Joyce Cheng Addresses Media 20 February 2008 Emma Lam After a long battle against poor health, entertainment legend Lydia Sum (沈殿霞) passed away yesterday morning. A press conference was held today at Tsimshatsui's Miramar hotel by her family and closest friends to address the media and make their own personal tributes to Lydia. Her daughter, Joyce Cheng (鄭欣宜), was joined by her fifth sister, Sum Mei Ha (沈美霞), brother-in-law and best friends Florence Chan (陳淑芬) and Mrs Chang (張徹太太). Florence made the main speech of the event on behalf of the family. "I represent Joyce, the daughter of Ms Lydia Sum, in announcing that Lydia died on 19 February 2008 at 8:38 am at the Queen Mary Hospital. She was 62 years old. Joyce and her family thank SAR Chief Executive Mr Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) and all their family and friends for their kind words of comfort. "We will be following the wishes of Lydia, made before her death, in arranging for her to be buried in Canada, so Joyce and Lydia's sister will be accompanying Lydia's body back to Vancouver next week for her to be buried at the Forest Lawn Memoriam Park. "We will be holding a memorial service for Lydia on 02 March at the Hong Kong Coliseum with free entry and details will be announced later. As the funeral in Canada will be a private affair, we will film the proceedings and broadcast this at the memorial service to share with any of her friends and the Hong Kong public who wish to offer their final mark of respect. "In her lifetime, Lydia was a very professional artiste, who both respected and enjoyed her work. She was driven and optimistic and was always quick to offer her assistance. She knew many people and loved her work in television. She grew up with the people of Hong Kong and has always been the happy fruit in the hearts of the Hong Kong people. She hoped that her happy image will live on in the future, so we hope that the media will use these two official photographs when they report on her work and her lifetime. "Many of Lydia's friends had been sending messages to me and Mrs Chang asking to visit Lydia whilst she was in hospital and whilst we had passed on your best wishes to her, she did not wish to be seen in her weakened state. She wanted to leave hospital so she could return home and see everyone in happy spirits, but please be assured that she received all your support and encouragement. Please do not feel any regrets at not being able to see her before she died, because Lydia hoped for everyone to remember her for when she was vivacious and happy." Lydia's sister thanked everyone for their support and also thanked the staff and doctors at the Queen Mary hospital for the care that they had given Lydia over the past year, especially Lydia's consultant Professor Chung-mau Lo (盧寵茂). Joyce was the last to speak and said: "Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for attending this press conference. We all miss my mother, but..." At this point, she could not hold back the tears and paused before continuing. "My mother fought against her illness for a long time and with determination. Do not be unhappy because after fighting for so long it became very difficult... my mother has left, but she has gone somewhere very peaceful. When she passed away, there were many family and friends there with her and she passed very peacefully." Joyce thanked her mother's fans, friends and peers for their messages, emails and calls and also thanked her aunt, uncle, Florence, Mrs Chang and Florence's son Chan Ka Ho (陳家豪) for giving up a lot of time for Lydia, bringing her whatever she wanted to eat and telling her secrets to make her happy. She was also grateful to all her uncles and aunts who have helped her. Bursting into tears again, Joyce finished her address by saying: "I will not let you down and I will be good. I will try my best to learn to be a responsible woman. I know my mother wanted this the most. Thank you." -credit: batgwa
Yeah, I saw the press conference. I'm really impressed with how much courage Joyce has at such a young age. Facing the loss of her mother and have to deal with the funeral services etc...stay strong, Joyce!!
awwww...this is sooooo sad....i can't imagine my life without my mom. when my mom got sick awhile ago, my life just fell apart. stay strong joyce! be grateful for the times u have with ur loved ones because u just never know...
