#slashie

Redid some old refs +designed a newbie

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Also a bonus doodle

The Secret Of A Slashie ‘Accountant-cum-singer-cum-housewife’——Susan Wong Said, “The Dualism Of Taking Life Easy But Looking Up!” 

Feelings are more complicated than words. There are feelings that we do not know how to express in words. Singers help. They help us speak the words which are the beautiful opposite of silence.

We listen to good singers. They release our emotional pain and connect us with their souls. Perhaps, a good singer is also releasing whatever emotion which is going on in his or her life. We breathe, talk and sing together the ‘sung’ losers or ‘unsung’ heroes.

A great singer, throughout the career, provides all the proof that souls can be found in songs. Susan Wong(黃翠珊) is an example. I do not listen to her when I am happy. I listen to her when sadness comes as a ghost. Her unique husky, modulating and assailable voice is a soothing cleanse to detox. Her music informs that I have a place to hide my vulnerabilities.

An ‘audition disc’ is a well-recorded music CD with great details which audiophiles can use to test the hi-fi sound system especially stereo speakers. Some singers in Hong Kong target at this market. The successful male singer is Donald Cheung (張偉文) and the female counterpart is Susan Wong. Susan said, “I would look at myself as an easy-listening jazz singer known for my alto range.”

Wong was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Australia with her family at the age of seven. Musically talented, she played the piano and later violin. She sang in the choir and won competitions. In 1997, she returned to Hong Kong and became a professional singer by the name of ‘Janelle Wong’.

Susan said, “I worked very hard at that time but things did not turn out as what I expected. ‘Asian financial crisis’ in the 90s hit Hong Kong and entertainment business fell into decline. So, I gave up singing and reformed myself thoroughly to become an accountant.”

I was joking, “Why did you mend your ways?” She laughed, “If things come, they will. Life is simple. Plan a direction but never push too much. Everything later happens for you, not to you. Good things will take care of you at the right time, neither too soon nor too late. When I almost gave up my singing career, I was introduced by a music producer Keith Yip(葉建華) to make an album called ‘Close to You’ in 2002. Perhaps my voice was a little bit different from the rest. I regained my own path bringing me some measure of success. I want to keep on singing but I do not define the levels of success. I just work hard to be productive and play my role responsibly. Gradually, music records became my carpet, despite not being the usual red carpet that the other sparkling pop stars would crowd and walk. I sing for hi-fi fans.”

I asked Susan, “Will you give up your accounting profession one day?” Susan answered, “Never, I enjoy being a ‘slashie’—an accountant, singer, wife and mother. All these multiple side-hustles along the way created a complete Susan Wong.”

I said, “What are your next moves and options?” Susan stared at me mischievously, “Always on the move but do not try to figure out what it may bring. It is inevitable that I will move to the world’s online music streaming platforms such as Spotify for audience development. It is really amazing that I can now have fans from South East Asia, the Middle East and Europe.”

“With the dawning of a bad age caused by the COVID pandemics in 2020 to 21, we all had to handle difficult changes. But, we may revolutionize the clouds into a new reality. I cannot work as much as I should. I am happy, on the other hand, to devote more time for myself and my family. I cook for them and do jogging. ‘Negative-positive’ dualism is what I learnt from my highly uneven career. The idea of small failures haunts the human animal but I think it is designed to help us avoid a bigger trouble. Take life easy but keep looking up—that is the lesson of my life,” said Susan.

Life is a primary chaos of unfortunate things. Yin is the receptive and Yang is the active principle. The balance of two opposites, good and bad, makes sure when we are hungry for less, we will get more.

MLee

Billie Jean – Susan Wong  Acknowledgement  - coverfight  https://youtu.be/WnLANdP8hOA

Don’t Dream It’s Over (MV) – Susan Wong  Acknowledgement – Susan Wong  https://youtu.be/6Uh5r6aTr-w

 ‘Manjusaka’– Susan Wong  Acknowledgment – 4teVEVO   https://youtu.be/nON_ct-9NU4

‘Godmother’ Olivia Yan Offers One last Defence Of Theatre Practitioners Against The Waves Of COVID & Technology: Embrace! 

Misfortunes come on wings and depart on foot: Hong Kong had social commotion in 2019, COVID-19 in 2021 and will face economic downturn. Bad situations are like an amorphous mass of mud. Local theatres were devastatingly forced to close again and again.

