Anthony Wong Yiu-ming
Local cultural icon Anthony Wong Yiu-ming was once half of 1980s' pop duo, Tat Ming Pair, known for their social commentary and striking image. After going solo in the 90s, Wong founded the respected People Mountain People Sea production company. From May 10-12, 2006, he will collaborate with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in the "Bauhinian Rhapsody" musical project. He chats with Elaine Chan about life and music.
I grew up in a temporary housing estate called Jordan Valley in Ngau Tau Kok, which has since become a park. The kitchen, bathroom and laundry room were all shared. I was motivated to work hard because I didn’t want to live there forever.
My parents gave us a lot of freedom, playing out in the hallway. Sometimes we would sleep outside in the summertime because we didn’t have air conditioning and only had one window in the flat.
Two of my sisters finished primary school and had to work for their secondary-school tuition. I didn’t do very well in Form 5 and stopped school after that, but my parents are happy with my success today.
I work with Oxfam because I believe that everybody has the right to life and education. I visited Ghana, where many people don't have food or even a pencil to write with. Some people live on one US dollar a day.
I don’t write about poverty because my music cannot carry the message. Not everything can be expressed through music.
Since the beginning of Tat Ming Pair, music has always come first. But when we released our first album, people were interested in the cover before they heard the music. A music lover should never look boring. David Bowie has always been exciting in his music and his visual image, as well as stage presentation. He is an important source of my inspiration.
What I care about today is different from what I cared about in the 80s. If I do a rendition of [Tat Ming Pair hit] "Ten Firefighting Youths" now — we have actually written a sequel to the song — it will be different. I was very sensitive to social context back then, but now I am more sensitive to internal emotions.
