Like a teacher who is proud when her students succeed in life, I’m also the proud former boss of staff who have overtaken me in their careers, doing what they love and are passionate about. Tisa Ho who worked with me in the mid-80s and hatched the first-ever Singapore Arts Diary, is now the CEO of the Hong Kong Arts Festival! So when Tisa lured me over with tickets to “see what she’s doing” with her sixth arts festival, it was difficult to resist her invitation and I flew over for a weekend.
On touch-down at 6pm on Friday, 24 Feb, I headed straightaway to the IFC by the airport express to meet my friend Jasmine. Together, we cruised over to Tsim Sha Tsui to catch “Sixteen”, an English music group that specializes in Baroque music. The group of sixteen singers and musicians sang a repertory of Handel songs which provided a fitting start to the Lenten season for me.
As one cruises on the harbour, one immediately feels one’s tensions melting away as if instantly blown away by the cool breeze. I thought this was a great way to unwind after a hard day’s work in high-paced Hong Kong, relaxation therapy at only S70 cents a go. The Hong Kong skyline was beautiful as ever with the hills serving as a canvass. A delightful surprise find on the walk back to our hotel was the canopy of hats at Times Square and a clothes line suspending clothes constructed from flowers. Window displays at their best! The vibrancy of Hong Kong is still unmatched in Singapore.
On Saturday, we caught the HK Contemporary Ballet’s matinee performance, boasting interesting choreographies executed with precision by very skilful dancers. In the evening, we saw the eagerly-anticipated Mozart opera “Cosi Fan Tutti”. The opera was exceedingly long – 88 minutes in the first half and 90 minutes in the second but the two gentlemen lovers who re-appeared as Arab oil barons to test the fidelity of their beloved were too hilarious to walk out on.
In addition to the shows, I enjoyed a buffet lunch at the Grand Hyatt on Saturday c/o Tisa and a champagne breakfast at the Peninsula on Sunday, c/o Margaret and her very elegant mum. It was Margaret who whisked me to the Wong Tai Sin Temple last year, to get our fortunes read. There was no time for temples on this trip but I did manage to find the Turkish delights shop Ali Baba to satisfy my year-long craving for their pistachio nut brittles coated with rose petals. We accompanied a mutual friend jewelry-shopping and I enjoyed the jewelry inspired by Chinese luck symbols – fishes, lingzhi, bats – but vicariously only as with retirement around the corner, I am conscious about cutting back on unnecessary expenses.
I also attended Sunday mass at St Joseph’s Church (known to taxi drivers as the “blue church above the Bank of China building) with my friend and marveled at how well integrated the Filipinos were in the community. There was an all-Filipino choir and all the church wardens were also Filipinos. In fact, the church seemed to be manned by the Filipinos. I thought that countries and companies could learn the true meaning of “good manpower deployment” from this experience that is, we allow each and everyone to use their strengths and God-given talents for community good.
It was all in all a wonderful weekend. Filled with gatherings of old and dear friends, new ones, good art and good music, this trip helped me to finally overcome my dislike of Hong Kong as a holiday destination.
My Arts Bucket : Life is an Endless Stream of Goosebump Moments! 
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