in this album and Leslie was very proud of his judgment; he knew what the audience wanted. And behind each song there was a story. For the first song "Sleepless Night" (Mo Sum Shui Mean, which won “Golden Song” Award in 1987), Florence chose a Japanese composer, and arranged for Leslie to be the performing guest in the Tokyo Music Festival (this was the first time that guests were invited to perform) and also this was broadcasted worldwide. "Sleepless Night" only commenced recording two days before the performance. Florence also invited a few experienced reporters to do the write-ups on his performance. The next day after the performance, Mr. Chan Siu Bo of Cinepoly personally flew back to Hong Kong with the recorded song on cassette tapes that were then distributed to every station to promote this song on air. Florence thanked him for his help and support. "Sleepless Night” immediately reached the number one spot in every radio station’s pop charts. It was a great hit just like the song "Monica". The album "Summer Romance" achieved very good sales that gave Florence a strong boost of confidence. Florence did not like the original Chinese name of the title song "A Chinese Ghost Story" because the pronunciation of the last two words sounded the same as another Chinese character 'deceased' though the title of the song had a different meaning. Someone suggested deleting the last two words from the tile but Florence being a very superstitious person said the three-character title was not lucky for Leslie. Hence the title of the song remained the same as the movie's title.

Another song was Rod Steward's "I Don't Wanna Talk About It" which lyrics were first written by Siu Mei (a famous lyricist and now the manageress of Aaron Kwok). However after Leslie had listened to the music demo he found the mood of the song to be very emotional and passionate whereas Siu Mei's lyrics were somewhat bitter and sad so he himself decided to rewrite it again which became the song "I Can't Control Myself". The reporter asked if the song lyrics represented his personal experiences, to which Leslie replied, "Absolutely!" Leslie Cheung is indeed a very romantic person. Let's see what he wrote:

Leslie was 31 but he didn't look his age at all. "You haven't got any wrinkles", the reporter said. Leslie immediately wrinkled his eyes and said, "See, I have lines here." "No, that doesn't count!" The reporter was also interested if he has taken any health food. He said he eats bird's nest twice a week. "Alan Tam is taking ginseng. Last time we attended the Tokyo Music Festival I saw his girlfriend brought him honey drink with ginseng".

Rouge

At 14th Golden Horse Film Festival which was held in Taipei at the end of the year, for the first time Leslie was nominated as the best actor for his role as 12th Master in the film "Rouge". In "Rouge", which originally was Lilian Lee's novel, Leslie played the role of 12th Master Chan Che Peng, the second son of a wealthy family. He was called 12th Master because his only brother had died and according to Chinese tradition it is better if he was called 12th Master to avoid the unpleasant things. The role 12th Master was actually reserved for veteran TV actor Adam Cheng Siu Cho (Lydia Shum's ex-husband who was famous for his role as Chor Lau Heung, the romantic thief), but Anita Mui who acted in the leading role of Fleur, requested the producer to ask Leslie to be her co-actor in the film. Leslie was very busy after he left Capital Artist and he didn't see Anita much. "I thought he has already forgotten about me, I feel hurt," said Anita. When they got together again later and talked about this Anita realized that she had ben wrong. Leslie assured Anita that she has an important place in his heart and wherever he went this would not change. As for Anita, it was the same feeling for Leslie will always be her forever loving brother.

In "Rouge" Leslie had to play Chan's character until he was 80s. After the make-up, Leslie was surprised because he saw the likeness of his father's face in the mirror. He looked very much like his father. "From this I know that when I grow old, my face will be like my father's face at this moment," he said. The old 12th Master appeared in the last scene of "Rouge". His face was not seen clearly because of the dimness of the shots. Leslie said the director deliberately used a special lighting effect so that the audience could not easily find the faults in the make-up. He said he spent four days making these shots and suffered a lot while doing the make-up. Leslie explained that normally for 'old age' make-up, a special lotion would be used and usually two layers would be enough for a wrinkled face effect but unfortunately it could not produce the same effect even with three layers being applied to his face. Therefore they had to plaster his face to form a mask, remove it when it dried and then paste it back to his face bit by bit. The plaster got dried and his face tightened in 15 minutes; then the mask was removed slowly and again bit by bit. Leslie said during the process he couldn't see and hear anything and could only breathe through two tubes in his nose. It was terrible and it gave him a feeling of 'live burial'. He said a Taiwanese actor had tried this make-up before but without success. Besides facial make-up he had to wear a head cover (to cover his own hair) and a wig. Due to the hot weather, sweat kept pouring from his head so therefore after each shot the staff had to place a towel around his shoulder to soak up the sweat. Seeing this, Jackie Chan, the investor of "Rouge", lent his air-conditioned van to Leslie. Leslie was very pleased with the van that he asked Jackie to order one for him.

Stanley Kwan, the director of "Rouge" was impressed by Leslie's performances. "The way he glanced back in the courtesan parlor, the way he sang so melancholy in the Lunar Garden, an acapella. Leslie has perfected his role in "Rouge". If Ruan Linyu was a legend in the 30s, Leslie is absolutely the legend of today," Stanley said Leslie's acting in "Rouge" can be termed as near perfect but the Golden Horse award did not fall into his hands because his screen appearance in the film was not long enough.

When she was filming "Rouge", Anita Mui experienced a very chronic stomach disease after she got drunk one night and had to be taken care of in hospital. Media wrote that Anita had attempted suicide. When he was asked for a confirmation, Leslie said he didn't know anything because on that night he went home early and did not join Anita and her friends for drinks in a restaurant but he was sure that it was impossible for Anita to commit suicide. Leslie also did not believe the rumour that his ex-girlfriend Annie Ngai attempted suicide because of love matters. "It's impossible if the reason is love trouble," he said.

On 17 December 1987, "A Better Tomorrow II" premiered. Leslie Cheung was in seventh position among the Hong Kong artists to collect the most money that year. His movie and singing career was excellent that year. When asked whether he likes singing or acting, Leslie said he preferred singing in terms of monetary rewards and direct response from fans. There are 10 cuts in an album, which means 10 chances of these tracks becoming hit songs. As for films, there is only one script and after reading the script and knowing the role that you're going to play, you would already know the chances of success. Leslie felt more pressure with his increasing popularity because the audience was placing more demands on him. He said it is great to be famous (money came after fame) as he doesn't have to worry about his living even if he wasn’t working now. Moreover, with his popularity, his working partners would be those top quality stars. When asked if he preferred instant fame to struggling for years like what he went through, he replied for the latter as you could have more training, which helped to lay a good foundation for the future. Those who rise to instant fame may not be able to survive the stormy weather but of course instant fame would be nice...

No matter what he said, both in his singing and movie career, Leslie is the Prince of Romance who has coloured the audiences' lives.

