KILLING US GENTLY WITH HIS SONGS. A Fond Farewell, DANNY CHAN.

HE sang.

And the whole canto pop world clamored for more.

This is a tribute to DANNY CHAN, HONG KONG pop singer and composer extraordinaire.

DANNY died in 1993, after 13 months in comatose.

It had been widely reported then that DANNY suffered from a depression of sorts, and was hurting badly from psychological loneliness and a sagging career in the later part of his life.

He became a recluse, was manic-depressive and resorted to drugs and alcohol.

As a result, he was found unconscious in his residence one fateful day in 1992, apparently from an accidental overdose.

Whether this one is fact or fiction, the mystery died with DANNY.

Time has really flown as DANNY CHAN had been long gone for 15 long years.

These days, whenever his evergreen hit MY TEARS FLOW FOR YOU is being aired over the radio, memories of DANNY would come flooding back.

A sense of DEJA VU. Merci.

It's like some weird kind of resurgence, just like the lyrics from ROBERTA FLACK's famous song:

"I heard him sing a good song,

I heard he had a style,

And so I came to see him,

And listened for a while,

There he was this young boy,

A stranger to my eyes ...

Strumming my pain with his fingers,

Singing my life with his words .... "

Killing me softly with his songs...."

I still recall vivid memories of the early 1980s, when I approached DANNY CHAN, then a fledgling singer and a host of other Hong Kong artistes for a charity performance courtesy of the LIONS SOCIETY OF SINGAPORE.

Whilst the Hong Kong artistes are contented to twin-sharing rooms, DANNY peremptorily insisted on a single room just for himself.

Whenever he had a mood swing, which he often did, he would give the P.R. conferences a miss and went swimming in the hotel pool instead.

At that time, I found him to be as self-centered as he was perplexing, and I had to cajole him for at least an one-to-one interview with MICHAEL CHIANG (currently editorial consultant with the Singapore MediaCorp 8 Days Magazine), then a journalist, at the Mandarin Singapore's poolside.

DANNY even requested that I treat him to a VERSACE fashion show staged at the Mandarin Hotel and he wanted to meet DICK LEE because he heard that from grapevine that they both resembled each other.

Frankly, DANNY was relatively unknown in 1981. But on that night of the charity performance at the now defunct SINGAPORE NATIONAL THEATRE, I was startled by his powerful vocals when he belted out his hit MY TEARS FLOW FOR YOU.

Now it's as though time has really stood still.

DANNY CHAN's soulful evergreens will always remain as a heritage with his fans, invoking a deep sense of loss in many of us, of a great talent that has passed on.

Were I really friends with DANNY? I am clueless.

Eons ago, when DANNY was still around and whenever I was in Hong Kong for project meetings, we would make a point to meet for afternoon teas. Our usual tete-a tete rendezvous was at the Chatterbox Coffee Shop at the MANDARIN HOTEL.

DANNY was the effervescent good looker who loved to mingle with the socialites and the fashionistas and it was not uncommon for our chats to be interrupted by a beautiful "someone" who would just come hither with a "wooo...how are you and what have you been doing lately? That's a nice really striking shirt you are wearing...and..."

Hug, more hugs, smooches ...

Boleh tahan, tak?

DANNY loved to be complimented as a hip haute trendsetter, for his fine dressing.

His pretty boy features made him look good in anything he threw on, including those slick jackets of his - be it worn-in leather, black blazer or safari style. His looks are always stylish, never less.

He was a veteran of style, be it funky, edgy or flamboyant.

The biggest problem with DANNY CHAN was his moods.

On some days when I ran straight into him at the REGENT Hong Kong, he would "feign" the I-don't-know-you routine and breezed pass me without even a simple hello.

Ignorance was bliss then.

Then when I sought to give him back a dose of his own discipline, as I was rushing back to my hotel on NATHAN ROAD, he would cross over to say "hello" to me with a curt "Hi, so you are in town? Let's have tea tomorrow at the old place, OK?"

It was really exasperating to play the "mind-set" with this man.

I remembered fervently that DANNY had a penchant for the LONDON scene and he always wanted to make an annual "pilgrimage" there . I did not know his reasons and I never asked.

But I had an intense dislike for his then manager, an obnoxious albeit pretentious man called K.K. TAM.

K.K. TAM was rude and arrogant, and extremely tactless in his dealings.

And wow, he was lucky in the 80s to have 3 extremely popular talents under his artiste management belt.

They were DANNY CHAN, LESLIE CHEUNG and PAUL CHEONG.

As FATE would have it, all these three artistes succumbed to suicides, under mysterious circumstances.

It's something still baffling to this day.

But nonetheless true.

As I have said, life moves in strange circles.

It's either you believe this one or not.

