刻薄皇后

她生於一個貧窮移民家庭，成長於美國大蕭條期間的布克蘭市之康尼島。曾兩度結婚離婚，但仍不能擺脫貧困及平淡的生活。直至1972年，她與一名億萬富翁結婚之後，生活起了很大改變。最後，她以鐵腕手法接管丈夫的生意王國。由於她為人冷漠無情，大家都稱她為「刻薄皇后」。

            這名叫莉安娜‧咸士利（Leona Helmsley）的女士，被判藉個人開支而逃稅170萬元罪名成立，十多年前曾一度轟動社會。我記得當時報章連續10 星期，報導她如何以高壓手段來刻薄她每個身邊人士的感性故事。《時代週刊》以她作封面，標題是「與財富共舞」，就說出了一切：文章內以漫畫描繪她用腳踐踏壓榨她的下屬。她成為當時全國人們最憎恨與嘲笑的對象。她已變成狂妄（她曾經說過『只有少數人交稅』）、貪婪、不守法，及冷漠的代號。法官在批評其罪行為「赤裸的貪婪」後，判她入獄4 年及罰款710萬。我猜大部份人都樂於看到她被公開羞辱。

            莉安娜在監獄中服刑18個月後，從公眾的焦點消失了10年。我從報紙的內頁知道她出獄的消息。再後，到了1997 年，讀到她丈夫哈利死亡並留下價值17 億元之遺產予她的消息。此後，就再沒有她的音訊。直至2001年四月《華爾街日報》以頭條報導她守寡後的歲月。

            文章不再以自大與刻薄來形容她，反而報導一個年老、孤獨並脆弱的莉安娜，如何被一個毫無經營生意經驗的45 歲男士追求，然後此人搖身一變，成她資產王國的執行總裁。莉安娜把很多一級地產廉讓給他。她一心以為自己已經找到友誼與伴侶。後來二人關係突然中止，因她男友的生意對手向她揭露其男友是個同性戀者。這段經歷對她來說是個很大的打擊。她向記者表示：「我不會再信任男人」。

            這文章讓人看到今日的莉安娜：沒有家庭（她與前任丈夫所生的獨生子於1982年悲劇地去世，與哈利前妻的孩子沒有往來），也沒有朋友。文章這樣形容她的生活：晚上經常單獨地在位於柏道頂的豪宅看電視；和她最親密的，是一頭名為「煩惱」的狗。雖然她有大筆財富，卻悲哀地說「我沒有生命」。

            她曾經自信，甚至是自大，但現在對自己失去了信心，不敢再信任自己對人的判斷。她對記者承認，她已不能分辨那些人真正喜歡她或只想要她的錢。她說：「我開始不信任我的判斷力，故我不會做任何事情。」文章繼續描述不同的男人如何靠近她，企圖取得金錢利益的詳情。她感到生命受威脅，最近甚至有死亡預兆，「見到自己躺身在殮房內」。

            當我閱讀文章時，不禁為這個除了有大筆財產外一無所有的可憐女人難過。她的經驗對那些認為金錢是一切的人無疑是個非常赤裸的警告。洛克菲勒曾經說過：「最貧窮的人是除了金錢以外就什麼都沒有的人」。耶穌問：「人若賺得全世界，賠上自己的生命，有什麼益處呢？人還能拿什麼換生命呢？」

給莉安娜的信

假如我給莉安娜寫信，我會這樣寫：

親愛的咸士利女士：

讀到2001年4月2日《華爾街日報》一篇有關妳的文章，心裡萬分感慨。妳的一生成就已經極大，但妳發現財富並不能填補妳心靈的空虛。是的——沒有東西能填補這個空虛；金錢不能、教育不能、名譽不能、人類的愛與友誼不能。道理很簡單：因以上各種東西都沒有永恆的價值；當我們離世之日，這些東西都我們全失去意義。只有永恆的東西才能滿足我們的心靈。怪不得聖奧古斯汀曾說「上帝阿！你為自己創造了我們，故人類的心無法安息，直到在你裡面，我們才能找著安息。」只有永恆上帝才能供應永恆的東西：祂的話，及祂對我們各人永遠的愛。上帝藉聖經向我們啟示自己的本性、祂對世人的愛，及祂藉著我們接受祂的獨生子耶穌進入我們的心的救贖計劃。在我們的一生之中，上帝用不同的環境及人物來接觸我們。祂把追求永恆的本性放在我們裡面，妳願否尋找祂，讓祂以真正的平安、喜樂及盼望滿足你的心靈呢？

My article was originally written in English:

The Lonely “Queen of Mean"

She was born into a poor immigrant family and raised in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn during the Great Depression. Married and divorced twice, her uneventful and humble life took a major turn when she met and married a billionaire in 1972. Eventually she took over his business empire with an iron fist, and her ruthlessness earned her the infamous title, the “The Queen of Mean".

