Chit Chat # 48 
The Versatile Lighters

Bob Chen

It is almost unreal that we've classmates good in such a wide range of subjects. Li-Poo's Peking Opera in Shanghai brings me back to a performance by Pat King (and others) at Wilshire-Ebelle in the 80's. We got some freetickets from her father. Pat's the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. King, and sister of Peter King, a M.D. I think they are related to Chuk Sei- Kei, and Edward Sung's wives too. The latter, of course, are Lighters. On the Run Run Shaw theater in Shanghai, it is truly a landmark for Shanghai. The name translates to Sky Toad  Dance Stage. Dr. Mei Lan Fong used to perform there with Mr. Wu producing the show. Mr. Wu was the father of Wu Kam Chuai that directed and produced the first Kung Fu movie "Dragon Gate Inn", an adaptation from Kam Yung's books. How do I know these history? We were living next to the old Mr. and Mrs. Wu in Shanghai, and later on in Kowloon. As for James Koo's Cantonese, it is not hopeless. One of these days, the people in Hong Kong will accept him as he is irrespect of what he speaks. I think that will come about much sooner than another ten years. All he needs to do is having the pages of the Sing Tao business section with his picture ready. My Cantonese is not perfect. Shirley Lam always tells me they are improving. Funny thing though, when I speak to Humphrey Chu, Desmond Wang, and other Shanghainese; we always use Cantonese instead of Shanghainese. I guess we think even with our common short-comings in the language, somehow the not-perfect Cantonese brings us closer. We like to display our ties to the place we moved to in our formative years, albeit not all happy thoughts, but still part of our past.