It was my destiny to meet Mr. Yuen. Ever since I met him, Mr. Yuen has always been a revered mentor. I only knew Mr. Yuen by name when I was in junior high school. Back then, he was both a conductor and composer. When I first started to conduct in concert, there were music reviews regarding my performances written by him. His comments were always fair. The kind comments directed to me were full of wise words and I frequently applied them to improve myself. However, even at that moment, I only knew of him as a respectable music critic.

The time that I truly began to understand and know this great man was when I was in Hong Kong this past summer. I had set out on a mission to invite him to take the role as one of the advisors (in music criticism) of the TCO. This meeting was the first and last time. It is too bad that I had not met this wonderful person earlier. He always treated younger generations with respect. An indication of this is his astonishing generosity to lend music to Patty’s family from his personal library whenever it is needed. Once, during lunch, he invited me to visit his rehearsal for his “Choir of the Elderly.” He holds great pride for this long-standing establishment that has been developed by him through great patience and effort.

Mr. Yuen was a brilliant man. He was not only a true musician who could play, conduct and compose music, but was also a photographer of great abilities. In addition, he loved to travel around the world, absorbing new experiences and perspectives as a notable cuisine critic. Because of his wealth of life experiences, he evolved into an even greater and more humane artist.

A true musician must understand the world of humanity. This is the story of Mr. Yuen.