1988 - SILENCE IS GOLDEN

Golden Time

11 January 1988 marked the Hong Kong premiere of "Rouge" in the theatres. As predicted, the film became a huge success from that day onward. Jackie Chan was the producer of "Rouge" and was also interested in producing a movie based on a Lillian Lee novel, "Farewell My Concubine". The director however, offered Chan the role of Duan Xiaolo. Lillian Lee was so impressed with Leslie Cheung's performance in "Rouge" that she made a statement that Leslie must star in "Farewell My Concubine" or she would not permit her novel to be filmed. Many people suggested that Jackie Chan and Leslie Cheung should play the lead roles. This novel had the uncommon theme of homosexuality and Jackie Chan declined to play a gay role. At the time, Leslie's manager was also oncerned about him accepting such a role. However, Leslie had no such fear, "My manager said I should refuse the role, because it would affect my image, but I don't have this concern. To play a gay role does not mean that I am also gay". Leslie refused to accept the role of Cheng Dieyi because he felt that he was not as handsome as the character described in the novel. He concluded that in his previous years he might suitable for the role but not at the present. As no actors would accept the main roles, the novel was not filmed at that time.

Although by 1988, Leslie Cheung already had the beginnings of a prestigious movie career, the majority of his awards came from his music career. That year these awards included 11th Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award (RTHK), IFPI Award, The Ultimate Song Chart Male Gold (CR), The Most Popular Male Singer (TVB) and The 1988 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Award (TVB).

Leslie received much recognition through the years as a great actor but he lacked the Best Actor Award. In 1988 he lost the award to Chow Yun Fat. Leslie was nominated for "A Better Tomorrow 2" against Chow's "City on Fire". In 1989, Leslie would again be nominated for Best Actor in "Rouge". Though "Rouge" ran away with six awards at the 8th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Actor eluded Leslie.

Marriage is not a must

Leslie was always cautious with his image and since the time he suffered a liver ailment many years ago he avoided the nightlife glitz and seldom stayed out late. One would not expect to meet Leslie in a discotheque or bar. Not surprising, female reporters were impressed with Leslie. They were of the opinion that Leslie had a gentle heart as he often worried about these reporters being out late because of their assignments but most of these reporters never saw Leslie dating girls.

Leslie's break up with Cindy Yeung was some years ago. When asked about how she was these days, he said, "She's fine and is now living in San Francisco with her mother. I met her last month. Her father told me she has a new boy friend but I didn't ask her about it. Her father still thinks that I was the best candidate for son-in-law and that's why he 'leaked’ the news out to me." Another possibility Leslie considered was, "I will date when I reach 40 and maybe marry at 50". "Who will want to marry you at that time?" the reporters would tease him. "My face is a 'baby face' and many years from now, my face won't have changed much" Leslie replied with a laugh.

The reporter continued to ask Leslie about his private life and as always he answered with the utmost sincerity. "Someone said your ex-girl friend accompanied you in Canada and you were looking for houses. Isn't she married? Who is she?" asked the reporter. "She's Georgina and resides in Vancouver. She was my classmate. It is Florence who wants to buy a house, not me, and I am just accompanying her." "Will you consider buying a house abroad and rent it out?" "No, it's very troublesome because tenants love to complain about trivial matters."

Leslie had fear of marriage, "Looking at the unhappy marriages of my parents and some friends, I learned that marriage is not always the best or most perfect thing. Many things we could never have imagined before will materialize suddenly".

Virgin Snow and Hot Summer

"Virgin Snow" is a beautiful original title for an album. Leslie picked the title and Chan Siu Bo completely agreed with him. Alan Chan, who was in charge of the concept and design of this album, designed the "Virgin Snow" emblem on the back cover of the album which included the very intricate and elegant “V”. The front cover was no less beautiful, with its spectacular photography. It was a pose of Leslie standing against the virgin snow with another image of his face superimposed on his chest which showed his striking right profile in a thoughtful pose with a gloved right hand over his chin and left cheek. The two photographs of Leslie meshed beautifully and seamlessly into one. The talents of photographer Justin Chan contributed to the creation of this album cover. When Virgin Snow was originally released, it came with a keepsake booklet which included another nine breathtaking poses in the snowy outdoors.

Leslie co-produced this world class album along with Patrick Yeung and Alvin Leong. The music of eight songs was arranged by Japanese musicians, while the remaining two were arranged by Hong Kong's talented composer Joseph Koo. Many great hits came out of this 1988 album including the first track, "Killer of Love" and second track, "Hot, Hot, Hot" which was Leslie's Cantonese version of an American pop song from the mid 80's. Also popular were "Heading Towards the Future" on track three, which was the theme song of the famous film, "A Better Tomorrow 2". Track four was Leslie's lovely re-recording of a Michael Kwan Ching-Kit hit "Love in the Snow". "Thinking of You" on track 6 was a beautiful song composed by Leslie himself. The final track, "The Most Beloved" was nicely composed by Jonathan Lee Tsung-sheng, with poignant lyrics by Cheng Kwok Kong and a beautiful arrangement by Joseph Koo. The string section was lead by Wong Wai Ming and Andrew Tuason was truly mesmerizing on piano. Particularly in the mid-section of the song when they were joined by Leslie and the background vocalists in a short aria which was truly a heavenly interlude.

"Hot Summer" was the third successful album Leslie recorded at Cinepoly Record Company Limited since 1987. The quality and success of the songs did not quite match the previously released "Virgin Snow" and "Summer Romance '87". But, the near-perfect album produced many classic hits such as the title track "Hot Summer" and track three, "No Need for Too Much". The lyrics of "No Need for Too Much" were written by Lam Chik. Lam Chik was a fan of Leslie's and "No Need for Too Much" was the first song he wrote for his idol. Lam said: "I am very happy for this chance". Since that time, Lam Chik felt that he and Leslie worked very well together. He was very grateful for Leslie's trust in him.

Of course the most popular song from "Hot Summer" and an undisputed No. 1 hit in Hong Kong was "Silence is Golden". Leslie composed this song and Samuel Hui wrote the lyrics. Sam was a very successful singer before his popularity faded during the Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung era. Sam Hui had studied psychology and his "Silence is Golden" lyrics in some ways had a calming effect on Leslie. Leslie needed this very much at that time because he was often being slandered for no reason. This song held the most special meaning for Leslie and it became known as his song and one of his mottos for life. Leslie admired Sam Hui who was a much more senior performer then he. This song was their great collaboration. Today, even Sam's son, Ryan Hui, is Leslie's fan. Other songs from "Hot Summer" included, "Continue Dancing" (Track 7), "Strong Emotions" (Track 8) and "Love Once More" (Track 10).

The graphic design and photographs for "Hot Summer" were once again exceptional. This was once again due to the talented Alan Chan for concept and design and the photography of Justin Chan. Leslie co-produced this sensational album with Patrick Yeung and they also returned to the talents of local Hong Kong musicians for the music arrangements for the album.

Do you like Pepsi?

