September 17 – 27, 2008

“Judy Ongg’s World” Wood Engraving Painting Exhibition

Today I attended my good friend Judy Ongg’s wood engraving painting exhibition at the Beijing National Arts Museum of China. Apart from being an actress and singer, Judy is also an accomplished artist. This particular art exhibition is called “Judy Ongg’s World” and the main reason for holding this event is to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty.

Judy took me on a guided tour of her artwork. She told me that after completing a woodblock carving and printing the picture, she destroys the block of engraved wood. So far she has created a collection of 50 masterpieces. I saw some photographs of her studio workshop and I also saw a photo of her working on a woodblock carving. Afterwards, Judy said she wanted to give me one of her paintings; I was so happy. I was also very bold in choosing my painting and the one I selected was the completed piece of artwork that I saw Judy carving in one of her photos. I’m going to display the painting in my new house.

Since the end of Beijing Olympic Games, I’ve started to resume my usual routines, concentrating on film preparation work.

My First Time

I had to rehearse for a concert today. Even though singing is not my main profession, I’ve actually participated in quite a few concerts. But even so, this particular concert is like a new experience for me and it’s also considered my first time. The reason for holding this concert is to acknowledge the approximately eight thousand staff members who have spent the last ten years working for the Beijing Olympic Games. All of these people have been working behind the scenes; they’re not the groups of volunteers that you saw at the Games. From when Beijing started preparing for their bid to host the Olympics to being selected as the host for the 2008 Olympic Games, followed by four years of preparation work, right up to the start of the Olympics till the end of the event, this was the first time for the workers to sit down and enjoy a concert together. Although this was their first time, it will also be their last because the Olympic Games has already finished.

Earlier, I said that this was my first time because not only was I a performer at the concert, I was also the Master of Ceremonies as well as the executive producer for the event. During the concert, I sang Youth Are Strong and Believe in Yourself, and together with Emil Chau, I sang Hard to Say Goodbye. Winners of The Disciple competition also performed at the concert.

The deepest and most lasting impression that I have from the show was when one of the behind-the-scenes Olympic Games staff members proposed to his girlfriend on the stage. The moment was so sweet and heartwarming. Everyone was very happy for the worker and applauded his successful proposal to the beautiful lady. Just as the concert was about to end, I said to everybody in the audience that the Beijing Olympic Games is now well and truly over.

An Unforgettable Gathering

This evening I had an engagement that I absolutely had to attend because most of the people I was going to see were people that I’ve known for over forty years, some of whom I haven’t seen in thirty years. They were my training brothers and sisters (from the China Drama Academy).

Here are some group photos taken over the years:

And at our latest reunion dinner:

During dinner, it was inevitable that we start talking about the past. We told stories about some of the interesting and leisurely times we had back in the old days and everybody had a good laugh.

My brothers and sisters wanted everyone to have a beautiful recollection of those perfect and happy memories so we all contributed some photos that we’ve gathered over the years, combined the collection and created a compact disc with over nine hundred pictures. We duplicated the disc so each of us had one to take away as a souvenir. Looking at these photos surely brought back a lot of memories. Even though some of the faces look very familiar, I actually can’t remember their names anymore. These photos reminded me of the times we had at school when we were young, the conditions and circumstances when we performed; all of those memorable moments reappeared in my mind’s eye one after another because of these photos. I will carefully look after and treasure this disc.

Text and photos Copyright 2008 The JC Group. All Rights Reserved.

Sept 17 - 27 (星期三至星期一)

‘翁倩玉的世界’木版画展：

          今天我到北京中国美术馆出席好朋友翁倩玉举行的木版画展。她除了是艺人之外，更是一位艺术家。这次画展名为：‘翁倩玉的世界’，目的是为了纪念《中日和平友好条约》缔结三十周年。

          翁倩玉领着我参观她的画，她告诉我，完成雕刻工作和版画后，她会把木板打烂，现在的作品一共有五十幅。我看到她的工作室的照片，还有一张她在雕刻木板的照片。后来，她说要送一幅画给我，我很开心，也很大胆的挑了一张，就是她照片中所雕刻的那一幅制成品，我将会把它放在我的新屋里面。

          北京奥运结束以后，我开始回复以前的状态，投入电影筹备工作。

我的第一次：

          今天要为一个演唱会彩排，虽然我不是唱家班出身，但是也参与了不少演唱会，但是这一个演唱会对我来说，可以一个新尝试，也是我的第一次。举办这个演唱会是慰劳大概八千名为北京奥运工作了十年的工作人员，他们全都是幕后工作者，并不是大家见到的义工团。从北京筹备申办奥运，到得到2008年奥运的主办权，然后四年的筹备工作，直到北京奥运开始以至完结，现在他们是第一次坐下来，一起欣赏演唱会。虽然是第一次，也是最后一次，因为奥林匹克运动会已经完满结束了。

          我说这是我的第一次，因为这一次我不单是演唱者，又是司仪，更是演唱会的总策划。演唱会上，我唱了《少年强》和《相信自己》，与周华健合唱《难说再见》，还有‘龙的传人’的得奖者一起表演。

          过程中，最令人印象深刻的就是一位奥运幕后工作人员在台上向女朋友求婚，场面很是温馨，大家都为他抱得美人归而鼓掌和高兴。演唱会将要完结的时候，我跟在场的观众说，北京奥运真真正正的结束了。

难忘的聚会：

          今天晚上有一个约会，这个约会我一定要去，因为我要见的人大部份都相识了四十多年，其中一些人更是三十年没有见面了，他们就是我的师兄弟和师姊妹。

          席间，大家少不免话说当年，谈到一些当年的趣事或逸事，大家都开怀大笑。众师兄分姊妹为了让大家有一个美好的回忆，各人把多年来储起的照片都拿出来，合力制成了一张储有超过百多张照片的光盘，再复制光盘，每人都有一张作为留念。我看着这些照片，真的勾起了我很多回忆，虽然有些脸孔似是熟悉，但是我已经想不起他们的名字。另外，我们儿时在学校的生活，演出时的情景，所有的点点滴滴都因为这些照片一一浮现在我的脑海里，我会好好珍藏这张光盘。