A Beautiful Life

"樹木希林? " - when I glanced through a Chinese newspaper this morning, these four characters in a column caught my eyes. "In the aftermath of super typhoon Mangkhut, certain places in Hong Kong did look like a rainforest, but we don't describe it in such a way." I thought. I then read on and realized that a Japanese actress by that name who acted in the movie "Shoplifters" has passed away.

My professional and amateurish interests motivated me to watch the Cannes Palme d'Or winner film 2018 in July. The message and sequences of the film resonate in me and I am still keeping the leaflet and the ticket to trigger my thoughts of association. In the movie, 樹木希林 or Kirin Kiki acted her part very well; but as a story teller, my attention has been on the theme rather than the names or fame of actors.

It is a fact that life and death are one, and what is really important is whether a person has lived at all. A senior relative of mine treated me and my family in a most degrading fashion when we were lack of means; and in return, I and my siblings did not want to have anything to do with her and she never showed any regret. She has recently passed away, but I have just gone to see her children.

"Are blood relations the most durable and everlasting connections?" - that is the moral query in the "Shoplifters" movie and also my query in life experience. I think being family has more to do with good behaviour (particularly having empathy) than blood or filial piety. Among the good, the bad and the ugly, I believe every one should seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live a beautiful life!

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