A new Pepsi commercial featuring Leslie Cheung's "Rockia' the Pepsi Way” was aired alternately with a 60-second spot featuring international music mega star Michael Jackson and his Grammy nominated hit "Bad". The "Bad" album had produced four hit singles, making Jackson the first artist to have four number one singles from the same album. After Pepsi signed Michael Jackson in 1983, he suffered second degree burns to his head during the filming of one of the Pepsi commercials in 1984. The next year the company signed Lionel Richie and Menudo. In 1986 Glenn Frey of the Eagles and Don Johnson, star of the popular TV program "Miami Vice", took over.

In 1988 Michael Jackson was back and the company added local talent like top pop vocalist Anchalee in Thailand, several leading rock bands in the Philippines and Leslie Cheung in Hong Kong. Hong Kong became one of the most sophisticated and expanding markets in Asia. In America, Pepsi Cola chose Michael Jackson to represent the new generation. In Hong Kong it was Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing who was displaying his own brand of megastar hype, with 23 sold-out pop concerts at the Coliseum. If these artists had one thing in common it was that they represented the new generation in their respective markets.

PepsiCo chose Leslie Cheung for their local advertising campaign on the advice of Hong Kong ad agency BBDO. PepsiCo had recently switched its advertising account from J. Walter Thompson (JWT) to BBDO. An interesting note was that Pepsi elected to go with the BBDO agency despite the fact that its market share in Hong Kong had increased by at least 118% since 1985 during the Pepsi Challenge campaign of J. Walter Thompson (JWT).

BBDO stated that Leslie was the first and only choice for the new campaign, "Cheung represents the younger generation. We asked a lot of kids their opinions before we made the decision to approach Cheung. We decided that Alan Tam was already over-exposed." "Cheung has won several major awards for acting and singing. His song 'Thinking of You' is currently in the Top 10". Leslie indicated that he was eager to take part in the series featuring the world's superstars. Many stories about Leslie signing the contract with Pepsi appeared in the local Hong Kong newspapers.

Leslie also starred in the television advertising campaign for the fast food chain Café de Coral. Along with advertisements for Konica and Pepsi Cola, endorsements were a profitable sideline for Leslie. Leslie said that he was happy with the Pepsi commercial, as the "sexy and romantic" sequence matched his present image.

Though signing the 12-month contract with North Asia PepsiCo Inc. for a series of commercials for radio and television put Leslie Cheung in the company megastar Michael Jackson, the size of their contracts vastly differed. Jackson's contract with PepsiCo was reportedly worth a staggering US$10 million (about HK$78 million) while Leslie's was "significantly less than that", according to the company's regional vice-president Mr. Peter Kendall. Mr. Kendall went on to say, "As far as we know, this is the first time that any company in Hong Kong has teamed up with both a local star and an international megastar." "In the soft-drink portion of our business, total growth for North Asia last year was up 24 per cent, the highest increase we have experienced," he said. It was the company's hope that their duet of Jackson and Cheung would better that.

The new generation of music commercials followed the success of the Pepsi Challenge, which saw almost 200,000 people in Hong Kong compare Pepsi and Coca-cola. During those years, three plants in China were pumping out 30 million dozen bottles of Pepsi a year.

Friends and Family

Leslie's best friend was still Mr. Daffy Tong. He said that they called each other everyday at least once and sometimes more just to ask about each other. They had been doing this for years including when Daffy was assigned abroad by his office. It showed how caring and loving they were to each other. Leslie said this was a spiritual love. It could be categorized as the most romantic, sincere and perfect love that ever existed. Leslie also tried to build a better relationship with his parents. "May be as I get older, my thinking is more mature. I can understand the difficulties that my dad and my mom may have experienced in the past. So nowadays our relationship is becoming warmer." said Leslie. A number of times, Leslie expressed how much it hurt him when his mom was overly formal with him. She would even seek permission before using the bathroom when she visited his home.

Leslie took out life insurance because Hong Kong films had become so action filled. He insured for accidental death for one million dollars US and named his mother as beneficiary. Leslie wanted his mother to know that he really did love her and the other family members. Leslie was always happy if his mother called to talk with him because it showed that she really did care for him.

Lam Man Chung and his sister Lam Man Yee (Violet Lam who wrote the musical score for "Nomad") were great talents in the Hong Kong music industry. From the time Lam Man Chung first came onto the scene in 1981 to 1987, he had written hundreds of song lyrics including Alan Tam's Oi Choi Sum Chow ("Love In Autumn"), Mou Ji Luen ("Foggy Love") as well as Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing's Moh Sum Sui Meen ("No Mood To Sleep").

Lam had worked with a number of famous singers and it was a chance to reminisce about some interesting past events during a magazine interview. Lam revealed that his wife, Chan Ling Lei, was absolutely mesmerized with Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing. Touching on the subject of his collaboration with Leslie, Lam Man Chung said, "When I handed the lyrics of Lam Sik Yau Wat ("Blue Depression") to him, he asked me how come I am able to write such beautiful lyrics. Of course I returned the compliment by asking him how someone like him could be so handsome!"

Aside from Violet Lam and her brother, Leslie enjoyed a good relationship with many friends. One of these friends was businessman Edward Chan Chat Man. Sometimes Leslie played mahjong at Edward's house. There were indeed many celebrities who played mahjong with Edward. Edward's son Edison Chan Kwoon-Hei did not know who these celebrities were. All he knew was that Leslie Cheung was really famous and that his mother liked Leslie's songs a lot. In 1988, Edison had only recently returned to Hong Kong from Canada and only knew who Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun Fat were from watching their movie, "A Better Tomorrow". He admired Leslie right from the start and considered him his idol. Later Edison Chan would be labeled by many young Chinese music enthusiasts as the embodiment of the hip-hop culture.

Leslie was always more mature in his thinking and attitude. "Man in his thirties starts to ponder many things he must do," he said. He started to think about his health. He started to cut down his smoking. Where he used to smoke thirty cigarettes a day, he cut down to half that many. "The doctor says I should not eliminate my smoking habit drastically," he explained. "I should do it step by step." However when Leslie did not smoke at all, he gained weight. Since he worried about getting fat, he started smoking again. Roman Tam who was also a smoker suffered from kidney disease. Roman said it was Leslie who found him a doctor who took care of him and he thanked him for this.

Florence Chan, Leslie's manager was also very caring of Leslie. Florence could see deep into Leslie's soul as well as his thoughts. On one occasion Florence noticed Leslie looking at his photo in a magazine. Florence could see that Leslie liked this photo very much so she found out who the photographer was. After she successfully got a negative of the photo, Florence had an enlargement printed on canvas. "The Legend" was also added to the print and it was presented to Leslie as a gift. Leslie was very moved to receive this gift. Tears, like shimmering glass, welled up in his eyes because he realized how much Florence cared for him. Florence on the other hand felt privilege and prestige to be able to work with a perfectionist like Leslie for several years.

