It was a moody Monday and it wasn't because of the Monday blues. There was a shroud that surrounded the death of not just one, but two, mega or big singers. As a bilingual person born and bred in Singapore, I am familiar with both singers.
The first piece of news came in the wake of the morning. The legendary american diva and queen of pop Whitney Houston passed away in her hotel room, supposedly due to heavy drug abuse. She was so magnificent in her hey days and belted out lots of amazing songs that topped the charts. Her most memorable song is definitely her rendition of the song "I Will Always Love You", from the movie "The Bodyguard" starring Kevin Costner and her, originally written and performed by Dolly Parton. Amongst others, I also love the songs "I Have Nothing", "Miracle" and many more others. At her peak, she was just so unbelievable with her crystal clear voice.
So I find it hard to understand why someone so successful would take to drugs to destroy her own life when she has so much money and many things that we mere mortals do not possess. But I guess money really cannot buy happiness although it can give one access to lots of high-society drugs to drown out life's sorrows. Regardless of what I say here, it doesn't really matter anymore, does it? However, I still remember the very beautiful song with meaningful lyrics "One Moment In Time" which was the first time I actually heard her songs.
Later that morning, I received news of the passing of the 70's taiwanese singer and host 凤飞飞 (translated as flying phoenix in Chinese) at the age of 60 on 3 Jan 12, best known as the queen of hats with her humongous collection of hats. She died in Hong Kong due to some lung cancer complications. Ironically, her husband died of lung cancer just a couple of years ago.
Her voice and beauty made her stand out prominently in the entertainment industry in Taiwan then and this iconic and charismatic singer performed in Singapore many, many times in the 70s and 80s with her wide array of songs, much to the delight of her huge fan base here. She was especially well-loved by the generation of my mother and many of them are now wiping over the loss of this celebrity. She was so thoughtful that she reminded her family not to broadcast news of her death to journalists and her fans earlier because of the upcoming Chinese New Year then. Such was the depth of her heart and her level of consideration so often missing from today's celebrities.
I still recall very vividly with fond memories of the theme song she sang for the then SBC period drama 《盗日英雄传》in 1986 and her departure song "掌声响起" (translated as "Applause") when she performed here before she retired from the industry. Anyway, she is survived by her only 23 years old son.
This week shall be a week of reflection of how fragile life can be. The Valentine's Day that followed soon after also helped to remind us of how we should really cherish our living moments before death claims us forever from the loved ones all around us. We should take a stop in the midst of our very busy lives and reminisce for a moment what we have achieved for ourselves all these past years so that we have less regrets in future.
