On January 26, 2008,
Samsung held a press conference where they revealed the list of torchbearers for the Hong Kong and Macau leg of the traditional torch relay for the
2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Three groups of representatives, a total of 7 individuals, consist of 3 artists, 2 athletes and 2 citizens chosen to represent Hong Kong and Macau as torchbearers in the torch relay.
The 3 groups of representatives represent 3 different fields of work. The 2 citizen representatives (阮維新 and 林冠成), who were chosen by citizens of Hong Kong and Macau, had to show their spirit of perseverance and their abilities to overcome obstacles, difficulties and challenges.
The 3 celebrities, Eason Chan frequently participates in charitable events, Kelly Chen is a current World Outstanding Young Persons and Miriam Yeung is a current Hong Kong Outstanding Young Persons.
The 2 athletes, 梁洪敏 represents Macau and 葉少康, who represents Hong Kong, is the first Asian athlete to qualify for the Equestrian event at the
2008 Beijing Olympic Games. 葉少康 was born with brain convulsions and relied on walking with crutches, but with a strong will and with hard work and effort he has become a distinguished Equestrian.
On May 2nd and 3rd, these 7 representatives will carry the torch and represent Hong Kong and Macau in the torch relay tradition. Eason, Miriam and Kelly have all expressed they will work out before the torch bearing event to be in top condition and avoid embarrassing Hong Kong and Macau.
Eason says that the last time the torch passed by Hong Kong was 44 years ago during the
1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, since this year's
Olympic Games will be held in Beijing, Chinese people are able to participate and it is very meaningful. Although Eason cannot bring his daughter along with him during the upcoming experience, he will explain the tradition of torch relay to his daughter. Eason jokes that each of the representatives will need to carry the torch for 200 meters and representing Hong Kong he will jog slowly hoping there will be more pictures of him taken. He says, "Our outfits will be organized by the committee, but if it were up to me I would like a sleeveless top and short-shorts, so I can look like a professional track and field athlete." When asked if his family will be there to watch him, he responds that it's too bad that they can run with him, but they will be there to support him. He says he wants to watch the Diving event and has asked others to help him get tickets.
Miriam will be representing the Macau leg of the torch bearing and says she is finally going outside of Hong Kong and will be passing the torch to the Beijing representative, she is extremely proud to be representing the Chinese people. Although the event will be held in May, Miriam is training and Thai Boxing every day to increase her heart and lungs function for a competition next month. Miriam really wants to go to Beijing to attend the
Olympic Games, but she knows that all hotels have been booked. She then thinks up of an idea and laughs, "Mr. Lai (Leon) is from Beijing, he should own property in Beijing. Myself and some company members should make up a crowd of about 20-30 people, maybe we could borrow his property and we could all go together. I'll promise I won't break his house."
Kelly Chen will run to get back into condition. Since she will be holding concerts at
Hong Kong Coliseum in June, the running will help her out. Kelly is proud and nervous about being a torchbearer. She points out that all Chinese people will be watching her and she does not want to embarrass them and will ask all family, friends and people that know her to come support her. She says, "I will not spray hairspray into my hair and I will make sure that my hair is tied up to avoid any possibility of my hair setting on fire."
Source:
sina &
ent.qq.com 01.27.2008
(l-r) Li Xiaopeng, Eason, Lin Dan