Fatal Love

Leslie had two film scripts in his hands, "Fatal Love" which would be produced by Cinema City and "Starry is the Night" that would be produced by Shaw Brothers. He would also perform a concert series in the summer. Even though this concert series had 20 sold out engagements several months in advance, Leslie would vow to give his very best to each performance. In order to prepare for the concerts, he would only accept the role in "Fatal Love". He turned down the role in "Starry is the Night" which had been offered to him by the famous female director Ann Hui On Wah.

"Starry is the Night" starred George Lam and Taiwanese movie queen Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia. Leslie's role was filled by newcomer David Wu Ta Wei who would get "The Best Newcomer" honour from HKFAA the next year. Perhaps Leslie opted for "Fatal Love" because he was under contract with Cinema City. But, it was also possible that he did not want to play a role in a movie with a similar storyline to "Last Song in Paris".

Soon Leslie was being directed by Leung Po Chi in "Fatal Love". He was starring along side the brightest star at this time, an actress named Cherie Chung and a Caucasian actress, Anne Bridgewater (who was also known as Annie Peck). At the time Anne was still in University studying to be a veterinarian. Like Leslie and Nina Li Chi, Florence Chan was also Anne's manager.

Leslie praised Cherie's professionalism as an artist. Cherie could play the hot scenes very intensely but she stopped as soon as director Leung called cut. Cherie was very pretty in Leslie's eyes. Other pretty girls according to Leslie included Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia and Teresa Cheung (Kenny Bee's wife). "Fatal Love" is about a bright young advertising executive, Wing (Leslie Cheung) who falls in love with Hung (Cherie Chung), the girlfriend of Sam (Melvin Wong) who is a vicious Hong Kong gangster. It is an entangled and dangerous affair for Wing and Hung, as Sam sends a hitman to kill them. The star-crossed lovers are finally forced to confront their nemesis which lead to a tragic conclusion.

During the shooting of "Fatal Love", Leslie was also attending meetings for his next concert. As this concert would be held in summer, Leslie would wear brief and simple costumes. It was decided that Leslie would go to Italy when the filming of this movie was completed. Leslie bought his fashions in Europe and Italy in particular because there were so many interesting choices. After buying the concert wardrobe, Leslie continued his journey to Japan to take further tutorials in dance; choreography and breathing techniques for stamina.

Special concert guest stars Sam Hui and Paula Tsui had already confirmed their readiness. However, Leslie could not invite Alan Tam because of his fans. "I know there is saying in Chinese 'the big tree will always invite wind' therefore I will always try to be friendly and humble both in my speaking and my performance," said Leslie with a look of resignation.

Stark Impressions

Leslie pioneered the concept of publishing a photo journal to depict a celebrity's daily life.The book contained poses of Leslie in his study, his bedroom as well as in his bathroom. There were even photos with his beloved dog. Leslie promoted this book by saying, "HK$100 is enough to get you a look at Leslie Cheung's whole life," and "Many things about my life never published in any magazine". Another Japanese book publisher approached Leslie about making a porn photo book but Leslie refused the offer, stating he doesn't want to pose naked. Leslie's photo book "Stark Impressions" is pure artistry, not porn.

When the news of a Leslie Cheung photo book came to light, Art Director Charles Chau revealed that, of course, some of the rumours were not true. For instance, that this photo book was back by the Japanese and would be a Japanese production. Chau admitted it was a bizarre thing to hear these speculations yet it proved a point; that this photo book had caused quite a stir. If nothing else this would certainly be a feather in the cap of Hong Kong's publishing world. In fact, Charles Chau could not blame anyone for speculating that this photo book would be published by the Japanese because Hong Kong lacked Japan's history and background in this area. The assumption was that no one in Hong Kong would publish such a book and even if they did it would not be an artistic endeavor. At best it would be a collection of concert photos and a mercenary ploy to realize a large profit from a small investment. Unlike past photo books of a pure commercial nature, it was Chau's intention to use tens of thousands of frames of film to depict an artist’s unfamiliar side. Truth was in declaring it a "pioneering" effort.

This book was a year in the planning. Charles Chau and his team wanted this book to be purely a pin-up star's photo book and to call it "Leslie Cheung – Pure Image Collection". There arose much discussion in the planning such as the English title of this book. Chau along with photographer Kevin Orpin came up with the name "Stark Impressions". "Impressions" is imprints and "stark" is the book's entire artistic mode.

Friends not in the art field asked what "stark" meant. Chau said that the word "stark" was hard to translate. It is almost impossible to find a synonym. The phrase "minimalistic beauty" is close, yet not close enough. Quoting Ming Pao columnist Kung Ming's explanation of "Stark Impression" from the newspaper's early July "Ming Yuen" section, "Entirely simplified elegance, which displays Leslie Cheung's distinguishing grace" summarized Chau and Orpin's artistic intention.

Photographer Kevin Orpin was not too keen on this project when he was first approached. Orpin only knew that Leslie was a top local pop singer and not much more. But after working with Leslie for a time, he found him to be an affable and approachable young man, friendly and easy to work with. He concluded, "The more you get to know him, the more you like him."

Not including preparation time, a total of 14 days were spent shooting the "Leslie Cheung Pure Image Collection". About 20,000 frames were shot. Work had begun in 1987 on October 19. The crew went from Leslie's hidden two-level dwelling in Causeway Bay to CBS recording studios, from the renovated Causeway Bay Hotel to the bustling streets of the Central District, capturing images of Leslie and this sensational city of Hong Kong. Leslie's friend and producer Cheung Chi Kwok lent the use of his luxury car. Even Japanese entrepreneur Kobayashi Masakazu offered one of the world's most deluxe yachts, the 50 meter long, 'The BBC Challenger' plus the ship's 10 person crew to shoot their "Tom Cruise of the Sea" segment, on the piers of Saigon. The team did not treat her as mere boat as she was the magnitude of an ocean liner!

In the 10 July 1988 issue of Ming Pao readers could catch a preview glimpse of Leslie on the control deck of this hundred million dollar vessel and Leslie chewing on French bread in the financial district of Central. At the end of July 1988, 10,000 copies of "Stark Impression" were scheduled for released.

On the day that "Stark Impression" was launched, the publishers invited celebrity guests. Among them was Miss Asia 1985, Lai Yin Shan. Leslie was hesitant when he met her for the first time but he was very friendly with his old friend Candice Yu On On. In fact he ran to welcome her. Someone suggested to Leslie, "You should greet all your guests in the same manner!" But Leslie said he would not be comfortable doing that.

1988 Summer Concert

The Pepsi Superstar Leslie Cheung Concert that commenced in July and ran through August, a movie released and the launch of "Stark Impressions" happened concurrently which proved to be a stellar and memorable August for Leslie.

