Ruth Ho Shing recalls good times with dear friend Leonie Forbes

Love was certainly present and the adoration was almost tangible on Monday evening at the Little Theatre as the Jamaican cultural community came together to pay tribute to the iconic broadcaster and actress Leonie Forbes OD, who passed away on October 25.

Organised by her close colleagues who became friends over the years, the evening brought on a myriad of emotions, and through every piece on stage, a little glimpse of Forbes could be seen. For long-time friend and co-worker Ruth Ho Shing, she remembered Forbes as a woman with many personas, and expressed joy that she was able to know and love them all.

"We met at JBC (Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation). That's where I had my real interaction with her, 'cause I worked in television and she worked in radio, and then she became head of Radio 2 when they found it. And then, because we are on the same building, we became really, really good friends. You know when you know you are Leonie's friend? When you go to her house, and she has a four-poster bed, and when she invites you to take off your shoes, and you go up and you lean back and just chat and chat; and we have shared all that over the years," she said as she reminisced on the good times.

Ho Shing, who was a part of the organising team, stayed close to Forbes up until her final moments.

"She was my sister, a mother, an auntie, a friend; and in the later years, I felt really compelled to do whatever I could do to make her more comfortable. I would try in the latter years, and she really appreciated it. I am going to miss her a whole heap. I mean, I would call so often; and now I feel like picking up the phone and calling Leonie to ask her how she is, has she taken her medicine, and all of that. But there is no Leonie to call. She has this permanent place in my heart, and that would be forever," she shared with THE STAR.

Forbes is best known as one of the pioneering members of broadcast in Jamaica. She was also loved on the stage and played leading roles in 12 pantomimes and acted in plays such as Sea Mama, The Rope and the Cross and Old Story Time. She taught many on various cultural spaces and was even a fashion designer. On display during Monday's event were pieces she made for Ho Shing many moons ago that she has cared for to this day.

"The talent knows no bounds. She did so many things, and the half have not even been told," said Ho Shing.

Tributes on Monday evening came in many forms, from poetry to dance, instrumentals to singing, and the spoken word. Some of the performers came from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Fae Ellington, Grace McGhie, Alwyn Scott, Rory Baugh, Dean Fraser and ASHE.