talk 199

For those of us who saw the performance of the Toronto Lighters on the stage on the Gala night, it is just a joy to hear the music, listen to the lyric and feel the rhythm. Of course I am referring to the song they sang, entitled " The lighter friendship song". To put into a more meaningful translation, I venture to name it " Lighters forever". The music is based on "The Little green island by night"--a song popular in Taiwan in the old days, and since has been prohibited to be sung in public, according to Tony. The lyrics were largely composed by T.C.Lo, a most talented Lighter in many "games" in life. We were all listening in awe as the Toronto lighters sang it with the Pui-Ching uniform on and with the Pui-Ching insignia pinned on their shirt/blouse pocket.

During the land trip on Greece, Gina taught a few us to sing this song one night at a piano bar in one of the hotels, with Lum Sau-Ling at the piano I could never learn it properly, not knowing how to carry a tune, not knowing how to say at least one Chinese word in the lyrics and laughing too hard.

Gina sent me this tape of the song to be forwarded to Tony for uploading and to A Chai to play at the Pui-Chiing Bay Area reunion in November. I played the tape and tried to learn the song with the music and the lyrics in hand. I started poorly, and after a few times, my voice started to break, not being able to continue due to the depth of the meaning of the words contained in this lovely song.

In the end, I just sat and listened to it time and time again, without trying to learn to sing it.

In Ted Hsieh's essay " Midnight in Toronto", he quoted a saying about the cruelty of high school reunion, seeing pot bellies and grey hair after these many years. For this lighter, reunion is a bittersweet experience, the best chocolate flavor of all chocolates in the world and in life. It is the pot bellies, the wrinkles, the grey hair or no hair at all that made
the" lighters forever".