Chef Vicky Cheng of Michelin-star Hong Kong restaurant Vea shares how Canto-pop record changed his life

Canto-pop stalwart George Lam Tse-Cheung’s soundtrack to the 1980 film Disco Bumpkins features one of the singer’s best known compositions, the love song Without the 2 of Us. Vicky Cheng, executive chef of Michelin-starred Central restaurant Vea, which serves French-inspired food featuring traditional Hong Kong ingredients, explains how the song changed his life.

I grew up listening to this song, as George Lam is such a legend in Hong Kong. It was recorded before I was born, so I definitely shouldn’t have been listening to it. My mum and dad used to listen to Lam a lot and they would always play this song when we were in the car. I was forced to listen to it.

As a child, I didn’t like Chinese music. I grew up in the United States and Canada, and I was listening to hip hop and R&B. When I became a cook, I was influenced by the beat of music and by the lyrics. Time was always a problem when I was working in New York and Toronto, so my colleagues and I would play hip hop – music that makes you move faster.

But I remembered this song because of one line of the lyrics – it says that if two people are together, it doesn’t matter if they only eat salted fish and bak choi. This is ordinary food that anyone can have, even if they don’t have much money.

When I got married, my wife’s biggest wish was for me to sing at our wedding, but I was too shy. She had asked me to sing (Without the 2 of Us) so many times, so once when we went to karaoke with a bunch of close friends I finally did it. There was a little bit of alcohol involved, so that made it easier.