More public interest announcements and appeals in Hong Kong feature pop stars and actors than probably even in Hollywood, evidence that singing idols and superstars have always had a special place in the hearts of Hong Kong people.
If there was a Great American Dream, there too was a Great Hong Kong Dream for those growing up here in the 1970s and 80s. For many, the rags-to-riches stories of these entertainers represented hope that dreams, no matter how distant, were attainable. For there he was, a tailor's son who endured days of being so poor he could not pay his rent, yet who grew to become a true blue superstar.
Hong Kong superstars do not come much bigger or more successful than Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing who ended his life prematurely on April 1. His act cannot and should not be condoned. It was selfish in that it robbed not only his family and friends of him but also the world of his talent. In his depressed state, Cheung may not have had the faculty of his usual wits to have stopped himself but, whatever the reason, the end result remains the same. He is no longer with us.
If one positive aspect can be drawn from the superstar's death, perhaps it will be the growing awareness that depression is an illness - sometimes a debilitating one - and not just a frame of mind.
Cheung himself probably could not have known that his death would leave such an impact on so many people at so many levels. News of his death was carried in almost all major media outlets from the BBC and CNN to the New York Times, and even as far as South Africa. Fans have come from Korea, Japan and London to pay their respects, despite the threat of the pneumonia outbreak.
To his fans in Hong Kong, he was more than just an idol. He was an icon of the times; the best of times, in fact, in Hong Kong and in their lives. His rise to success in the 1980s ran parallel to a time when Hong Kong was thriving and prosperous, and problems such as a flagging economy and a deadly virus were unthinkable.
