Uncle Ray (Ray Cordeiro, Guo Limin), known as the “Godfather of the music scene”, passed away on the 13th of last month. The funeral will be held on February 23rd, and a public memorial will be held from 4pm to 6pm on that day for the public to say goodbye to him. Uncle Ray’s son and assistant Zhou Shunhe (Andy) recently accepted an interview with Hong Kong and Taiwan’s “Footprints of the Past” Cha Shumei, and said that holding a public sacrifice was Uncle Ray’s meaning during his lifetime. He said: “Uncle Ray appointed to arrange a public funeral, because he has been in Hong Kong for many years and is a public figure. Part of the funeral must be reserved for the public.”
Andy is currently working with the funeral committee on Uncle Ray’s death. He said that after Uncle Ray was unwell and admitted to the hospital at the end of last year, many friends visited the hospital, including former director of broadcasting Zhang Minyi, former deputy director of broadcasting Dai Jianwen, former assistant director of broadcasting Zhang Wenxin and his wife, Au Ruiqiang, Fat Ma, Zheng Donghan, Du Zizhi, Joe Junior, etc., the ward is like a theme park.
Andy said: “I would like to thank Du Lisha in particular. She knew that Uncle was staying in the hospital, and she also knew that Uncle liked to listen to her singing. Although she was away from home, she recorded some songs for Uncle every few days. On the last morning, she knew about Uncle’s situation. Not good, I recorded 5 or 6 songs in an hour and sent them over. At 4 am on January 13, Uncle asked for a painkiller injection for the first time, and he didn’t wake up after that. Until 9 o’clock, I played Du Lisha’s “Dream a little dream of me”, he woke up, drank milk, and ate half a mango. At noon, the fat mother arrived, and the niece and granddaughter also came. I hurried home to make soup. I don’t know how many times I can cook it. Who knows As soon as I stepped into the house, I received a call asking me to go back. It was raining heavily that day, and I reminded myself not to rush, not to mess up, not to rush, and not to crash. When I went to the hospital, I rushed upstairs, and his index had dropped to zero. I and He was talking alone for 10 to 15 minutes, and when other people came in, I looked back and saw a tear streaming from the corner of his eye.”
Andy revealed that Uncle Ray said that in the early morning of November 30 last year, he had a dream and saw his parents asking to have breakfast together. He said: “Uncle didn’t go to reunite with his family. He said he didn’t want me. Uncle once said that after his cremation, his ashes would not be reunited with his family in Happy Valley. He wants to be kept at home. Of course I welcome it. This is his wish. In fact, “going home” will not last long, the building will be demolished sooner or later, and I will die, but I will ask the people who deal with the aftermath to put us into the sea together, clean up our hands and feet. This is what he knows and agrees to.”
The relationship between the father and son began in 1985, when Andy, who was only in his teens, worked as a part-time salesman in a fashion store opposite a record store in Jordan. Uncle Ray often went to the record store, so he met Andy. Andy recalled: “I didn’t know him when we met for the first time. At that time, I only watched the series “The Remnant Dream of the Qing Palace” and “Books and Swords”, and listened to Gu Jiahui’s works. He introduced himself as Jimmy in a funny way , until the second time we met, he told me that he was a disc jockey (DJ), and I was dubious. Gradually, I changed from an ordinary friend to his godson and assistant. My parents died young, and Uncle and I were close friends .”
Andy used to be the CEO of a telecommunications company, but he retired early at the age of 40 to take care of Uncle Ray wholeheartedly. He said that one day in the winter of 2006, when he went home in the afternoon to get company documents, he saw Uncle Ray, who was wearing very thin clothes, sleeping in the room. Andy said: “I noticed that he was really old! He was 82 years old at the time. Although he was very active, he often felt dizzy at first. At first I just wanted to retire and spend a few years with him before making any plans. Who knew that he would be 16 after I retired. Years.” When asked if Uncle Ray could agree with him to retire, Andy said: “He doesn’t care about these things, otherwise he wouldn’t be a DJ for the rest of his life.”
On May 14 the year before last, Uncle Ray hosted a radio show for the last day. Andy said: “He was in a calm mood that day. He is a free and easy person, and he has done a lot of things after retirement. He is one of the happiest people in Hong Kong. He retired at the age of 96 and still had time to publish his autobiography in Chinese and English and hold an honorary ceremony. Concerts, 97th birthday parties and a Thank You Party. I learned from him to be calm in everything. He is a positive person, and his biggest advantage is his dedication to his work. As he said in his autobiography, “I do what I love and love what I do 』. If I want to send a song to Uncle, I will choose “Yesterday once more”. Let’s do it again!”
