TV

Return of the Condor Heroes

tei o 2 Comments

Hands up, those of you who remembered the Hong Kong entertainment in the 80’s.

Hands and legs up those of you who remembered the hit drama, “Return of the Condor Heros”.

I’m not talking about the Louis Khoo version. I’m talking about the definite version by a very young Andy Lau and Idy Chan.

I remembered.

It was like the WLS of today. It had everyone glued to the screen, from my grandmother to my aunties. The songs were hits and we would be playing them day in and day out. In fact we were so hooked that we were watching the last few episodes within one day. We watched the the second last episode till about 2am in the morning and then thought we’d better be sensible and go to bed. We were up a few hours later at 5am to catch the last episode. We couldn’t stand the suspense…. including my grandmother. hahaha!

In those days, there was no dvd. We rented tapes from the video shops. These tapes arrive like about a week after the episode is aired on the HK TV. One episode per tape. So if it’s 20 episodes, you have 20 tapes. If it’s a very popular drama, you have to queue. So sometimes, you watch a drama till ep 15 and then may not get to watch the rest of it till 3 weeks later. I think it’s still being done now. Only it’s dvd instead of tapes.

Anyway, back to Return of the Condor Heros.

Andy Lau was young then. He still had some puppy fat and had already starred in a few dramas but he wasn’t well known. This drama made him a star.

Though he didn’t have as much effect on me then as BYJ did now, he did leave a very deep impression on me. He was Yang Guo and together with Idy Chan as the Little Dragon Girl, they were a perfect on screen couple.

Anyway, both he and Idy Chan created quite a storm in the little red dot, Singapore. And thus shortly after the drama ended in HK, both of them came to Singapore to cash in on the popularity.

If I remembered correctly, I think they performed at World Trade Centre and I think I went with SW. I can’t really remember. Actually, I couldn’t really recall much of the performance either. I did remember our seats weren’t too bad, I could actually see them fairly up close. But I’m not sure if I had paid for those expensive tickets. You see, back then, as very poor, struggling students, we would buy the cheapest tickets and then when the lights dimmed and the show was about to start, we would all rushed forward and filled the good seats in the front rows. haha! There was much less control then.

Anyway, don’t think the show was very memorable. He hadn’t started on his singing career then but I think it was ok. Looking at the photos now, I think some of the dance moves/ poses were quite silly. hehe!


Told you they were silly poses.

Of course back then, we didn’t think so lah and enjoyed every minute of it.

Anyway, after the show, my friend suggested that we should go to the back door and wait for him. Initially, I hesitated. I wasn’t used to doing such things. But I couldn’t resist the temptation and the urgings of my friend. And so we waited outside the back door, together with some fans. Not many. Not like today, where he would probably have a few hundreds of fans waiting. Then, there were maybe about 20 to 30?

And just as I thought this was madness and we should leave. He came out. And this was what happened next:

He was really very young then. So was I.
Though actually in reality, he’s not that much older than I am.

Now I wonder if I could auction off this photo.
Maybe I should placed my precious ‘BYJ-hugging-me photo’ next to it and framed them both up.

What do you all think? ^^

*Postnote: will the person who has my set of Return of the Condor Heroes kindly return it to me? I’d like to watch my Yang Guo again…

Look back with no regrets

tei o 3 Comments

Someone told me she didn’t like this kind of ‘moral’ story. It’s very hard to choose and there isn’t any right or wrong.

True.

It’s kind of depressing, sin’t it?

But I wasn’t out to make everyone sit down to think about right or wrong. I guess I just want everyone to just think. What actually really captured my interest was the ending……

Judge Deed lifted the injunction. I believe it is a decision that any ‘sensible’ person would make.

Cut to the scene in the hospital, in Peter’s room with a group of nurses and his parents. Peter knows they want to prepare for his operation and that the injunction has been lifted. he tried to pull of all the tubes that are attached to his body. He is struggling and kept saying ‘No, no!’

