Viva HKpop, Viva Hong Kong
Born & raised in Hong Kong, a city filled with hopes & despairs…… We have been through a lot of changes and been the stages of many clashes…
This is not a political blog so I’m not going to talk too much about how Hong Kong has fallen (Google Hong Kong or follow HKFP if you are interested to know more) I feel like we are doomed because of the inaction of my generation and the generations before mine. All we want is to repeat what’s been done for so many years – why throw away the formula of success and try something new that’s probably not gonna worth it? Failures is too costly for world’s most expensive city.
Hong Kong Pop, aka HKpop or Cantopop, took a pretty bad hit as a result. HKpop singers were once the crown jewels of the Asia music industry. Back in the 80s’, we had superstars like Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui, Alan Tam (yuck) who captured the heart of million fans across Asia. The Four HKpop Kings, namely Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok, Leon Lai & Andy Lau, continued the success and brought HKpop to another summit. However, while their stardom had continued for decades, a few could repeat their success. Eason Chen, Joey Yung, Twins might be the biggest HKpop names we could get after the millennium, but definitely paled in comparison with MandarinPop artists like Jay Chou, David Tao, Jolin Tsai – not to mention the Kpop superstars.
Fast-forward to now, While we are busy looking outside for music & talents, a whole new generation of Hong Kong musicians & artists has quietly risen to the occasion – they have taken upon themselves to keep HKpop alive. They have been trying make some noise for years and constantly being frowned upon – “THEY ARE JUST A BUNCH OF KIDS THAT WANT TO BE FAMOUS”, “THEY ARE JOKES COMPARED WITH LESLIE CHEUNG”, “NOBODY LISTENS TO HKPOP ANYMORE COS THEY ARE LAME”. To be honest…I was one of those who stood on the high ground, looked down on the young souls and was too quick to judge… However, things took a very bad turn in Hong Kong in 2019…. this has impacted us, Hongkongers, on so many levels. We’ve seen the wisdom, courage and talents of our young generations on the streets, on media, on social. They are not a bunch of entitled kids – like my generation once was – who has everything handed to them on a silver plate. They have to fight for what they believe in, they have to sacrifice for what they love…
THEY DO NOT GIVE UP.
They have not given up on HKpop. They keep writing & producing music. They keep using different channels to let the world know that HKpop is here to stay. They keep singing, dancing, performing wherever there is an opportunity. Thanks for ViuTV, a new free digital TV platforms that challenges the TVB monopoly for decades, the young HKpop singers & musicians, e.g. Terence Lam, Serrini, Per se, etc have got a new platform to showcase their talents. And their hugely successful talent show – GOODNIGHT SHOW, has given birth to one of the biggest HKpop boy bands in the history – MIRROR.
I always say we don’t deserve this generation of young people. And they don’t deserve this Hong Kong we handover to them… They deserve a bigger stage, they deserve more limelights, they deserve more recognition from all over the world… That’s why I start this vivaHKpop blog to start posting Engilsh translation of the HKpop lyrics. They aren’t the exact/direct translation but my interpretation and rendition of the lyrics. I just hope that with some English translation, people around the world would be able to appreciate HKpop more and shine some more lights on the brilliant young Hong Kong talents…
vivaHKpop, viva Hong Kong.
VIVAHKPOP 