First Encounter - Sylvia Chang Poem by john tiong chunghoo

twin pity

the way sylvia Chang looks at
the less than pretty journalist
which makes her so conscious of
her less than favourable endowments

a pity for the star for making me
feel she places looks on
so high a pedestal

a pity for the journalist for having
to carry out her work feeling an inadequacy
she has really no control over

That was more than 20 years ago in my first interview with the legendary Taiwanese actress Sylvia Chan at the then Merlin Hotel, now the Concorde. The young female reporter was one of those you would label as 'not pretty'. And that became more obvious when she was right in front of an actress known around half the world. There was so much that went on that made me feel bad more about Sylvia than the poor reporter.