A statue of Hong Kong martial arts movie star Bruce Lee is unveiled, on Lee's 65th birthday, during a ceremony in Hong Kong yesterday. The Bruce Lee Club organised a week-long Bruce Lee Festival from November 25 to December 1. - REUTERS
HONG KONG (AP):
BOTH BOSNIA and Hong Kong, his hometown, unveiled statues of Bruce Lee to mark the 65th birthday, yesterday, of the late movie star credited with introducing kung fu to the world.
Strong winds blew off a cloth covering a bronze likeness of a muscular Lee, torso bared, set in a harbour side perch against Hong Kong's stunning skyline, as Lee's trademark howl was played over an audio system and white smoke was released.
Fans from as far away as Africa, Britain and Jamaica attended yesterday's unveiling in Hong Kong.
On Saturday, another Lee statue was inaugurated in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a war-ravaged city where Lee has been held up as a symbol of unity for Roman Catholic Croats and Muslim Bosniaks, traditionally enemies.
Addressing the crowd at the Hong Kong unveiling late yesterday, Lee's younger brother, Robert, said, "I think he really deserves this."
Lee soared to stardom in the early 1970s with an intense fighting style and by portraying characters that defended the Chinese and working class against oppressors.
He died of an oedema or swelling of the brain, at age 32, in 1973 in Hong Kong, with just four completed movies under his belt.
Robert Lee said a legacy of his brother is his message of individual expression.
"He always wanted to tell people what a person can do to be able to express himself or herself (to) the fullest," Lee said.
The two-metre (6.6-foot) tall Lee statue in Hong Kong comes more than three decades after his death. Some believe Lee is 'under appreciated' in his hometown and the place where he first made his name.
Hong Kong's government didn't contribute much to the statue, Bruce Lee Club Chairman Wong Yiu-keung said. Donors included local comedian Stephen Chow of Kung Fu Hustle fame and Betty Ting Pei, the actress romantically linked to Lee and in whose home Lee died.
But the Hong Kong Tourism Board is promoting Bruce Lee Festival, a week-long programme of movie showings and Lee site visits following the statue's inauguration.