From 29 July till 20 August, for twenty-three concerts, the most welcomed Hong Kong singer that year, Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing was back to hold his personal concert series, this time sponsored by Pepsi. For this concert, besides being the headliner, Leslie was also in charge of choreography and costume design. The aim of these concerts was to be energetic, colourful and dramatic. The venue, Hong Kong Coliseum in Hung Hom District.

Friday, 29 July was the first of 23 performances of "Leslie Cheung in Concert '88" and the Coliseum was full of Leslie's fans. During its run there would be many celebrity guests the likes of Jacky Cheung, May Low and Lui Fong. The 10,000 seats were all gone; 'sold for a song' as they say for anywhere from HK$30 to HK$200. The touts were selling whistles for as little as a dollar. There was no arm twisting as it was like preaching to the converted for this well-rehearsed performer.

Leslie honoured the ticket price and even started on time, opening with hits from his latest album "Hot Summer". Leslie wore a white suit, looking clean and tidy which strengthened his position as the Hong Kong heartthrob. "Red Hot Love", a cover of the summer hit tune "Voulez Vous Coucher Avec Moi", had Hong Kong's most popular singer accompanied on stage by 20 sexy dancers in their pink stilettos, flower hats and yellow sarongs. They could have easily upstaged any other star, but nothing could upstage that cute Leslie grin which was enough to launch a thousand ships. A simple, "Thank you, thank you." and it was time for the next song.

Then Anne Bridgewater came on to perform a less than energetic rendition of her latest single, "A Rainy Day without an Umbrella". However it did give Leslie a well-deserved break. He bounced back for more, giving the local audience a sentimental journey through his film successes. The Chinese flute from the theme song "A Chinese Ghost Story" went smoothly with Leslie dressed up as Ning Chai Tsen. He wore the ancient Chinese tax collector's costume while the all-female dance troupe wore the long black hair and billowing white robes of ghosts. Alas, not all the dances that evening met this standard.

Slick programming throughout ensured that each song plucked at the audience heartstrings, indeed a marketer's dream come true. Moving from fast to slow, new hits to old, there was a superb mix of Leslie's repertoire. The old favourite "Stand Up" was there, just as the theme song from "A Better Tomorrow II" and his latest chart success story "Stuck on You" adapted well to a live performance.

The stage design was not as spacious as that of Leslie's last concert series in 1986. The entrances were a bit narrow, which made it difficult for the dancers to get on and off the stage. In the second half of the show the mobile center stage was raised up with hundreds of light bulbs flickering in the dry ice creating the perfect setting for the romantic ballad "The Wind Blows On". Leslie's showmanship, singing capability and the stage technology to match went a long way to making these 1988 concerts an undisputed success.

Hot and humid season in Hong Kong and with Leslie's typically high energy performance and dance, he would loose weight during the concert series. After two exceedingly hot hours of a well rehearsed and slick program, Leslie would decide it was time for a quick change and strip down to his vest and shorts much to the appreciation of the audience. What more could the audience ask for? Better dancing perhaps, as the over-the-top costuming, from Baroque blonde wigs and delightful cabaret frilled flounces did nothing to lessen the impact of the stiff and sullen dancing.

On the plus side, credit must be given to the great Leslie chat-up lines, which sustained him throughout and kept the audience chortling. Leslie was endearing during these chats because he would react to the audience. Before he sang the theme song of "Rouge", he joked about how Anita Mui did such a great acting job because she could not portray her regular fun loving, vibrant self but had to look her part. "…not that she looked like a prostitute... but that she looked like a ghost..." which made the audience laugh. Leslie continued that, the most fun for Anita and him was also the most dramatic scenes of their suicide.  For the opiate poison the film crew had mixed a sickly sweet concoction of chocolate, honey and sugar. Such a dramatic scene had to be just right, but the more they ate the more NGs there were as the sweets were causing them to break up in giggles and laughter. The director was very exasperated with the two of them.

Many reviewers said Leslie had given himself too much to do in a single concert. They wondered if there was a concert video in the making as at times it was difficult to decide where his attention was focused. He often struck up such an awesome pose for the camera that the song he was singing lost its intensity. The girls swarming onto the stage carrying armfuls of flowers looked like they had rehearsed it all before. Regardless of whether they had or not, it was abundantly clear that there were many more genuine fans squealing and crowding the bouncers a mere one and a half meters from the stage, who were eager to do the same.

Leslie had the singing capacity and stage technology to match, but a three hour concert was probably too long to uphold the attention of an audience mainly populated by teenyboppers and gazing grannies. Many decided that 11 pm was well past their bedtime and left as soon as the last note was sung. Nobody clapped; everyone showed their appreciation by blowing whistles!

Thursday, 4 August 1988 saw the seventh show of Leslie Cheung's marathon series of 23 concerts. Leslie demonstrated no signs of fatigue or breathlessness. On the contrary the audience saw a giant extravaganza. There were no costs spared for this concert series. The clothes were bought in Europe, light and sound from Japan and Leslie entertained with three hours of great non-stop music.

Leslie has had so many hits throughout his 11-year career that at times he had to settle for set of medleys. Even so, his legion of fans appreciated it all the way by screaming and whistling. Leslie in turn mischievously teased and taunted them by demanding more noise. Teenage girls with cameras at the ready jumped at the chance to get a souvenir picture of their hero and with several costume changes they had a field day. The use of dancers diverted attention and they helped to fill the large stage. This evening, the modern and elaborate choreography complimented the songs well.

Leslie opened with his current hits and it was an hour before he moved on to his older Capital Artists material. Songs like "Monica", "Stand Up", "The Wind Blows On" and "Who Will Echo with me?" were wildly received. "No Mood To Sleep" was the highlight as Leslie came on dressed in cycling shorts and vest. He used every inch of the stage, accepted flowers from fans and even had time to pose for photographs. The concert was entertaining, full of energy with hardly a dull moment.

Once again, only Anne Bridgewater's uninspired brief appearance proved to be a disappointment. Obviously her guest spots in Leslie's concert series were a ploy by their mutual recording company to give her some exposure.

As Leslie's 1988 summer concert was sponsored by Pepsi, it was indeed odd that the Coliseum was still decked out with Coke ads. Even before the concert began, Whitney Houston's Coke ad was shown before one of Leslie's Pepsi spots was run. Much ado about 'bubbly and fizz' but the crowd left happy and cheerful after the two encores at the end of the evening.

When Leslie finally attained huge success, naturally some naysayers were unhappy. Many of these people were the ones who called themselves Alan Tam's fans. Outside the Hong Kong Coliseum, these so called Alan Tam fans made a mock coffin for Leslie. On his way home, Leslie even received a letter written in blood along with incense and paper money which are meant to be burned for the dead. This really shocked Leslie but he decided to stay calm.