She is Leona Helmsley, who made headline news ten years ago when she was indicted and later convicted of evading $1.7 million in taxes from charging personal expenses on company accounts. I remember watching the 10-week trial closely as newspapers were full of sensational stories of how she had rudely mistreated everyone around her. She even made the cover of Newsweek, with a three-word description of her that said it all: “Rhymes with Rich". Inside there was a caricature depicting a plump queen squashing one of her subjects beneath her foot. Probably the most hated and ridiculed person in the country at the time, she had become the symbol of arrogance (she once said, “Only little people pay taxes"), greed, lawlessness and heartlessness. After denouncing her crime as “naked greed", the judge sentenced her to 4 years in prison and fined her $7.1 million dollars. I suspect most people enjoyed her public humiliation.

She served only 18 months of her prison term and then faded out of the limelight for the next ten years. I read about her release from prison on the inside page of newspapers. Later I read about the death of her husband Harry in 1997, leaving her a $1.7 billion estate. I did not see anything written about her again until this early April when the Wall Street Journal ran a front-page article on her “life after Harry".

The Continuous Fall of Leona Helmsley

The article no longer depicted a portrait of arrogance or meanness. Instead, it described how an aging, lonely and vulnerable Leona, now 80 years old, had been courted by a 45-year old man who soon became chief operating officer of her real estate empire despite having no prior experience running a business. Leona also sold many prime real estate properties to him at discounted prices. She thought she had found friendship and companionship but their relationship ended abruptly when this man’s business rival disclosed to Leona that he was gay. This episode was a severe blow to her, as she told the reporter, “I don’t trust men anymore".

The article offered a glimpse into what Leona’s life is like nowadays. She has no family (her only son from a previous marriage died tragically in 1982, and she is not on speaking terms with Harry’s children from his former marriage). She has no friends. The article described the way she lives: “.she spends many nights watching television alone in her lavish duplex penthouse atop the Park Lane, overlooking Manhattan’s Central Park. The creature that she shows the greatest fondness for is her dog, Trouble “K". Despite her vast riches, she laments, “I don’t have a life".

Once self-confident to the point of being arrogant, she has become unsure of herself and her judgment of people. She admitted to the reporter that she has lost confidence in her ability to distinguish people who genuinely like her from those who just want to get close to her money. “I’m starting to mistrust my judgment. So what I’m doing is nothing", she said. The article then went into the details of how different men have been wooing Leona for financial gains. It also recounted her fear that her life may be in danger. She even had a premonition of death recently, seeing herself “stretched out in a mortuary".

As I read the article, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for this poor woman who has little except her vast wealth. Her experience is a stark warning to those who think money is everything. John D. Rockefeller once said, “The poorest man I know is the man who has nothing but money." Jesus asked, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

A Letter to Leona

If I were to write a note to Leona, this is what I would tell her:

Dear Mrs. Helmsley:

The article in the April 2, 2001 Wall Street Journal saddened me greatly. You have achieved a great deal in life. Yet you have found that wealth cannot fill the void inside your heart. You are right — nothing can fill this void; not money, not education, not fame, not human love or friendship. The reason is simple: none of these “things" has any eternal value and they cease to have any meaning whatsoever the very second we leave this world. Only things that are eternal can truly satisfy our hearts and souls. No wonder Saint Augustine once said, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O God, and the heart of man is restless until it finds the rest in Thee." Only the eternal God can provide eternal things: His Word and His everlasting love for each one of us. The Bible is God’s revelation to us about His nature, His love for mankind and His plan of salvation through the acceptance of His Son Jesus Christ into our hearts. Throughout our lives God uses different circumstances and people to reach out to us. It is He who put into our nature a yearning for eternity. Would you seek Him out, and let Him fill your heart and soul with true peace, joy and hope?

Sincerely yours.