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SCMP Reporter

Pato Leung has no time for disbelievers. Nevertheless the publisher and former showbiz manager has been keeping a low profile lately while pursuing his latest passion: nutritional therapy.

 'I'm gifted with three things in my life: music, handicapping horses and medication,' he says, echoing the conclusions of a 'highly respectable soothsayer who is a consultant to many celebrities, including Li Ka-shing'.

  It is the last-mentioned talent, however, that he now hopes to cultivate. If everything goes as planned, Mr Leung will hand over the reins of his horse-racing newspaper, Jockey Daily News, which he has been publishing since the late 1980s.

 Before he entered the publishing world, Mr Leung, now 50, was manager of Wynners, the hugely successful band that made household names of Alan Tam Wing-lun and Kenny Chung Chun-to in the 1970s.

 Along from the fame this brought him, Mr Leung became a sought-after concert promoter for dozens of other stars. And his talent was recognised not only in Hong Kong but throughout Southeast Asia, where he organised shows for superstars such as the Bee Gees, Rod Stewart, the Osmonds, Jose Feliciano and sitar legend Ravi Shankar.

 Although Mr Leung stepped out of the spotlight after spending nine years with the Wynners, he has not been forgotten in the music world.

 In 1993, for instance, when the Bee Gees wanted someone to produce their music video-karaoke laser disc Greatest Hits Bee Gees Vol 1 for worldwide release, they chose Mr Leung. The brothers Gibb evidently made the right decision: the LD has sold a record 40,000 copies in Hong Kong alone. Volume 2, which includes one of the group's latest hits, Alone, is scheduled for release this summer.

 'The Polygram people in London could not believe that the Bee Gees would give their materials to a Chinese guy in Hong Kong,' Mr Leung says. Now a practising therapist, Mr Leung has come a long way since his days as a music reporter for the China Mail, a defunct English-language newspaper. It was then he met the members of the Wynners.

 'I heard that a Miss Hong Kong had dumped her boyfriend to go out with a band boy,' he says. 'It was an interesting entertainment story to pursue.' He interviewed the band and says that afterwards 'I was asked by the young man to be their manager'.

 The young man turned out to be Nat Chan Pak-cheung, now a TV personality. Mr Chan later left the band and was replaced by Kenny Chung, a saxophonist and nightclub singer.

 Mr Leung's association with the Wynners benefited both parties: it gained him a name and gave the band unprecedented success before they broke up in 1979.

 However, the strain of managing the artists wore him out. On top of accompanying the band for weeks and enduring sleepless nights, he had to 'groom' the men and plan their schedules. 'There were rumours that I fell out with the Wynners,' Mr Leung says. 'In fact, I was fed up with managing artists. Also, Alan and Kenny had outgrown the Wynners and become more popular than the other guys. It's natural that they turned solo.'  After severing ties with the band, Mr Leung promoted other artists. But he was not happy in his role.

 'The biggest problem is that when the artists were not as successful as the Wynners they thought that I was not making [sufficient] effort,' he says.

 'When the artists are successful, they become big-headed. If they're not, you come under pressure.'  Mr Leung now looks forward to working full-time in his new business of helping people regain their health - an interest sparked by the death of his father from acute bronchitis and his own poor health, which led to an ulcer.

 'When I launched the paper nine years ago, I had a bad stomach. One day, I vomited blood while working in the office and lost consciousness. By then, I had realised that good health is more important than money and fame,' he says.

 Then, on a visit to the United States to visit his children, he met Joseph Pizzorno, a renowned specialist in nutritional therapy who soon became his mentor. Mr Leung learned that nutrition supplies the body with the bio-energy it needs. He learned, too, that replacing nutrients in the body is more effective than using drugs to stop the body from malfunctioning. He says people working in different professions and leading different lifestyles need different nutrients.

 To help him diagnose people's nutritional deficiencies, Mr Leung bought a computer device that purports to test the body's energy level. With this device - developed by a German doctor - he could prescribe appropriate herbal medicine and nutrients.

 'Irregular frequencies detected would mean deficiency of a certain part of the body.'  Though his latest interest has raised eyebrows, Mr Leung says he is confident he is on the right track.

 'I'm aware of what people think about my being a therapist,' he says. But he considers his interest in alternative therapy is only natural since, in his view, traditional medicine does not cure people.

 'My treatment is non-invasive. The nutritional supplements and the bio-energy device are harmless,' he says, adding: 'I don't claim to be a doctor. I just re-engineer health.'  To promote alternative treatments, Mr Leung now runs the Wiser Club, which provides regular newsletters and information for its members. Treatment is available at the club centre.

  Mr Leung says he is determined to pursue his interest in alternative health care now he has successfully treated his 81-year-old mother, a sufferer of Parkinson's disease.

 'My mother is now in good health and she has a good memory,' he says. But eight years ago doctors gave her six more months to live.

 Mr Leung became even more determined after his father died of pneumonia, triggered by acute bronchitis.

 'He spent a lot of money on traditional treatment,' Mr Leung says. The drugs, however, damaged some of his organs. 'That drove me to look for alternatives. At home, I have a tall cabinet full of alternative medicines. I think I could use my knowledge to treat other people too.'  With the same confidence he has displayed in his other roles, Mr Leung predicts: 'I know one day, with my treatment method, I will be famous.' 



Good health impresario