The last concert of this series was on Saturday, 20 August 1988. There were 12,500 people in the Hong Kong Coliseum that evening, uniting in a unanimous standing ovation. Anne Bridgewater, Sam Hui and Paula Tsui were there to share the stage with one of Hong Kong's most popular entertainers. Off stage Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Sally Yeh, George Lam, Connie Mak and Willie Chan were waiting to congratulate the star of the Territory's longest running, male solo concert series. It was Leslie Cheung's last night of a record-breaking 23 at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

Despite the previous 22 consecutive, three hour-a-night shows Leslie maintained an incredible enthusiasm and energy. As usual his singing and dancing were almost flawless and the show bubbled with excitement. Unlike the previous 22 nights, the audience dismissed their inhibitions and demonstrated a noisy appreciation and love for their idol. Aside from Leslie's charisma and sex appeal, the format of the evening had a lot to do with the response of the audience. Leslie's fluid but scripted performance easily swept the audience off their collective feet.

When over a hundred TV screens, built into the stage, showed segments of his popular movies "A Chinese Ghost Story", "Rouge" and "A Better Tomorrow II", the atmosphere rose to a fever pitch. Then when Leslie appeared on stage in the ancient Chinese student costume, which he wore in the film, the audience just could not contain themselves. They yelled throughout the entire number.

Like the previous nights, Anne Bridgewater was the evening's special guest. Leslie treated Anne like his younger sister, especially since they share a common manager in Florence Chan. On this Saturday night she shed her usual low cut black and red evening gown for a tight, pure black skirt. The skirt was a gift from Leslie to thank her for her contribution to the show's success during its run. Anne also went for a more mature look with a smart new coiffure. Unfortunately the beat of Anne's number did not match what she was wearing. She looked too sophisticated for the number and could not dance well in such a tight skirt. It was also interesting to note that Leslie is an accomplished dancer, this concert series showcase this talent.

The only English song Leslie sang was Victor Laszlo's touching song “Stories”. Due to the up tempo segment this song followed, Leslie had to start the song twice before the audience was able to change moods and settle down. Unfortunately, to the ears of the westerner Leslie's pronunciation was at best vague. This was odd since he was educated in England for a number of years. However, bandleader Chris Babida's piano solo in this number was a stunning testament of his musicianship.

On this final evening Leslie had a league of special guests backstage that included Sam Hui and Paula Tsui. For this final evening's finale, Leslie deviated from the usually well rehearsed script and feigned an element of surprise when Sam Hui came out to sing "Silence is Golden" with him.

One of the hallmarks of a Leslie Cheung concert is the balance of audio and visual entertainment. This is why the unusual mismatch of these was such a surprise before the first encore. Leslie appeared as an English highwayman but the dancers were in costumes from a much earlier period. The hooped skirts and wigs were also completely unsuited to the ballet choreography. It would seem that choreographer Alvin Leung and the costume designer forgot to consult one another.

As a second encore Leslie sang Deanie Yip's “Lucky Me” as it held special meaning for him. After this number the audience was making for the exits when the house lights went down again and yet a third encore was delivered. This was Leslie's greatest hit to date, "No Mood to Sleep". This last unrequested encore summed up Leslie's enthusiasm, stamina and singing abilities. However this led some critics to comment, "professional and spectacular, but rarely spontaneous".

An Appointment with Leslie

Jimmy Ngai recalled a day with Leslie before his '88 concert and as usual he put it to writing. Jimmy titled his piece, "Days of Drinking Red Wine":

"It was a bitterly cold winter morning. I had an appointment with Leslie at 10 am.

Not to mention Leslie, who would get up early on such a chilly day? I reckoned that he might be late for half an hour so I decided to have breakfast first. After then I walked slowly into the Studio. It was already ten past ten.

Ringo's assistant was idly preparing for the day. He took a glimpse of me and said, "Ringo will be here in a while". Everything seemed to have slowed down in this drowsy Sunday morning.

I discovered some light at a corner of a room. It seemed somebody was inside. Who would it be? I went there to have a look and saw somebody putting on the make up attentively. To my surprise this somebody is Leslie! He is the first one to be here, or I should say he's the only one who arrived on time. Not even the publicity staff of the record company or our photographer had shown up.

He looked bright and energetic, seemed to have enough sleep last night. This brought my memory back to the "DD times" [DD is a disco] 3 to 4 years ago. I went there every Friday and Saturday night and could always meet the same people: Danny Chan, Roman Tam, Philip Chan, some designers in Matsuda, some Maryknoll girls dressed as a tomboy. I had an impression that Leslie was among them. So it’s natural to group him together as the ‘DD type’, against those 'Ho-Tung' and 'Non-DD' types (Ho-Tung is another disco).

I recall having gone to a party held in 'Club' few years ago. Leslie was moping in a chair next to the dancing floor, smoking alone. He looked miserable. I had once thought he was just playing cool. I told him how I feel. He smiled and went on working with his make-up. After awhile, he said, "seldom go to disco now". Of course DD today is totally different now. But more importantly, Leslie today is not the same old Leslie whom we knew 3 to 4 years ago.

In terms of fortune; he had once lived in a 300 sq. ft. small apartment in Lai Wan [he said before: "I was contented with my 300 sq. ft. little hommie"] and had to spend $40-50 for a taxi ride home after going to Disco. But now, he is sitting in his white Benz driven by his driver.

In terms of fame; he fell way behind Danny Chan or even Ken Choi in the past. I remembered he was booed and his hat thrown back by the audience. But now, he can have as many as 20 sold out concerts.

In terms of fashion, it's really a big improvement indeed. Few years ago he was wearing jeans and plain sweater. And now he looks splendid in Yohji.

I looked at my watch and it was already 20 past ten. The photographer hasn't turned up yet. I told Leslie, "Ringo thought you would be half an hour late". He said, "I'm a disciplined person and am seldom late". He had already finished his make up, with a look exactly the same as Master 12 in "Rouge" - a smart and noble looking dandy - there is no better contestant than Leslie for this role.

But Leslie said he's not a dandy as most people thought he was. On the contrary, he has all along been very independent. "I went to study in England and stayed there for seven years. In the last year I had been studying Textiles at Leeds University. My father fell sick so I have to return to HK. I didn't go back but choose to repeat Form 5 in a secondary school."

He lit a cigarette, drew a smoke and leaned forward, speaking in a serious manner [this is his usual gesture which gives us a feeling of sincerity] "My pay is only $1,000 a month when I first signed up with RTV. I spent $500 to rent a room in Broadcast Drive and gave $200 to my mom as pocket money. I then had my breakfast, lunch and dinner at the canteen of RTV almost everyday."

Nine months later, his pay had been increased to $2,900. He then moved to Lai Wan and rent an apartment, his 300 sq. ft. little hommie, with $1,000. Right now his house is the dream house of many of our men of taste. For one thing, it was designed by Alfred Mok whose work has once been published in the Architecture Digest.

We want to take pictures of his house but he refused saying that he wants to have some privacy. "I don't want to open it to everyone but you can always come to visit me and have dinner." He said he's a typical Virgo, introvert and loves family life. He can be a good cook. "I have no problem with dishes like curry chicken, fried eggs with shrimp, etc".

