Holy & Dangerous

Inspired by the subject of her pastor’s sermon this past Sunday, Ada Choi writes about the Holy Spirit in the April 17th, 2007 entry on her blog. She talks about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, mentions her weaknesses as a Christian contrary to public perception, quotes some Scripture, and then describes the joy she experiences when attending church. She ends the entry with a triple-exclamation-point statement: “Thanks, Holy Ghost!!!”

That’s pretty much the first time I’ve ever seen a celebrity thank the Holy Spirit publicly for, well, anything. And to think it was some random TV actress from Hong Kong doing the thanking. Love that.

Meanwhile, fellow Christian TVB actress Maggie Cheung – on hiatus fighting disease – blogs about Proverbs on her own web page.

TVBspace reports that the ratings for the four episodes of “On the Road” (aka “Going to the World”) that featured Ada Choi’s visit to Israel dipped slightly below the average for the travel documentary series.

Sad.

The immediately preceding episodes featured Eric Tsang visiting Brunei, a country which is known for its oil wealth, in order to attend the birthday gala of its Sultan, one of the richest men in the world.

Hmm, Hong Kongers more interested in riches than in holiness? Stunning.

Or maybe Hong Kongers are just burned out on Ada Choi and her incessant chatter about her Christian faith and testimony, which were interwoven into the Holy Land episodes.

Well, maybe in Hong Kong…but not here, baby!

In fact, since I’ve managed to watch the relevant episodes, I’m seriously considering generating an episode-by-episode recap, including in-depth analysis of every single moment that Choi broke out into tears. Maybe it will happen, but probably not.

Until then, one observation: in packing for this trip, Ada Choi made some seriously bold fashion choices. Especially for the Holy Land, a region of the world where a significant portion of the population dresses so conservatively that they make the Amish look trendy. Since it was winter in Israel, Choi packed a lot of scarves and neckware, as well as a huge hairy turtleneck that must have been jacked up on steroids. The material that went into the neck alone must have denuded an entire flock of sheep. Also, it’s kind of incongruous to see a tall Chinese woman click-clacking around the cobblestone streets of Jerusalem’s Old City in stiletto boots. If I ever get around to a recap, it should be interesting. Stay tuned.

(BTW, remind me to write about Leanne Li’s performance at the evangelistic Yeah Show 2007, and to compare/contrast her with Fala Chen, who was the runner-up to Li at the 2005 Miss Chinese International Pageant. Remind me also to write something about Marsha Yuan and Men Suddenly in Black 2, a movie whose casting director appears to have simply run down the Home of Artiste’s roster when filling cameo roles. Ugh, too much to do…)