desperate widow no. 4

Wong Yeuk Sze - Kenix Kwok from Shine On You

Character Introduction: Wong Yeuk Sze is a dedicated teacher. Despite her youthful appearance, Sze is already a widow and has a grown stepson, Au-Yeung San (Roy Chow). San is placed in Sze's class and causes constant trouble for her. In fact, San hates Sze, no matter how good she treats him or tries to make peace. Sze constantly finds herself missing her late husband in her times of desperation and feels that things would be so much easier for her if he were around. A second romance comes about for Sze in the form of a colleague - Tsang Ching Leung (Michael Tao). Leung is everything that Sze could possibly want. He cheers her up when she's down and he's very supportive of her. Their romance blossoms beautifully, but then, Sze discovers that it is partially because of Leung that her husband died...

What is she desperate for?
She wants love - plain and pure; unconditional love that she can turn to, the kind that her husband gave her before he died.

Why is she desperate?
Since her husband died, Sze no longer feels loved. She wants a happy family, but it doesn't look like she'll get her wish. San is always arguing with her and says he hates her. He resents Sze because he thinks that she is the reason why his parents divorced. When she finally finds someone else to love, he turns out to be related to her husband's death. Sze's late husband had leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant in order to live. The two were so happy when the doctor told them that they found a perfect match. The donor? Leung. However, when the time came for Leung to give his bone marrow, his phobia of blood caused him to chicken out. He withdrew, causing Sze's husband to lose hope. He passed away shortly after, leaving Sze a widow. She resents this donor because her husband could have survived.

What acts of desperation does she commit?
She tries to make peace with her stepson repeatedly, enduring many harsh words and treatments by San. Sze also breaks up with Leung, the second love of her life - despite how strongly she feels for him, when she realizes his action indirectly caused the death of her husband, thus crashing her happy world.

Is her desperation satisfied?
Yes. San comes to realize that Sze wasn't the reason his parents divorced and he grows to accept her. Sze reunites with Leung at the end, realizing that her feelings for him were too strong and she forgives his actions and no longer blames Leung for the death of her husband. Sze finally finds love again, both from San and Leung. Her life is now complete once again.

Additional Comments: A big question that widows, especially young ones like Sze, is whether or not to remarry. When the right man does come along, the widow cannot easily fall in love as she did the first time. They worry that their heart might be broken and their life might be unravelled again should this second husband pass away too. They have more to consider than the first time because of their previous experience. It's especially difficult when the new man has something to do with the previous husband's early death. In the case of Sze, she couldn't be with Leung once she learned that his abrupt bone marrow withdrawal had been partially the cause for her husband's death. That is why many widows opt to remain faithful to their late husband and just raise and love his children. Unfortunately for Sze, her stepson hated her. Thus, she felt lonely and desperate - just wanting to have a full family with love and affection.

Most people are surprised to hear this, but Kenix Kwok made her "debut" to me in Shine On You. I've never seen any of her series prior to Shine. However, I quickly grew to like her and became a fan since. While the bangs and just how disgustingly skinny Kenix looks in this series makes her look a bit haggard, she is still quite pretty and her acting is just awesome. Her portrayal was very sincere and you could feel the frustration that Sze went through with her son, missing her husband, falling in love with Leung, and then forcing herself to leave him despite her strong feelings. Her desperation is very subtle, but her character goes through the big "remarriage" issue that younger widows go through.

Screenshot Credits: Sus @ www.simplykenix.net