中男?中女?
Recently, there is this faddish coined phrase in town; it’s 'chung lui'. The phrase denotes: middle person, middle-aged person of the female gender. If one has the habit of reading the daily newspapers, then it is inevitable that one will notice that recently these two words cropped up frequently in the news contents. Let’s not mention the entertainment news, even Hong Kong news, front page features, and also even the news supplements, they all have traces of them. Actually, ‘chung lui’, these two words are not problematic per se, clearly they are just abbreviation for middle-aged women, an appropriate definition. However, I believe all women, including the middle aged or those approaching middle age, that there are not many among them who like to be so explicitly labeled as ‘chung lui’.
Earlier on, a friend invited a group of close friends to dinner to celebrate his/her birthday. The guests were a mixed batch of males and females; I was there too. After the celebratory dinner, we all stepped out of the restaurant, and at that very moment, unbeknownst to us, my friends and my pictures were secretly snapped. A few days later, the tabloid news came out. Its heading ran: “Steven Ma in the company of three 'chung lui' partying (po) into the night,” etc etc.. Not going into the validity of this news article, just that singular matter of my three friends being labeled as ‘chung lui’, and to have their pictures blown up so big already made me feel bad.
As an artist, having my pictures secretly taken is not surprising. The more salt you consume, the more you are able to endure the thirst. (i.e desensitize) But I felt sorry to have my friends made the news with me. Among these three friends, two are already mothers. Though being labeled as “chung lu”, I believe they would not be all that bothered. But what is truly ‘awful’ is that the last one, who is still a young lady, is summarily categorized as ‘chung lui’. How terribly upset she was! Later she texted me, saying that her lifetime of happiness is now unduly destroyed by me.
Fact is, who does not go through mid life? This is a phase of life that all of us will go through one day. Today there are ‘chung nam’, ‘chung lui; tomorrow they may be termed as ‘mature males’, ‘mature females’; or perhaps not improbable, there may even be the “secure males or secure females”. But all these are just merely adjectives, that’s all. Age is never the problem, how to live life is what matters!
Lastly, I would like to use this essay to convey my apologies to that “miu lui” (young lady). If her lifetime of happiness is truly destroyed because of me, then……. let me make amends ba. Heehee!
source: 圖文並謬 Pg 22-23
translator: Tamaya
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