Saved by the saxophone, now Jacky’s passion is changing lives
Music Zone volunteers play in the community and offer free lessons for children on welfare
At the lowest point in his life, Jacky Ko Chung-kit went up to the roof of his building, ready to jump off and end it all. Business was bad, he was up to his neck in gambling debts, and his wife had just left him a note saying she was leaving him, with their child.
It was at that moment he heard the stirring sound of a saxophone, which resonated through his whole being. “It made me stop and think. Suddenly, my life flashed before my eyes.”
He thought of his poor mother, who had worked so hard as a single parent to raise him and his little brother.
“I thought, if I jumped, all my mother’s efforts would have been in vain. And I realised I had all my life blamed my circumstances, but actually it just comes down to me.”
The song that saved his life was the sax version of Leslie Cheung’s For Your Heart Only, a Canto-pop classic. It awoke him and set his mind on curbing his gambling problem. He worked during the day and took classes at night. To distract himself from the desire to play games of chance, he learned to play the instrument.