Celebrating over 30 years of love and memories, Joe Ma (馬德鐘) and his wife Karen Cheung (張筱蘭) were at the opening of Japanese restaurant, 松MATSU, to help create a Valentine’s Day dinner menu. Joe recalled a particular unforgettable year, “One year Valentine’s Day and the Lantern Festival fell on the same day but I was in G4 at the time and had to protect former Governor Christopher Patten. It was already 11 p.m. when I got off work and I rushed to see her. It was fairly simple, yet it felt very romantic.” Quietly smiling beside Joe, Karen revealed, “When we were dating, we liked to make things for each other. I knew he liked models toys, so I built him a model car. It’s very old now, but he still kept it.” Prefer Simple and Small Things While most couples love performing big gestures and giving expensive presents, Joe and Karen prefer the simpler things in life. Karen said, “We would be happy to just celebrate the occasion. Setting the mood, receiving flowers – as long as I’m able to have dinner and laugh with the person I love, it’s enough. There’s no need for expensive gifts. And this is from a woman’s point of view.” Besides celebrating holidays with his wife, Joe also loves creating family memories. Karen revealed that they go on a family vacation each year. “We travel to different places, experience their culture, and take the time to relax and improve our relationships. We also take a lot of beautiful photos for memories, especially now that I’m old and have bad memory. Last year, we went to the older towns in Eastern Europe. When I worked in Italy, my son went to school there, and Joe was filming in Rome for Triumph in the Skies <衝上雲霄>.” Creds: Ming Pao
