How does it feel like when you meet TWO of your favourite famous icons at the same time?
They are not music icons, and I'm definitely not attending a concert. Since it's starting at 7.30pm, and since it's JUST a meet-the-fan session, I planned on lining up at 7pm. Mum called at 7pm, barking over the phone, and told us if we are not there right now, we will be 10KM away from the hall entrance. (!!)
Okay I underestimated the 'JUST' a meet-the-fan session. This is 50 times longer than J.Co Donut queue.
We finally got in at 8pm, thanks to the previous speaker who ended his talk 30 mins late. The crowd already occupied all chairs when we finally stepped into the hall, which made us the lucky bunch to be seated on the floor, barely 10 meters away from stage. Most didn't even get the chance to squeeze into the hall.
'So sorry to keep everyone waiting, we were not late! We already scolded the previous speaker just now!' Joked Choi Lam once he sat down with his long time good friend, Ngai Hong and MYFM DJ Cheok Wai Kan.
For those who do not know who these 2 old guys are, they were known as the 'Famous Four' in Hong Kong, standing align with Jin Yong (金庸) and the late Huang Zhan (黃霑).
Choi Lam/Cai Lan (蔡澜) (1941- ) born in Singapore, studied in Japan, spent his career heydays in Hong Kong. Famous food enthusiast, food critic, writer and film producer.
Ngai Hong/Ni Kuang (倪匡) (1935- ) born in Shanghai, grew up in Hong Kong in 1957, migrated to San Francisco in 1992. Famous for his science fiction Wei Si Li/Wai Si Lei(卫斯里) series since the 60s' till current.
The interview was short and sweet, most time were dedicated to open Q and A from the fans.
Cheok Wai Kan (Emcee)- CWK, Choi Lam- CL, Ngai Hong- NH
On his orange bag
CWK: you were always seen carrying your orange bag. Where did you get it from?
CL: it was given to me by a monk in Thailand. We were there filming and requested the monks to pray for good weather, but it still rained for days. I questioned one of the monks for their credibility and he said to me, simply, 'well, the rain is definitely not for you, it's for the citizens!' We then became very close after that. I gave him lots of cigars...
CWK: Cigars??
CL: well, yes. He loves cigars.
CWK: then what did he give you in return?
CL: he gave me lots of bags...(Crowd laughs)
On Women
Audience: what kind of woman do you obey to?
CL: It depends on what kind of woman are you talking about.
Audience: between lady friends and lovers?
CL: (shudders and giggles)
CWK: I think he listens to his own words more~!
CL: I will take that as my answer! (Continue to giggle)
Audience: how about Mr. Ngai Hong?
NH: I choose to listen to my wife, all the time.
(Loud applause from audience)
CWK: He probably says this because his wife is sitting right in front... let's see if his answer differs if the wife steps out for awhile! (Audiences laughed and cameras were flashing at his smiling wife)
On pirated books
CL: The pirated business was so good nowadays; they have imitated a series of my books to a smaller and portable size, where you can walk around with the book in your pocket. I was so surprised to find out that the main producer is a monk!
CWK: a monk again??
CL: Indeed. Then I ordered someone to look for him as I needed to have a good chat with him, but too bad he ran away. He probably thought that I was going to catch and lock him up, but I was really impressed at his ideas and who knows we might even make good business partners! (Crowd laughs)
CWK: I hope no one brings the pirated 3 for RM10 series to be autographed later. (Crowd giggles) What would you do if the fans show you their pirated versions?
CL: Close one eye and sign on it! (Crowd roared with laughter and cheered)
On Publicity
CWK: Will you be bothered about being recognized in public?
NH: Not really, since I seldom go out. However there was once where a passerby pointed at me while telling her daughter, 'Look! It's Wai Si Lei!' God, I don't speak 26 languages or practice any martial arts, not even with a better looking face like Lor Kar Leong! (Crowd laughs)
Q and A session ends in 45 minutes and when the emcee announced that we can start lining up for autograph, once again, we were among the lucky ones to reach the stage first. Fyi, Dad is a die- hard Choi Lam fan, owns more than 40 books from the author and watches nearly all his shows on TV. He squeezes onto the stage with another uncle till he nearly fell off the stairs -__-
Can you believe he is 73 already?? Sooo adorable!
Look at how my family happily harasses Mr. Choi
Whoever steals them shall die a horrible death
Result of harassment: Dad is the ONLY one who got Choi Lam to write a quote on his book- 'Good kids can't be too bad, but bad kids can't be taught better'.(好孩子不坏，坏孩子却教不好)
