Dr Penguin, Michael Jackson, Hong Kong, 1987

You are going to ask… what the hell are we talking about?

Easy! A nice interview just popped in the news in Asia to remember Michael Jackson during the Birth Day period and with Dr Penguin telling his encounter with Michael Jackson during the BAD Tour in Hong Kong in 1987. Makes sense now, doesn’t it?

Michael was on Tour for BAD and after finishing in Japan and moving to Australia, Michael spent 3 weeks in Hong Kong doing the tourist!

Dr Penguin, a Moroccan entertainer recall the story! “I was working at Duddell’s on Duddell Street” and the owner of the restaurant knew Michael’s travel agent and ended up in Michael’s hotel room in Japan and the pair invited Michael to come to Hong Kong before flying to Australia to carry on the tour.

“Michael was enthused with the idea as he had never been there and wanted to go. He loved Chinese movies, kung fu and Bruce Lee, They came back to Hong Kong happy with the idea but did not know when Michael was going to arrive. He did say there was one condition. If there was any press at the airport he would turn around and go back to Japan. On October 21, Jackson and his entourage arrived on a private jet, and I was in the office when my boss started freaking out, I asked him what was wrong and he said, ‘Michael Jackson is arriving and the press are at the airport. What are we going to do?’ I said, ‘That’s easy. I have an idea.’ I grabbed Peggy Johnson, who was our singer at the club. We rushed back to my place, I put on my costume. My wife dressed Peggy up as Michael Jackson with a hat, weird wig and dark clothing and we rushed off via the subway to get to Kai Tak Airport on time,” says the magician.

“We come down the elevator to where the press were waiting – I look around wearing these dark glasses and I say – ‘Where’s the limo?’ I look at her and said, ‘Quick, Michael, run.’ And we ran toward a taxi and there was only one policeman there. The press were throwing money at the taxi driver and the police did nothing, I was beating them off and yelling at the press saying ‘let us go, let us go.’ Finally we got moving and the press followed us into town.
We went to the Mandarin [Oriental] hotel as we knew there were lots of different exits and it was close to Duddell’s. We got rid of the press and we ran to Duddell’s; by then it was midday – we had a couple of vodka tonics and laughed about it at the bar. When the papers came out we were everywhere – The Standard had a huge colour picture on the front page of me and Peggy with headlines ‘Michael Jackson arrives in Hong Kong.’ I had however called my editor friend Zelda Cawthorne at the South China Morning Post and gave her the story.”

“Meanwhile the real Michael Jackson arrives and gets into his car with no press and goes to the Hong Kong hotel where he was staying. That night Michael came to Duddell’s and we put on a special show for him downstairs in the cellar where the bank vault used to be, and which had been converted into a VIP area. His team were there first. We had jazz musicians, a stand-up base and piano. Just before Michael arrived Rick said, ‘can you put a band together?’ And we said, ‘it’s a little bit late for that.’ Rick then asked us to at least get a drummer, so I hired Sam, a Jamaican drummer who plays reggae. So the three of them, having never played together, were trying to keep the ambience going. Sam was able to play along with the jazz. We brought in acrobats and a kung fu show and I did close up magic. But during the evening, Michael got up and wanted to sing a song and it was hysterical because the band did not know any Michael Jackson songs or any song that he knew – it was an embarrassing moment,” recalls Dr Penguin.

“Michael was a big fan of magic, so we ended up talking for an hour and a half. Michael wanted to see more card tricks and how to do them. Then we were talking about The Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers and arguing over which ones were funnier and he appointed me there and then to be his tour guide in Hong Kong. He asked me how long I had been here and where I had lived, which included Nepal and other places, and he was fascinated by it, so I agreed to take him around.”

“Michael was looking for a roller coaster to buy for Neverland so he wanted to test it out. We had a private tour, and were the last two on the roller coaster. Everyone else had bailed because they were throwing up but Michael and I kept going again and again,” says Dr Penguin. “We took Michael antique shopping. He did a day trip to China and Macau, which he didn’t enjoy too much, but he really loved going up to the Shaw Brothers Studio. He wanted to meet Sir Run Run Shaw who had lent us his Rolls-Royce to use and it was arranged for him to meet some of the stars which he went gaga over.”

Ann Tsang was tasked to look after the star during his visit to the Shaw Brothers Studios in Clear Water Bay. “I had spent just two days in the marketing and PR department having moved over from programming at TVB when my boss called me in to let me about this special project. I had to meet with Jackson’s team and it took four to five days to make the arrangements,” says Tsang. “Michael wanted to dress is period costume and shoot some B-roll for laser disc in the Shanghai Street scenes at the Clear Water Bay studios,” says Tsang, who still lives and works in Hong Kong.

“Only five people were allowed on the set and Michael had four and then there was me. His people had specific requirements to make things go smoothly. It took us two days in the wardrobe department to figure out how to put on the costume. We had a 5am call on the day,” continues Tsang.

“Michael was humble, soft-spoken with no demands. He just wanted to dress up and play. He was curious about Chinese culture and wanted to wear the costume properly. It was a 12-hour shoot. I was not star struck, but I couldn’t comprehend it was happening.”

Michael Jackson would never return to Hong Kong.

SOURCE: SCMP