As I postulated in the previous Lunar New Year’s Chew On This, we needed a bit of Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle to extract value from an otherwise flat Straits Times Index (STI). This year, with even more geopolitical uncertainties and talk of “irrational exuberance” building up in frothy US stocks, we might need Lee’s Fist of Fury and learn to be flexible Like Water to maximise the opportunities proffered by the Year of the Wood Dragon we have just entered.
Seven “Dragon” years ago — that’s 1940 — the legendary Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco, California. Martial artist, actor and philosopher, the Metal Dragon baby combined his early Wing Chun, tai chi and boxing training to create his own school of Jeet Kune Do. With students including Chuck Norris, Sharon Tate and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he took Hong Kong films and Chinese martial arts to the world, and was the early influencer of what we call the MMA (mixed martial arts) phenomenon today. Time named Lee one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. Alas, Lee’s star burned out prematurely. He died in 1973 while he was a mere 32 years old, not yet into his third Dragon year — a somewhat ominous nod to his given name in Chinese, “Xiao Long” or “Little Dragon”.
As I strolled through Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market over the recent Lunar New Year weekend, I was surprised to see images of Lee still adorning various souvenirs in the Muay Thai-crazy country. When I wandered through the souks (markets) of Marrakech in Morocco back in 1993, some street teenagers tried to grab my backpack. I resisted and they backed off — after they pointed at a mural of Lee on a wall behind me.
