is this the reason?

when the school arranged to send me here to hk, my second choice, i told myself, everything happens for a reason, and i believe in that. now, maybe i found the reason - i'm a "secret agent" in disguise. LOL. okay, shall tell you what happened before you think layming went mad. be warned, it's a long story yah?

if you follow news, you would have known by now that hk artiste Lydia Sum passed away yesterday. and if you follow singapore's media, you would also know that the entertainment sections of our local papers, especially the evening chinese papers, would have a huge coverage on the passing away of someone with a super than superstar status in the industry.

and then, being the kaypoh me, i deliberately made a detour to where was said to be Fei Fei's home, which is coincidentally near my school, on my way back from mong kok yesterday. it was a super big detour, but i guessed it, quite a few news channels / publications were "camping" downstairs. i wanted to take a photo, but only had my hp, and i was trying to be discreet (i forgot this is hk). later, i thought about whether the photo has any value to the entertainment desk back home.

in org comm class later, i msn-ed my colleague to ask how big is lydia sum's death back at home. then she got so excited, dint answer my question and asked for my number instead. she called and asked if i could help out by CAMPING AT WHEREVER THE HK MEDIA WAS CAMPING last night, before another colleague flies over today, and more imptly before our next-door neighbour reaches hk. i represent wan bao, btw. =P

frankly speaking, i was a little overwhelmed, excited, scared, nervous at the same time. i could feel the unease swelling inside me, but somehow i had a hunch this was coming. i mean, my natural instinct after the fact that she has passed away sank in was whether there's anything within my means that i can do here to help cover her death.

i was given the number for a entertainment desk supervisor for a hk paper, and some advice, but the rest, i was on my own.

the first call i made to the supervisor, i spoke in chinese (i was told to speak slowly if not he wouldn't understand). he was nicer than i expected, and helped me contact his reporter to see where he was so that i could go meet him and tag along.

the second time we spoke, he was trying to read me the reporter's number in chinese. the 4 sounded like 7, i had to double check in cantonese. then i forced myself to carry the convo thru in cantonese (i actually did, albeit with broken cantonese). when i heard the reporter was outside fei fei's home, i was a little less apprehensive cos it's near my school (i thought i had to go some ulu Sha Tin place)! or so i thought.

when i got there, i got a big fat shock, cos there was no media ard! =/ i called to check, then realised they have another service apartment at tsim sha tsui! OMG.

and then i CABBED ALONE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREIGN LAND. okay, i was just being paranoid. and i used my broken canto again to tell the uncle where to drive me to. fortunately it's not some ulu pandan place. SERIOUSLY.

and i survived the couple of phone calls made in cantonese with the reporter i was to liaise with and finally was sitting at the steps, like the other local hk media, waiting outside the apartments at 1030pm. i thought i had to camp there for the whole night, but for some reason, some of the local media started leaving at bout 1115...and they really LEAVE TOGETHER one leh. like they discussed, then left, and they belong to different publications! of cos, after seeking "approval" from back home, i left too, but was told that to be at the same place at 7ish this morning (the hk reporter said to "report" before 8).

and so i got up while the sky was still dark today, got there, waited for almost 3 hours when there was a sudden commotion. i was about to leave for jap class (couldnt skip cos had a quiz) when photogs suddenly rushed towards a taxi. i had no idea who the people were, but went with the flow, snapped a good photo, and checked with the hk reporters after that who they are. well, at least i dint wait a whole morning for nothing. =)

and i'm thankful the colleague is here already, if not i would have had to go for the press conference at 2pm just now - wonder if they would have let me in, cos i dun have a media pass =/

to sum it up, WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! in the process of waiting, i also learnt a bit about how the press in china works, and how hk reporters work.

apparently, although competition is stiff here, reporters help one another out because they all understand that they are just employees who have to have something to turn in to their bosses. if one reporter knows about something, the rest in the line would probably know about it too soon enough. back home? we perpetually worry that someone would have the same story, and we try to protect ourselves by saying the bare minimum to other reporters (i did that this morning). to say the truth, it feels uncomfortable sometimes, but that's our rules of the game. lol =P

for once, i'm actually thankful i can understand cantonese, and when forced, i will speak it, even if it means lousy pronunciation. i used it to get my little nuggets of information that i missed before i got to the place. it was a good practise session. yay =)

and here's my sister's reaction:

keng says:
and hor, you are part of the 狗仔队！

keng says:
哈哈哈哈哈哈

-_- but i think it's fated leh, maybe i should consider if i want to do entertainment as a long-term job. LOL =P

anyway, do pick up a copy of wan bao tonight! heard got byline! haha =P