It was a nice cool windy evening. Nothing happened by chance and there I was walking side by side with Robert Lee (66) to attend the unveiling ceremony of his late brother’s statue – Bruce Lee. The packed crowd in the Avenue of Stars saluted our legendary heroes in the very hometown where he grew up.
My thoughts were mixed. Why are we still fascinated by someone who departed us more than 30 years ago? Bruce went to La Salle when he became a teenage and stayed there for five years. All of us are very much in love with any stories told about Bruce by our seniors in Perth Street era. He was not that famous then but he was quite a character for those who came across him; neither was he remembered as a brilliant student who scored As and Bs. Somehow, we like him in his own unique way. Self-confidence misread as arrogance, freedom misread as violence and wild, raw talent misread as undesirable and mischievous. At Ronald Reagan’s funeral, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher was asking a young man of 17, “And what do you study?” He told her he loved history and literature. “Mathematics,” she said.
He nodded, wondering, if she had heard him correctly. Then she started to give him advice. “In the world of the future it will be mathematics that we need–the hard, specific knowledge of mathematical formulae, you see.” The young man nodded harder this time. “Yes, ma’am.” Later his Dad squeezed his arm. “Take notes, see what I told you before.” And so did the notes and the story become part of history or might it be a turning point for this fine young man? Was that a proper advice? I will say that is more a general statement than proper guidance. We will never know whether he had made a right choice but one thing for sure, history tells no lies and so does our heart.
Make our own choice, search for our dreams, be venturous, open our hearts, uphold the true values and spiritual freedom of being a Lasallian. Share our experience, our joy and wisdom with our younger generation of Lasallians. We are all being taught by the same doctrine, you do not need to discover it or dig deep to search for it. It is right here in our blood, just like Bruce Lee, James Wong and those before us.
Dr. Bernard Kong ’76
President, LSCOBA 2005/06