" WE ARE ALL ALONE." LESLIE Cheung the LEGEND. What Price LIFE? " LIFE isn't measured in MINUTES. It's the MOMENTS that really COUNT."

LESLIE CHEUNG might have nosedived to his death from the 24th Floor of the MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL in HONG KONG on April 1, 2003.

Yet until today, he had left behind many unanswered questions.

Despite relentless coverage by the paparazzi, his private persona had always been shrouded in mystery the way he wanted it.

And right to the present, the world is still gaping in consternation and clueless at his choice of abrupt departure on April Fool's Day 6 years ago.

1. Did he intend his hasty retreat from mankind to be a cruel case of life imitating art?

2. Was he suffering from an incurable disease as some cruel speculations say?

3. Was he suffering from manic DEPRESSION?

4. Was it an impending break-up with his boy friend of many years that drove him to this mindless act?

For this ACTOR-cum-SINGER extraordinaire, the secret was buried with him.

LESLIE CHEUNG's entertainment career started in 1977 when he wowed the judges at the ASIAN MUSIC CONTEST organized by RTV (currently know as ATV).

He was Hong Kong's prettiest boy hunk, a self-declared bisexual and his life mirrored a thousand facades.

He is an ASIAN cinematic legend taken after JAMES DEAN for both the good looks and chameleon moods.

We will always remember the charisma and the angst that he portrayed often in his songs and films.

LESLIE CHEUNG is one powerful, daring and seductive performer who will take your breath away.

An actor's lot is beseiged with pain and angst, within and without - reel and real.

He also taught us that when you are in this world, everyone is living a role.

No one is what he seems to be.

Not even the closest one next to you.

And that in life, ever individual has a game to play.

There's always a way out of anything.

Except the past.

That was his vision.

And when you finally realizes the truth, it may change your opinion forever.

WHAT PRICE LIFE?

LIFE isn't measured in minutes.

It's the MOMENTS that count.

Count your blessings.

Because whatever you may have today, it may not be around tomorrow.

SO ENJOY THE MOMENTS WHILE YOU MAY.

This 16-year-old girl named RACHEL WILSON, she penned a sad peom to herself. I was all at once stunned by the clarity and realism of her words:

You said you'be there for me,

But when I really opened up to you,

You just don't wanna see,

But when I have these thoughts and breakdowns I ring

and you're never there.

I can't sleep at night, can't sleep anymore,

My constant pains, my constant heart sores

all the thoughts of death I have, and suicide,

I tell you about them,

Why do you expect me to hide?

I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE ONE I COULD TURN TO

WHEN IT GOTTEN TOO MUCH,

Well, you could fool me,

My feelings you don't wanna touch,

I WILL JUST STAY AWAY,

I GET IT - CRYSTAL CLEAR,

But one day suicide will take over,

Then maybe you will realize my FEAR.

Yah, there's a stark difference between DEPRESSION and SADNESS.

When you are depressed, you do not feel like being with anybody.

You either sleep more than usual,

Or you can hardly sleep at all.

Your appetite is either non-existent or increases dramatically,

Your energy level goes way down

And you've a hopelessness about LIFE ...

As difficult as it is,

It is also important that you get out of the house and seek help.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

My mentor, an Executive Film Maker befriended LESLIE in 1978 in Hong Kong when he was just starting out as a a rookie.

He remembered visiting LESLIE on set at the RTV's when he was filming his first cantonese drama series called DESTINY.

LESLIE was then under the tutelage of K.K. TAM (who was simultaneously managing DANNY CHAN, another Hong Kong singer).

But it was under the ace leadership of FLORENCE CHAN some good years later, that LESLIE's career really soared.

The rest is history.

I have downloaded LESLIE CHEUNG's rendition of Rita Coolidge's WE ARE ALL ALONE from YOU TUBE for your listening pleasure here.

Not many of his fans know that LESLIE's first record was an album of ENGLISH covers.

And there is a rare gem here, a radio recording of LESLIE CHEUNG being interviewed in ENGLISH.

TIME HAS REALLY FLOWN.

AND MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THESE.

LYRICS of " WE ARE ALL ALONE ":

Outside the rain begins,

And it may never end,

So cry no more, on the shore a dream,

Will take us out to sea,

Forever more, forever more,

Close your eyes and dream

And you can be with me,

'Neath the waves through the caves of hours,

Long forgotten now,

We're all alone,

WE'RE ALL ALONE,

Close the window, calm the light,

And it will be all right,

No need to bother now,

Let it out, let it all begin,

Learn how to pretend.

Once a story's told,

It can't be but grows old,

Roses do, lovers do,

So cast your seasons to the wind,

And hold me dear, oh hold me dear,

Close the window, calm the light,

And it'll be all right,

No need to bother now,

Let it out, let it all begin,

All's forgotten now,

We're all alone,

Oh, WE ARE ALL ALONE.