In requiem

Alan and I were in Causeway Bay checking out office space, and we were having a discussion over how to proceed, when all off the sudden we saw someone jump and land on the balcony.

What is weird is Alan and I lived in that building in 2006, and that person landed on our part of the balcony. And the paramedics had to access him through the apartment in which we lived.

I'm not sure how I feel about seeing someone die. It's different than in the movies, as I am an actor, portraying a few death scenes myself.

Part of me is saddened that someone felt that this was the only solution to whatever is going on in their lives. It does get better. However, it takes time.

Part of me is sickened that while the onlookers looked on in disbelief, no one called 999 (the emergency number).

Part of me is bewildered that there were people here looking at this as a form of cheap entertainment. Myself included. It was like reality TV live. And I wanted to tell the news crews what it looked like. It was like death was trivial.

Part of me keeps wondering, if I was still living there, and actually had to see the body land on my balcony, how would I feel?

This was the first time I saw someone die in such a manner. It's different from watching it on TV or in the movies, or even reading about it.

Life isn't trivial. It's the act of existing in this world and everything in it, physical, spiritual and everything in between. The tangible and intangible. Perhaps it's oversimplifying things, but to describe in in 30 seconds or less, it's a decent working definition.