His parents is trying to calm him and his mother keeps telling him to look at her and that it will be alright. Seeing his son’s violent reaction, at one point, his father said:’Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?’ His mother shouted back:’Of course we are!’

Peter died in surgery. he did not wake up from the coma.

I guess you could say he willed himself to die. He did not want to live on terms that are against his beliefs.

– Is what we think that is the best for another person really the best?
– Are you prepared to die for your beliefs?
– Does one person’s effort count?
– Have we lived each day as if it’s the last?

Will we look back with no regrets?

I think neither Peter nor his parents regret their choices and decisions. I’m certain given the same choices and situation again, the same decisions will be made.

Someone has to take responsibility

tei o 1 Comment

I’ve often found British detective/ crime dramas much more interesting than American ones. Many will say that they are rather slow. Well, I guess it’s not in the English character to go:’Bang, slam, hit, whizz’ as they tend to prefer understated emphasis. Slow they may be but they are definitely not boring.

Husband and I have recently became very interested in this particular drama- Judge John Deed, starring Martin Shaw. According to husband, Martin was rather popular in the 70’s as he’s quite a charmer. I can believe my husband. Martin Shaw has a certain charisma like Sean Connery and BYJ, despite the slightly protruding tummy and grey hair.

There are various stories in each episode but they are all connected or carries the same the same message. And the cases are always thought provoking.

But what’s even more interesting is Judge John Deed himself.

He’s a senior judge.
He’s also a controversial judge, often pushing the limits of the law in his sentencing.
He’s also something of a playboy and sometimes I wonder how he managed to rise to that position but I guess as long what he does privately do not affect his judgement, we shouldn’t be judging him for hsi private life.

And so every Sunday, 9pm, would find us parked infront of the TV, with pizza and beer on hand. ^^ Last Sunday’s story was really quite interesting, perhaps even more so for my vegetarian husbandmfqe

Peter (I forgot the character’s name) is a 15 years and 11 months old boy suffering from a heart disease. He has a rare chance to receive a heart transplant. But Peter is also a vegetarian since he was 2 1/2 years old.

If he receives the heart, he will be on medication for the rest of his life. Medication that has been tested on animals, where they suffered and done in the name of advancing scienec. He feels that animals and man are equal and animals should not be made to suffer so as to save mankind. It is cruel to the animals because they were given no choice in this matter. Even if they were treated humanely during the process of reseach, they still suffered. It is mainly for this reason that he objects to the transplant. He ie a very clear minded, intelligent boy, who reads widely and is capable of making sound decisions.

His parents, especially his mother feels that this belief of his is but a romantism, a fad. As a mother, she cannot bear to watch him die. She loves him dearly and that it is her responsibility to save him. She feels she is doing the best for him as he is incapable of making a decision as a minor (even though he is just weeks away from being regarded as an adult legally).

Without the transplant, he would definitely die very soon in a matter of weeks.
With the transplant, there is still no guarantee he will live but there is a fighting chance.

Peter took out an injunction against the transplant and Judge Deed has to decide if

1) the injunction should be lifted because he is still a minor and the parents’ and medical specialists directions should be followed.

or

2) let the injuntion remain so that the boy’s wishes can be carried out. He is clearly certain of the consequence of his decision and the grief that it will cause his parents.

There is no right or wrong answer in this matter, only what one ‘thinks’ is the best for Peter.

If the translpant goes ahead, Peter will be kept alive for the rest of his life with the very things that is so against his core beliefs. He may even hate his parents for clearly forcing him into this situation. However, he may live to be able to do more good for the society.

I will post Judge Deed’s decision and the outcome of that decision later. Give it some thought first.

There was this line that Peter mentioned to Judge Deed that was very simple but very hard to follow:

“Somone has to take some responsibility for the actions of the other.”

Here’s the link to the drama series: http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/crime/judge/