[Sing Pao]

The 26th of October was Steven Ma's birthday and he celebrated with his mentor and a group of good friends at a karaoke where he received a lot of presents, all of which he loved. Among them, his favourite was a crystal statue of the Guanyin from his teacher Lung Koon Tin. He never knew that his mentor would be able to predict what he wanted and was quite surprised as well as excited about his wish being fulfilled.

As Steven wanted to get some rest on his birthday this year, he did not have a public celebration and only invited some of his colleagues and good friends to a karaoke bar. Those present included his teacher and mentor Lung Koon Tin, Emily Kwan, Gabriel Harrison (Hoi Chun Kit) and Wong Chak Fung. Steven received a lot of gifts on the day and he says that they are all to his liking as he remarks excitedly: "I got mobile phones, some jade, lucky packets, sunglasses, a teapot, an LV wallet... I really like them all!" It turns out that Steven wanted to buy a new mobile phone a long time ago, but he received two for his birthday as his friends seem to know him very well.

His greatest surprise came from his mentor Master Lung. Steven reveals that on the day of his birthday, he saw a picture of the crystal Guanyin on the internet and it looked so serene that he really loved it. He would never have believed that a few hours later, his mentor would give him this gift at his birthday celebration as though he could read his mind. He says: "When I opened it, I was really shocked and couldn't believe it. I had just looked at it and now I have it, it's like a wish come true."

Master Lung says that there are only 250 of this statue in the world and the one he gave to Steven was number 135 and as far as he knows this was only one left in Hong Kong. He says: "It really was the last pearl in the ocean because originally someone had ordered it but they didn't pick it up. When I saw it I liked it and I know that Steven loves the Guanyin. Originally I was going to buy him some bamboo scrolls of scriptures and by coincidence, the box to the Guanyin has many sutra printed on it, suiting his needs perfectly."

As for birthday wishes, Steven says they are very simple. He hopes that everyone he knows is healthy and happy and harmonious.

http://www.singpao.com/20031029/gossip/468885.html