If you ask me since when did I become a Michael fan, the only answer I can give you is that I don't know. A lot of Michael's fans learned about him through his victory match in the French Open in 1989; others learned about Michael through his Christian testimony. And I think I first learned about him in a tea restaurant when I was around five.

When I stepped into the tea restaurant that morning, I knew that something was very different. The usual chit-chat of the ladies was not about how much they won in mahjong, not about what they bought, it was about a 17 year-old who won the French.

At that time, I wasn't too sure of the reason why the ladies went gaga over this teenager or what changed them all into tennis experts, but all the aunts were very enthusiastic. If you think that this was the time I learned about Michael and became his fan, you're wrong! In fact, I didn't even know his English name at that time.

It was years later when I was in primary school that I first saw Michael on TV and got to see what he looked like. It was during a news program (way after my bedtime) reporting about and showing Michael winning a certain match (I can't remember which in particular). I think my eyes must have been overstrained by staring so hard.

From then onwards, I drank lots of water every night just before sleep so that when the news was reporting tennis, I could make an excuse to walk past the living room (where the TV is) to go to the washroom. This was really a happy event for me: when I saw Michael returning the ball or smiling to the camera and holding a huge trophy.

But the happy times did not last, as my Dad soon found out what I was up to and decided to watch the news in his room. I was very discouraged. After this, partly because of the slow speed that sports news travels to Asia, I did not follow anything about Michael for a few years.