Dear Cassie,
Why did Leslie die? I feel so betrayed by his suicide. He had sung songs of courage, of journeying on despite the hardship, of wind that continued blowing. However, he was wrapped up in so much pain that he could not find strength in life, in friends and in the words of his songs. He had sung songs that asked me to carry on, but he failed to do so himself. I may understand his pain, but I still feel betrayed. He had everything going for him in life, albeit some setbacks. What about his fans? We all struggle daily to put rice on our plates and to feed our children.
Mengyee, Malaysia

Dear Mengyee,
I'm sure all of Leslie's fans are feeling the same pain that you are, and we are all praying for him and hoping that he is finally at peace. It is normal to feel depressed and unhappy during these times; it's part of the grieving process. Death is always hard to accept, especially when it happens to someone who has given us hope and happiness, inspired dreams and made us think about life and love in his music, films and performances. However, I don't think we will ever truly know why Leslie committed suicide. Only he knew the real reasons, and it would be unfair for us to speculate because none of us knew him personally.

There is a Chinese saying, "You can know a person by his words and his face but you will never know what is in his heart" (in Cantonese, "Gee yan hao meen but gee sum"). We only saw the outside of Leslie - his voice, his acting, his appearance - but we didn't know the inside. It isn't easy being a celebrity as big as he was. The pressure to perform, meet shooting and recording deadlines, travel around the world giving live performances, and constantly being in the media spotlight can be overwhelming, and can take a huge toll on a person, both physically and mentally.

Being as successful as he was, he had to maintain an image to his fans, always living up to someone else's expectations, and perhaps never had the opportunity to have what truly made him happy, or be what he wanted to be. He had fame and fortune, but there is a lot more to life than that. He should have thought about the effect of his actions to his fans, but did you consider that perhaps he was so focused on pleasing fans during his entire career that he never thought about himself until it was too late? He might have had a set of struggles that were much more serious than we could imagine, and he thought that nobody would understand or could help.

I think that Leslie was true to his profession and an incredibly talented artist. Those who have experienced a variety of life situations can understand and become a character in a film, something Leslie did quite masterfully. His songs are so full of emotion and feeling, that it had to come from his heart. His messages of hope, courage, and perseverance echo throughout his music as reminders that we should try to be positive and find happiness in our lives, even if it missing in his. I doubt that he would want us to live in constant pain and sorrow because of his decision to end something he could not live with any longer, whatever that may have been.

We may never be able to understand why he did it, but we should continue to pay tribute to him by playing his music, remembering all his great achievements, and knowing that we were blessed with a person as wonderful and talented as he was. His memory will continue to live on in our hearts.

Please stay strong, if not for yourself, then for your family and loved ones.

Cassie

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