I Decide To Live Interestingly by Chua Lam 我决定活得有趣

To simply enjoy eating and drinking is to respect life. Chua Lam’s philosophy:

1. Talent must be present, but luck is still the most important thing for success.
2. Basic training is always rigid and never interesting. It’s only when you have mastered the skill that you appreciate the basics.
3. Any interest can lead you to a body of knowledge. Once you’re good at it, you will become an expert on the subject even if the subject is the evolution of pillows from ancient to modern.
4. A moment of brilliance is better than a lifetime of mediocrity. Face it bravely. You must die with dignity; you must die beautifully.
5. I have retired a long time ago and have learned to retire since I was very young. I always feel like I don’t have enough time. The window of opportunity is narrow. When to start and when to end, it’s all fated.
6. Regardless of whether you complain, life goes on. If you complain too much, you will grow old quickly.
7. I think outstanding individuals must have had the training of an ascetic monk when they were younger. Only with deprivation and austerity can they cherish what they have gained and enjoy life more.
8. I have made bad choices and I have made mistakes that took me 40 years to realize. It’s only now that I am starting to do what I really like.
9. Improve the quality of life. Aim to be happier today than yesterday. Aim to be happier tomorrow than today. This is the meaning of life and the true meaning of living.

Jin Yong 金庸 (1984-2018) on Chua Lam

Apart from my wife Lin Le Yi 林乐怡, Brother Chua Lam is the person I have travelled with most often in my life. He and I have been to Japan many times, each time going to different places, including different hotels and restaurants. We travelled together to Europe, to San Francisco, to Las Vegas. Recently we went to Hangzhou together. We were able to travel together so often because we enjoy each other’s company, sharing the joy and displeasure we encountered on our trips.

Chua Lam is a truly elegantly uninhibited person, being straightforward and unrestrained and being able to treat life with a relaxed and lively attitude. It is not easy to “ignore” unpleasant things and it is even more difficult to “smile” under adversity but Chua Lam does it well. He did not complain that the food was not delicious, that the car was too bumpy, or that the female tour guide was not beautiful even though he had seen and tasted much better things.

He taught me how to drink the worst spicy Italian sizzling wine and how to suck lamb bone marrow at a Singapore food stall. I would frown and he would laugh all the time. He is definitely much cooler than me.
When I was a child, I read “世说新语” and I was blown away by the stylish and uninhibited characters of the Wei and Jin Dynasties mentioned in the book, but I later discovered that they have been glorified. A few years ago, I read the official history of the Wei and Jin Dynasties carefully and realized that aristocrats like 何曾，王衍，王戎，潘岳 were actually boorish and uncultured. Their political careers in reality were despicable, contradicting their elegant rhetoric.

I’m old now and I’ve seen much of humanity and the world. I can tell at a glance who is truly elegant and who is acting. I like to socialise with Chua Lam. It’s not just because he is talented, knowledgeable and sincere as a friend, he is also elegantly uninhibited like the 令狐冲, 段誉，郭靖，乔峰 I had created. All 4 are good men but my favourite friends are 令狐冲 and 段誉.

Chua Lam is a considerate person. He is a walking encyclopedia well versed in movies, literature, all arts and vices. 琴棋书画，酒色财气，吃喝嫖赌，文学电影. However, he doesn’t play any musical instruments, doesn’t play chess, doesn’t paint, doesn’t gamble or indulge in sex. But he certainly knows a lot about all the pleasures in life, especially movies, poetry, calligraphy, gold and precious stones, fine cuisine where he is an undisputed master. Of course, he has many girlfriends but he treats them with respect. He has even more male friends; accepting people from all creeds and cults. He is good at telling dirty jokes that are funny but not vulgar. That can be considered an art.

We have enjoyed whisky together, smoking while to we engaged in discussion. It was a great pleasure. After my heart attack last year, I have stopped smoking and drinking. But whenever there was a banquet I attended, I would choose to sit next to him. It could be because I’m so used to him. It could also be because I wish to gossip about things unsuited for the occasion and to take a whiff of the smoke that I now miss.

Chua Lam may have a wide social circle, but the vast majority of people who have heard of him don’t know him personally. If you think highly of him after my brief introduction, you may like to read a few of his introspective thought pieces. It’s the closest you can get to chatting and drinking with him.

Jin Yong (2016)