No strings attached for magic man
Now you see it … he's a policeman, an illusionist, and one of the city's most outstanding people
PUBLISHED : Monday, 21 October, 2013, 4:53am
UPDATED : Monday, 21 October, 2013, 4:53am
Shirley Zhao [email protected]
Illusionist Avon Lee shows why he is at the top of his game yesterday with a nifty bit of sleight of hand. Photo: Jonathan Wong
A policeman was named as one of the most outstanding young Hongkongers yesterday - not for saving people, but for making them disappear.
Avon Lee Hang-chai, 35, is also an illusionist and holds two Guinness World Records - for performing the most "teleportation illusions" in a minute, and the most "costume-change illusions" in 60 seconds.
Seven other Hongkongers won the 10 Outstanding Young Persons award yesterday: childhood cancer specialist Frankie Cheng Wai-tsoi; primary visual arts teacher Rowena Cheung Po-man; Paralympic fencing gold medallist Fung Ying-ki; pianist Shum Kin-wai; biomedical engineer Raymond Tong Kai-yu; wig designer Annie Woon; and fashion designer Cecilia Yau Suet-ki.
Chinese University president Joseph Sung Jao-Yiu, who was on the judging panel, explained that up to 10 people, aged 18 to 40, could win the annual award, but this year the judges chose only eight. He added only those who deserved the title were chosen.
"But it's not like the situation where only two out of three applicants got a free-TV licence," Sung said. "These eight winners are all outstanding in their fields."
Lee became serious about magic in 2003, when he was an Airport Security Unit officer. On a minibus, he stopped a man sitting next to a pregnant woman from smoking. He got off the bus and was set upon by the smoker and two others. They beat him with a piece of wood, breaking a finger and badly injuring his left eye, which affected his vision.
His hopes of joining the Special Duties Unit were dashed. But during the three months he spent convalescing, he remembered an interview he had read with an illusionist - and the magic began.
"There's no secret to my success," Lee said. "I believe that no matter how talented and lucky you are, if you don't put the effort in, you'll never achieve."
Lee is still a full-time policeman and said he hoped his magic tricks could help improve the image of the force - and maybe even go some way towards easing recent tension between young protesters and his colleagues.
Woon, who began working at 13 to help her struggling family, said she was dedicated to her wig charity. She used to create wigs for late Canto-pop diva Anita Mui Yim-fong, who died from cancer, and has donated over 1,000 wigs to cancer patients since 2006.