I asked him about the colour tone of his house. He replied, "What else?Just simple black and white, white wall, black sofa, black long wooden panel. I was getting more and more interested in taking pictures of his house. Seeing my persistence, he said, "Okay, maybe you can come in Summer". Why Summer? I don't quite understand. I forgot to ask him why.

Ringo turned up at this moment. The staff of the record company was here too. We started the photo taking. Leslie's poses are very professional. Of course we are not surprised as he had concentrated on movies and TV dramas for some time, as if he'd dropped singing.

Leslie was supposed to start as a singer. "I had been spending more time on acting than singing at the start". He released the first album "I Like Dreaming" under Polygram's label but it was a complete failure. "I know my singing is not good enough therefore I can't expect anything. At that time we have Teresa Carpio and Eliza Chan who are well known singers in English songs. I am beyond their compare." Maybe he's abasing himself. We all know the truth.

He was shot to fame for the song "Monica" "all of a sudden". I don't know if I used the words "all of a sudden" correctly. It doesn't seem fair to Leslie as he had actually been struggling for ten years. Ten years is not a short time for any one.

I repeat the same old story to him, he threw his hat to the audience but they threw it back to him. Such a frustrating thing! Has he ever thought he will quit? He said, "I won't quit for what they did. I only quit if I'm fed up." "Does it mean you have a strong will?" "We have many people here who have a strong will and won't give up. John Woo is a good example. We saw his success today but few people know he has been working hard for years."

We finished photographing at 1 o'clock and went to La Bella Donna for lunch. This place really has a feel of Italy. Sitting under the big window, Leslie ordered some red wine. He told me, "I want to take a break after the summer concert. I will go to Europe. I haven't really enjoyed a vacation these years." I said, "Florence should be the best place for a trip in October, and have a cup of Cappuccino at a café outside Piazza Signoria."

He repeatedly told me, "I have so many ups and downs in my life…". Anyway gone are the bad old days. Like any one else with indomitable spirit and persistence, his arduous efforts have been rewarded for. And, isn't it time to enjoy life now?"

Holiday

After the concert Leslie immediately flew to Thailand to pray at the Four-faced Buddha in Bangkok. He also did the same thing after his 86 concerts. He promised God to thank Him in front of the Buddha statue if his concert reaches success and he always kept his promises. After coming back from Thailand, Leslie went to Europe with Daffy for holidays.

Leslie really knew how to enjoy life, not only work and work, even though he always gave high quality performances. Europe was a wonderful place for holidays. Leslie gave the following recount of his trip to a reporter, "It is my first time to visit Switzerland. The standard of living at this country is high. The prices of things are very expensive so I don't want to shop. But I love Vienna (Austria) very much. The scenery is very beautiful. I visited an academy that teaches to ride a horse. Actually I also want to see opera, but since the ticket is too expensive, I cancel to watch the opera". The reporter said Leslie was quite stingy since the ticket to the opera was only HK$500. That this price should be nothing for a wealthy entertainer like him.

On this trip, Leslie disliked Paris the most because the citizens were not so friendly and he had to speak French when shopping. He also said that said that honesty had become something rare in France. A taxi driver forced him to pay one hundred and fifty francs while the actual cost was only forty francs. With Daffy by his side Leslie did not feel lonely. They also visited London. Leslie had lived in London a short time so the city was not unfamiliar to him. Leslie brought a hundred thousand dollars with him and bought some coats and suits. Still he had money left over. It is said that he earned at least ten million dollars from his recent concert. "To prepare my old days", said Leslie seriously when he was asked what he would use his money for. "Frankly I don't invest my money in Hong Kong. There is an expert who helps me to invest it".

Terracotta Hit

Back in Hong Kong, Samuel Hui had been waiting for Leslie to make the film "The Terracotta Hit", with him. This would be the fifth and final installment of the hit adventure-comedy series "Aces Go Places". This was the most successful film comedy series of Hong Kong, starring Karl Mak, Samuel Hui and Sylvia Chang. Sylvia opted out of this final episode. Nina Li-Chi was also a member of the cast in this film. She played Leslie's older sister, although in realty, she was younger than Leslie. She recalled that Leslie liked to tease and make a fool of her, but when the time came to work, Leslie was very serious and he never hesitated to give help.Leslie gave a lot of help to Nina when she wanted to try a singing career.

The "Terracotta Hit" storyline centered around the 'Chinese Excalibur' an antique sword which belonged to the Terracotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty, stolen by the brother-sister thieves for a Hong Kong triad. They try to pin the theft on the feuding team of Baldy (Karl Mak) and King Kong (Sam Hui) Soon a Mainland police inspector named the "Chinese Rambo" and several rival gangs came after them all.

On one occasion, when talking about his home, Leslie complained about his Filipino maid. Since Luk Che was quite elderly now, Leslie employed a domestic helper from the Philippines. He said she did not obey his orders. Last time when he was away on a trip to Europe she did not tidy up his house. She wasn't even at home when Leslie called his house. There was nobody at home to answer the phone and it seemed like she had been on vacation too! Leslie demanded an explanation from her and she said she was so bored that she had to find some entertainment of her own. She made friends with some fellow Filipino maids working in Hong Kong and she was on the phone most of the time. Nearly all the phone calls were for her. Sometimes she disappeared after breakfast and Leslie had to clean the dishes himself. When asked why he did not fire her, Leslie said that he hated the trouble of going through all the application procedures and it took a processing period of six months.

Like Sam Hui, Leslie was very afraid of traveling by plane. He joked that he had a phobia for death. He used to imagine terrible things each time he had to fly such as, hijack or plane crash. Leslie was so nervous throughout an entire flight that it was not until the plane touched down safely that he could feel like he had escaped death’s door.

Talking about his work, Leslie said he prepared for the day that he may be ousted or set down. Therefore he worked very hard during these years to save up some money. Asked when he plans to quit, he said it's hard to say at the moment but he would make an announcement when a suitable time came. The reporters guessed it would be within ten years.

Michael Lai and Friends Concert

Michael Lai Siu Tin held a concert and he asked some of his friends, especially Capital Artist artists like Anita Mui, Jackie Chan and Lui Fong. Of course, Michael also asked his close friend Leslie since he sang many of Michael's songs.

The name of the concert was "Michael Lai and Friends Concert 88", held at the Hong Kong Coliseum, from 11 to 15 November 1988. The overall response to this concert was very good and especially great for Leslie. Particularly in the last show when Leslie was the last one to perform and it seemed that everybody was eagerly awaiting his appearance. The overwhelming response also made Leslie very happy.

After Anita Mui sang the first part of the song "Rouge", which was composed by Michael Lai, Leslie came in to sing the second part. The audience was so excited just hearing his voice.

