The Great Divide Between Chow Yun-fat and Juan Ponce Enrile



      It almost came out in the news simultaneously. Hong Kong Superstar Chow Yun-fat, 63, announcing that he’s already thinking of retiring and that he’s planning to give his fortune (around $700M) to charity and Juan Ponce Enrile, 94, declaring that he wants to win as a senator again. See the irony?

     Now who is Chow Yun-fat? He’s an action star and a superstar in Hong Kong, and most of his films (especially with John Woo) are awesome, google best of Hong Kong cinema and you’ll likely find some of his films there (A Better Tomorrow, Hard Boiled, The Killer; these three films are all must-watch.) And he’s known to be vey humble, kind and down-to-earth (he commutes, eats street food, eats in food stalls instead of fancy restaurants and loves to shop at discount stores and wears cheap clothes) and spends just around $140 monthly (around Php7K).

     And listen to his reason on why he commutes and doesn’t want a driver: “If I hire a driver, I would feel bad because he would have to wait for me all day long. I would be anxious because I know that someone is waiting for me. It would be very frustrating!”

     And who Is Juan Ponce Enrile? He’s a Filipino politician, considered corrupt by many and is known as the architect of Ferdinand Marcos’ cruel and despicable Martial Law. He’s a very wealthy man (the source of his fortune questionable) and is currently facing plunder and graft charges because according to his accusers, he stole lots of people’s money. Plunder is non-bailable but he’s allowed to post bail because according to him, he’s very sick and very weak (he’d act like he’d collapse every time he’s in front of a camera), and now he’s running for reelection because, according to him, he’s still very strong, physically and mentally.

     See the wide contrast between Mr. Chow Yun-fat and Mr. Juan Ponce Enrile?

     One is a great man who shuns material things, the other, greedy and insatiable when it comes to power and wealth. Now, imagine if all politicians are like Mr. Chow Yun-fat. And imagine all actors are like Mr. Juan Ponce Enrile.

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