Bosnia unveils Bruce Lee bronze
Saturday, 26 November 2005, 17:43 GMT

A bronze of martial arts legend Bruce Lee has been erected in the Bosnian city of Mostar - a day before a second statue of him is unveiled in Hong Kong.

The life-size 1.68 metre statue depicts the Chinese-American actor in a typical defensive fighting position.

Hong Kong unveils its own statue of the kung-fu star on Sunday, at a ceremony to be attended by Lee's widow Linda.

The Mostar unveiling was attended by the ambassadors of China and Germany, both of whom assisted the project. The statue is situated in Mostar's central park and faces north.

The city witnessed fierce fighting between rival ethnic factions in the 1992-95 war.

Symbol

It remains split with Bosnian Muslims, Croats and Serbs still deeply divided.

Lee was chosen by organizers as a symbol of the fight against ethnic divisions.

"We will always be Muslims, Serbs or Croats," said Veselin Gatalo of the youth group Urban Movement Mostar.

"But one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee."

Lee, who died in 1973 at the age of 32, was born in the US but moved to Hong Kong as a child.

Vandals hit Bruce Lee statue in Bosnia
Sun Nov 27, 5:19 PM ET

A new statue honoring late martial arts legend Bruce Lee was vandalized hours after it was unveiled in this southern Bosnian city, police and witnesses said.

"We have received reports that the statue has been damaged. We are currently investigation the incident," a police officer in Mostar said.

The life-size bronze statue of the kung fu cinema icon in a defensive position holding nun chucks, part of kung fu equipment, was unveiled during an emotional ceremony here Saturday.

The chain and one of the nun chucks' sticks were missing and empty wine bottles were scattered around the statue in a city park, according to an AFP reporter.

Several dozen citizens gathered in the park on Sunday morning and expressed their disgust.

"It is a crime!" said one.

"Once again we've shown what Balkan savageness is!" lamented another in disbelief.

The park's nightkeeper, Veljo Dojcinovic, told AFP he saw a group of teenage hooligans entering the park in the middle of the night.

"I heard a loud bang but I was alone and I couldn't stop them. Police should have been more agile. They know that hooligans visit this park regularly," he said.

Lee was chosen as a hero that all ethnic groups could relate to in a city that remains bitterly divided after fierce fighting between Croats and Muslims during the country's 1992-95 war.

In a rare show of unity some 300 Bosnian Croats and Muslims attended the unveiling ceremony.

"Bruce Lee 1940-1973. Your Mostar" is the only text written on the base of the statue.

Earlier Sunday a bronze statue to the late martial arts legend was unveiled in Hong Kong in a ceremony on what would have been Lee's 65th birthday.

Hong Kong honors Bruce Lee
By Stephanie Wong
November 25, 2005

ON what would have been his 65th birthday, Hong Kong is to finally honour its most iconic star, kung fu legend Bruce Lee, in a ceremony many here believe is long overdue.

A bronze statue of Lee will be unveiled on Sunday as the city's first permanent memorial to the star who died 32 years ago after a brief but bright career as the high-kicking hero of Hong Kong movies like 
Big Boss and Fist of Fury.

"We've waited long enough," said Wong Yiu-keung, chairman of the Bruce Lee Club, a fan organization that has been instrumental in getting - and paying for - the $HK800,000 ($140,000) statue.

"We have asked the Government to establish something for Bruce Lee for many years but had little response," Mr. Wong said. "For a long time, we haven't had anything in Hong Kong to remember him, so we are very happy that we finally got something."

The unveiling of the statue on the Avenue of the Stars, Hong Kong's harbourside equivalent of Hollywood's famous Walk of Fame, will be the highlight of a week-long Bruce Lee Festival organized by the club and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Tellingly for some, Hong Kong has been beaten to the punch by Bosnia , where a life-sized bronze statue of Lee will be placed in the southern city of Mostar tomorrow as a symbol of battling ethnic division.

Nino Raspudic of the Urban Movement of Mostar said: "We initiated this long before Hong Kong . I am sure they did not have as many problems as we did in securing the permits ... but it all turned out well."

Despite Lee's fame and status as the ultimate kung fu master, the city where he made his name and with which he is so closely associated has until now done little to commemorate the legend.

The international success of Lee, who died on July 20, 1973, at the age of 32 helped popularize the then largely unknown martial arts in the West. It also opened the door to Hollywood fame for other Asian stars including Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

"The Hong Kong Government should be ashamed of their lack of action over the years and their lack of vision in not realizing what an icon he is around the world," actor Anders Nelsson, who played a small role alongside Lee in 1972's The Way Of The Dragon, said.

"It is important that future generations remember him as one of the first Chinese to achieve international fame.

"He was instrumental in getting more respect for Chinese and general Asian roles in Hollywood films. Before him, most roles were rather demeaning servants of the 'Charlie Chan' type with pigtails and funny accents."

And the local industry also has something to thank him for.

"Bruce Lee took kung fu to the West. He made Hong Kong films famous and helped the industry to thrive," said Tony To, publicity manager of Golden Harvest, the company that made some of Lee's most well-known films.

"Not only has he made a significant contribution to the film industry, he was also a great athlete and created his own style of martial arts, that's why everyone says he's the king of kung fu fighters.

"We should have had a statue in the 70s after he died. We've also talked about having an exhibition about him but nothing ever materialized. For the contribution he's made, it's definitely worth recognizing him."

Untimely death

Born in San Francisco on November 27, 1940, Lee's family moved to Hong Kong where he received his early education and kung fu training and during the 1950s made several films in then British colony as a child actor.

The son of a Chinese opera actor, he made his first break in the United States when he was cast as Kato in the 1960s television series, The Green Hornet.

However, his hopes for bigger acting roles did not materialize so Lee returned to Hong Kong in 1971 with his family in search of fame and fortune.

His efforts finally paid off in 1973 when he starred in his most celebrated and the first Hollywood-backed kung fu film, Enter the Dragon.

Lee unfortunately never saw his most famous film debut in the US . He collapsed and died from an edema - a swelling of the brain - two months before the movie was first screened.

He died in the flat of his mistress, Taiwanese actress Betty Ting. Mystery surrounds Lee's death, with the coroner describing his passing as "death by misadventure".

Press reports said Ting gave Lee a single tablet of Equagesic, a strong aspirin-based drug after he complained of a headache. He then went to sleep, but when she could not wake him up, he was immediately taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Doctors also found traces of marijuana in his body.

Lee had reportedly tried to end their affair a few months before his death. There were unsubstantiated rumors that Lee did not die in Ting's flat but was killed elsewhere and his body taken there afterwards.

On the eve of the inaugural week-long festival, the star's brother Robert Lee and sister Phoebe Lee as well as hundreds of fans from around the world are expected to fly into Hong Kong to pay tribute.

The Bruce Lee Club will unveil the 2.5m statue before friends and family, who will speak about their memories of the kung fu icon.

Fans will be able to see a free showing of some of Lee's rarely seen movies and documentaries, including The Kid, Dragon Since 1973 and A Son is Born.

Local tours, called Bruce Lee's Footsteps Tours, have also been organized for fans to visit the star's schools, homes and the studios where he made his movies.