Following the spotlight they found Leslie coming slowly to the stage. Applause, cheers and screams filled up the entire hall. He sang a series of fast and slow songs, "Young Girl's Sentiment, "I'm of the Strong Sentiment" (composed by Michael Lai), "Broken Dreams", and some other songs. Leslie and Anita also performed their duet "Fate".

Of course there was a little chat with Michael Lai. Accolades for Leslie's performance included, 'Great' and 'Perfect'. The entire audience was charmed by his voice and body movement. The song "Broken Dreams" was originally sung by Michael Kwan but the melody was a perfect fit to Leslie's singing style. Many agreed that Leslie's "Broken Dreams" was even more touching.

Two incidents left a lasting impression in that last show. The first one was during the duet "Fate" when Anita's microphone malfunctioned. Leslie responded quickly by trying to her his microphone. Since they were some distance apart, by the time he came close to Anita the staff had already replaced the microphone for her. Anita said, "You're really my best partner".

The second thing was regarding Leslie's fans. There were so many of his fans attending the last show and many of them brought him flowers and gifts that it looked more like a fan club gathering. Some fans went up on the stage and one even gave him a sudden 'lip attack'. Though a kiss from fans during a Leslie concert was not an uncommon event, this one was nonetheless very quick and unexpected. Of course, being a traditional Chinese man, he was also shocked, causing him to make a funny remark, "Are girls nowadays so aggressive?" This comment made everybody laugh. Leslie performed for 30 minutes this night. Though enjoyable and a wonderful night for all of Leslie's fans it was certainly not enough.

Great Achievements

The highest award given to Hong Kong singers in 1988 was won by Leslie Cheung. Although Alan Tam had announced that he would not be accepting any more awards, RTHK still gave him the Silver second prize. The first place Gold was awarded to Leslie. At this time Leslie also gained huge popularity in Korea. Many foreign pop stars had dominated the Korean music field but not many of them were Chinese singers. In the past, the sales record of Chinese albums in Korea was poor. Most Korean music associations did not feel that Chinese albums could gain any significant status in their music industry.

Leslie was the first one to have broken the Korean associations "long-time belief" that the Chinese albums could never dominate the Korean music industry. Leslie's albums proved that Chinese albums could do so. Leslie's songs from his movies "A Better Tomorrow" and "A Chinese Ghost Story" had attracted many Koreans. Before Leslie's songs were introduced in Korea, not a single Chinese song achieved popularity in this country. As a matter of fact, Leslie's albums were described as the most successful in the history of the Korean music scene. A phenomenal 300,000 copies were sold in the Korean market. Most of the Korean teenagers could sing Leslie's songs though they did not know any Chinese. Since Leslie was able gain such great success in their country, Korean music associations began to realize that Chinese albums could also be profitable. The Koreans began to pay close attention to the Chinese albums. Leslie was also chosen one of Top 10 Foreign Singers in South Korea, coming in second to George Michael.

When Leslie held his first concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a Malaysian fan had the opportunity to meet with Leslie backstage. The fan and a friend went to see Leslie's concert. Another friend of hers who worked for the production company that had organized the Kuala Lumpur concert, arranged the meeting backstage. This friend told them to wait around the backstage area as she tried to arrange for them to meet Leslie an hour before the concert was due to start. After some time, they were beckoned to a private room where Leslie was. They waited at the door for the signal to approach him.

As they waited anxiously, Leslie was inside, standing around with production people and assistants, finalizing details of the night's performance. As the fans looked around the room, she could see everyone was very busy getting Leslie ready, arranging the costumes he was to wear and going over scripts. A make up artist was applying make-up on Leslie and the stage manager giving instructions to some crew members. They could see that he was very focused on the work at hand and they thought that this might be a really bad time to intrude.

After waiting for some time, some of the production crew finally left the room. Leslie looked at their direction, smiled and beckoned them over. The two were very nervous as they walked over. Their minds were rushed with thoughts of what they were going to say to Leslie. Leslie said hello and asked their names. He then sat down on a sofa and motioned for them to sit down on the other sofa beside him. He enquired as to how they were, when they started to be his fans, how many albums they had bought and which ones they liked. He also enquired if they had seen his Hong Kong concerts before. They replied, yes, on video and they were looking forward to his concert here in Kuala Lumpur very much and that they were very excited at seeing him in person. He laughed aloud, a very friendly laugh and told them he is just a human who sings and entertains his fans.

As they talked with Leslie, they noticed that he was very friendly and joked with them throughout. He did not put on any airs even though he was a superstar. Leslie was always smiling, laughing and polite. He also mentioned that he liked Kuala Lumpur very much, for the somewhat relaxed pace, away from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong. Of course also because of his ardent fans in Kuala Lumpur too! They asked if he would come to Kuala Lumpur more often and he said, "why not". If his schedule permits, he said that he would like to come visit his fans in Kuala Lumpur every two years.

They were talking about the current projects he is working on, his next album and life in Hong Kong, when an assistant came and interrupted. The assistant whispered in Leslie's ear and then Leslie told the fans that he needed to prepare for the concert. He wished them well, to enjoy his concert that night and hoped they can meet again the next time he comes. It was a short meeting but it was great while it lasted. The two fans were nervous and in awe initially but Leslie really put them at ease with his friendly attitude.

Leslie asked his assistant to get him two posters, which he signed and gave to the two fans. As they got up, Leslie shook their hands warmly, bid them goodbye and told them to take care. Then they were ushered out of the room by the staff member who was the friend who arranged the meeting. They thanked her for her help and then they left the backstage to take their seats in the front concert area. They thoroughly enjoyed the concert that night, knowing they had just met the one and only Leslie, the legend in the making. This would forever be etched in their memories.

Daily Life

Leslie moved to his new apartment in Repulse Bay. He loved to decorate his home with designs that came from his own ideas. When not at work Leslie would rather stay at home watching videos, listening to music or reading. Thus he did not mind spending more money on decorating his home. When asked how much he spent, he said less than a million. One thing that troubled him a lot was that he had some cockroaches as "uninvited guest”. "They came every day, looking 'big and fat'. One even came to take a bath with me. I have told my maid to spray insecticide everywhere in the house" "Are you scared?" "Not now, I used to be scared but they come so often that I treat them like friends now", said Leslie naughtily.

A reporter noticed that Leslie had gone in for a new casual look. Like the handsome young man next door. This new look helped him get closer to his fans. He was wearing eyeglasses too, "To help me stay away from rumours", said Leslie. He was bothered by rumours every now and then so he decided to be more careful in his words, "to do more, say less". Like his song "Silence is Golden". As life gets harder and harder, understanding is always an important thing.

"I am a very tough person and I will never give up easily. If someday I leave my career, it must not because I don't have a market anymore but because I feel bored with my career."

About his fans, Leslie said: "If they like me, my image in their minds will never change. But if they do not like me, it is useless for me to act perfectly, they will still hate me. If I must always abide by other peoples' opinions, I would have committed suicide a long time ago."

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