The ‘Godmother’ of theatrical circles Olivia Yan(甄詠蓓)said, “We are down. But, we must stand up. Apart from the above misfortunes, the popularity of online streaming of theatrical productions is being a challenge which lies ahead of us! My mother was a Cantonese opera actress and my father was a technician for theatres in the 1950s. They fell by the wayside when Cantonese opera declined. They experienced a period of considerable hardship. It is a funny destiny that I am now making a living as an actress and director. That made me really on the ball to smell any change of dire circumstances in our trade. ‘Plan B’ is not only a fire exit. It should be a future career option for a stage professional and serves as an additional possibility.”

I asked, “What was your theatrical career like in the old days?” Olivia thought about it, “In the 60s and 70s, the theatrical world was a playing field for enthusiastic amateurs. The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts was founded in 1984 and I was one of the early graduates. The government in Hong Kong started to give generous funding to drama developments. As full-time professionals in our field were not many, competition for me was less keen and opportunities were plentiful. Besides, only TV and film were chiefly available as entertainment. People loved stage performances a lot at that time.”

Olivia always talked in a slow, intelligent and irresistibly charming manner. I understood her extraordinary career from the early hits, but I want to find out her fabulous three-career pleasure now: director, actor and educationalist.

I asked, “You are lucky because you are so all-rounded. What is your advice for those struggling in the drama world?” Olivia paused, “I am not lucky. I am still thinking of a way to do better. The window of opportunity in our trade opens and closes as fast as a camera’s shutter. Art business, being volatile and trending rapidly, is never ‘business as usual’ after COVID-19. We must have a keen sense of crisis i.e. the ability to sense the danger of a downward movement of our industry and career. Secondly, we must realize the importance of having alternative part-time business or job. The idea is not to rely on one single source of income. Lastly, we must embrace the future i.e. accept changes and get ready for them. This is why I am now a ‘slashie’.”

I challenged deliberately, “Is future unreliable?” She bit her lip, “Life must be lived forwards. Although tomorrow is uncertain, the future will belong to those who are not afraid to trust an unknown decade. Do not let the good memories of the past or the self-approval of the present limit the potential of your future. If you do not walk the path, the collapsing things behind you will actually block the way for you to turn back. Let me give a solid example: technology like online streaming and technology theatres will be the dominant torrents. If you don’t go ahead to learn and apply, you could be like one of those stubborn Cantonese opera singers in the 1950s!”

“My teacher David Glass in my UK days inspired me a great deal on his engagement with the audiences especially the young for the mission of ‘Creative Learning’. He used workshops, rooted in physical and image-based theatre and storytelling, to help people to ‘see again’, ‘think again’ and ‘feel again’. This is a very explorative investigation of life into drama and drama into life. I want to organise these workshops in Hong Kong. During this time of virtual relationships, the shared visceral experience of theatre, as an applied art, is more important than ever,” said Olivia.

Her words aroused an echo in my heart. I added, “When drama as an art on the stage is facing a precarity, it is not a bad thing that theatrical professionals use their knowledge and skills outside the theatre to earn a living and benefit other people.”

Olivia went further, “Drama has a lot of social and human values. Among many, it promotes teamwork, communication skills, moral education and socialization. It also stimulates imagination and creativity. It can encourage harmony by helping participants develop a better understanding of others. Do try to apply our professional knowhows outside the 4 walls of a theatre as one’s career management.”

Is it sad? People in Hong Kong used to have planned routes about our life. We now start to learn that in life, doors can be locked and windows can be closed. It hurts when there is no alternative to security. However, there is an alternative to insecurity which is walking out from your comfort zone and taking risk—things will be no longer familiar but a new life begins, for better or worse. At least, you can toss a coin with possibly the luck of a ‘better’. Right?

MLee

Olivia Yan “An Invitation: On Empty Theatre”  Acknowledgement  - West Kowloon Cultural District  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoDr8InWXv4

Olivia Yan Interview  Acknowledgement -  HKAPA SRCE   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-h5BdyekEs

Lost Child HK Films 2020 (Olivia Yan) Acknowledgement-David Glass   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ESci1glGWI

Singing  by 新馬師曾 (Tang Wing Cheung) Acknowledgement – 林登泰   https://youtu.be/_fXap0EOLUI

CvRL: Serenade of Chaos (Slashie)