The world in which I live by David Tang

黎自蘋果日報既鄧永鏘既文章。佢曾經評批過香港既專業翻譯，話外國人根本唔會咁樣用英文，兼且超大口氣話佢同彭定康係朋友，佢既d英文基本上係唔會錯。呢個logic好似有d怪，不過又睇下。

Last month, one of my best friends died from a stroke. At his funeral, his coffin filing out the church was touchingly followed by his dogs. I couldn't hold back and burst into tears. In Chinese, we say "better for a hero to shed blood than tears" （ 英 雄 流 血 不 流 淚 ） - so I seemed to have failed as a hero. The whole moribund event also got me thinking about the frailty of life. I was going to see my friend on that fateful Friday morning. Then on the day, he was suddenly taken to hospital. He had a stroke before lunch and went. I shall miss him. It also got me thinking if I have had a good life and that if, god forbid, I was suddenly to go, whether I will have lived a decent life. I know it is not very Chinese nor good fung-shui （ 大 吉 利 是 ） to think about such things, but sometimes, it is pointless being too superstitious, as it becomes escapism.

On the whole, I believe I have had a wonderful life: I have had a good family, particularly a wonderful great-grandmother, a truly exceptional grandmother, and a mother and a wife who could not have given me more love. I have also made some life-long friends - friends with whom I have laughed and cried and argued and debated and travelled and slept and hugged and eaten and drunk and played and gambled and quarrelled and made-up and quarrelled again - and all the things which go through the spectrum of true friendship. I have also loved, been loved; gone through unrequited love, both ways, and continue to be able to love and be loved. I have had a marvellous education and the luckiest disposition of being curious so that I carry on wanting to learn more and know more and experience more. My two children are as good as they come - unspoilt, in possession of good manners, well educated and know the values of life. I have seen some wonderful sceneries in my life - Kilimanjaro, the Tibetan plains, Bhutan, Easter Island, the Van Diemen's Land in Tasmania, the geysers at Iceland, and the depth of Bavaria, along the old Silk Route, all the ancient cities of India, and the Seychelles, the Maldives, most of the South Sea islands and Alaska and the Yellow Mountains. I have also had my fair share of meeting some amazing people. Lord Denning, when he was Master of the Rolls, put me in utter awe when I saw him in court; Richter playing Rachmaninoff reducing me to tears (again); smoking a cigar with Fidel Castro; having dinner with just Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, with Chris de Burgh playing "Lady in Red" afterwards; taking Princess Margaret shopping in the Chinese Emporium; watching Don Giovanni on New Year's Day at La Scala with Isaiah Berlin; talking about the war with Freddie Ayer and Roald Dahl who slept together in the basement of the Dorchester Hotel; going on to the roof-top, shoeless with Princess Diana, of St Marco's in Venice; watching Mick Jagger perform with Bill Clinton off-stage; being at the Queen Mother's 100th birthday party; and sunbathing with Kate Moss!

I have also read some wondrous books (The Great Gatsby, Ulysses, Howards End, Laugher in the Dark, O Jeeves), seen some extraordinary films （ Un Chien Andalou, Il Postino, Some Like It Hot ） and operas （ The Ring at Bayreuth and Covent Garden and Mozart at Salzburg ） , gone to some sensational concerts （ Berlin Phil, Vienna Phil, Solti and Karajan ） , and set eyes on a vast number of painting masterpieces （ The Last Supper, Gas, The Mona Lisa ） . I have also eaten food as good as nectar, drunk wines from the most delicious of grapes, absolutely superior abalones and sharks fins and birds' nest. I have flown in the best planes and sailed on the mightiest boats. I have seen the best races （ with the rocket Nijinsky ） and some of the best games in our times （ Nastasi v. Smith at Wimbledon and England winning The Football World Cup ） . I thank god each day for all the good things I have enjoyed as well as all the experiences which have been sublime and indelible. I treasure each day, and try to make the most of what I can get out of it. I often cannot believe how fortunate I have been. The constellation has blessed me, and that's why I feel I must give back what I have taken from life. That's why all of us must always remember to help others and impart what knowledge and experiences we have had to those who have not been so fortunate. The world goes round because of people giving. We should never forget that when we go, we are what we have given, rather than what we have received. For receipt depends on providence, whilst giving depends on our free will. That's the beauty and mystery of life.