The Godmother

Source: Rob Radboud

Apologies for the silence; I’ve been having some deadlines and writing blocks that made my submissions not progressing much. I will still publish my commentaries on LOCH 2017, though I’m already 3 weeks behind the schedule now. However, publishing those commentaries mean that I need to watch the series again, and I need to dedicate a special time for that, which I don’t have at the moment. Nonetheless, I miss MB… a lot. Hence, this article for this weekend.

Only recently I learned that Barbara had a godmother in Hong Kong. The kind godmother was no other than Mrs Lee Heung-kam, who portrayed Mrs Kam in ‘United We Stand’ 1984 and the Old Lady Kam (Kam tai-kwan) in ‘Chor Lau Heung’ 1984. Mrs Lee also portrayed Abbess Ruthless in ‘Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre’ 1986, and as Tony Leung’s mother-in-law in ‘Yang’s Saga’ 1985.

If I Loved You Less

Update 18 March 2017: I've edited the info about Michael/Barbara concert in Singapore. I don't think it was in 8 April 1985, for Barbara already cut her hair by 6 April 1985. Hence, some premises for this article have been revised accordingly. I have also added some newspaper clippings here and there.

I am somewhat reluctant in writing this, but I thought I’d give it a go. The reason for my reluctance is because bringing up the past can disturb the present. But… I just have to write this.

I am new to MB (since September 2015, that’s considered still new IMO), though I’ve been a fan of Michael and Barbara separately. When in late 2015 I realised their unfulfilled potentials as a couple, I was rather devastated. Then I tried to balance myself by thinking that Michael and Barbara would, just as Michael said, just share a friendship or, again as Michael put it, brotherhood, instead of unrequited love. I even wrote it as such when I wrote a post during Barbara’s commemoration last year. That Michael and Barbara might have had a thing, but they doused it off. And that’s that. But it was just a vague guess…

Upon receiving some old photos of MB from Hannah and Cynthia last December and January, I became more certain about one thing: something did happen between Michael and Barbara in 1983-1984, and it was quite big that it almost changed MB’s relationships with their official significant others at that time. Thus, this post is about how I came to that conclusion. With all due respect to Kent Tong and Jaime Chik, particularly Jaime who has been a very amazing wife to Michael… allow me to write up my speculations here.

Barbara Yung's letters part 4: UWS & FD 1984

The United We Stand ceremony (Mrs Lee Hung-kam was standing next to Barbara,
and Michael was slightly behind Barbara), from Rob's website

Apologies for the slow update. I just returned from a holiday last weekend and had to readjust to the hot weather here so I've been a bit sluggish. Happy Valentine's Day for you all, belatedly for those in Australasia and Europe, but still within the day for friends in the American continent. I've actually been writing a post for V-day, but I haven't finished it. Hence this post in lieu:  a letter from Barbara to her UK family, containing Fearless Duo 1984 and United We Stand 1984. 

In her only letter containing UWS and FD, Barbara also mentioned a 10 days tour with Michael on 15 May, a day after UWS was aired (and a year before her death...). Not sure where the tour was, was it in Malaysia or Singapore? I need to look into this later. Also we learn that Shela (Barbara's aunt now, now that Shela has married Barbara's uncle) had given birth to a baby (Andrew Chan). In June 1984, Barbara and Kent Tong went to UK to visit her family. Afterwards, directly she filmed Chor Lau Heung with Michael as described in her June 1984 letter (seems to be dated 22 June 1984). 

Barbara Yung's letters part 3: The Foundation 1984

Barbara Yung as Chun Sik Sik, 'The Foundation 1984' (credit in the image)

My apologies for the two weeks’ absent. Been doing very busy and productive trips with my amazing team back home. Anyway, I’m working on Part 4 of ‘Runaway Dragon and Missing Phoenix’, which I hope will be online this weekend. Meanwhile, these are two letters of Barbara’s she wrote in September 1983 and in October 1983 containing, among others, the Foundation 1984 series.

From the letters, I learned at least that she was considering either buying a house or investing in a small business (letter Sept’83), that she really cared about her extended family (particularly her mum) and friends, that Kent Tong also cared for her family (sending gifts, Sept’83), and that she liked puppies (letter Oct’83). The last bit somewhat fits the (sad) fact that there’s a little dog statue on her grave in Cambridge… she was apparently a dog lover…

I also learned about some internal problems with TVB (was that one of the reasons why Michael decided to leave TVB and the whole industry after Barbara’s death?). Barbara and Kent seemed to be in a good relationship during the Foundation making; they went to Singapore together afterwards.

What can you learn about her from these two letters, my dear readers?

Barbara Yung’s letters part 2: LOCH 1983

Barbara shooting her first LOCH scene with Felix Wong

Last month I promised that I’d post some letters of Barbara Yung regarding her experience with the Legend of Condor Heroes 1983. Apologies for taking so long, but I finally am able to sit down and copy her letters from Rob Radboud’s site.

Reading her letters again reminding me how beautiful she was, in and out. She was caring, loving and sensitive. The letters you’ll read below doesn’t only talk about LOCH 1983 of course, and there you’ll see how she cared for her family, in this case her mother, her uncle and Shela, her uncle’s partner (later wife). She also cared for her other friends, that they didn’t have enough money etc. I also found out that her family lived in Cambridge in 1982 (Letter 12 August 1982). Do they still live there now? For some reasons, I wonder whether they have moved out...

As for LOCH, Barbara did her audition on 13 August 1982 (Letter 12 August 1982). She had always wanted to do an ancient drama, so she was excited about her audience. However, since she had the audition for the most important role in the series, the announcement was not made until mid November (Letter 19 November 1982). She was of course very excited about it, but then she was also worried whether she’d be able to fill Michelle Yim’s shoes (Mie Shieh or Michelle Yim played as Wong Yung in LOCH 1976)(Letter 13 March 1983). 

Barbara Yung's letters part 1: Chor Lau Heung

Barbara and Michael during a CLH 1984 press conference

I've been wondering for a while how Barbara was when she was alive. I wrote in May that she might suffer depression during her last months. But what of her in the beginning and midst of her career? What of her before that? Rob Radboud said that Barbara was a gentle person who would sacrifice everything for love. I watched a small documentary with her talking, she looked lovely and lively. But is there another way of understanding her aside from those sources?

Then it occurred to me after reading some unrelated (duh) letters of Van Gogh. Letters! Jane Austen left letters that made us understand who she was, what she was like. Also Van Gogh, and other authors/artists. Nowadays we can glimpse what a person is like through their social media postings. But letters are truer, for they are not intended for public viewing. Of course, unlike reading letters of Jane Austen or Van Gogh who had passed away centuries ago, it's more of a breach of privacy to read letters of the deceased when they passed away not long ago (Barbara is in this category). But Barbara's letters are already available online from Rob's website (previously hosted at www.barbarayung.net), hence I feel okay in discussing them here.