Preaching in musicPop singer Anthony Wong lives his philosophy of life
Preaching in music
Pop singer Anthony Wong lives his philosophy of life
By Kwok Kar Bo
Example: “Homosexuality, two people of the same sex falling in love with each other, is normal,” said he. “The majority of society will feel uncomfortable with the unconventional ways of love, sex, complexions, hairstyles — and they respond strangely. Indeed, it is unnecessary.”
“I think we should respect others and tolerate any differences — as well as things — that we do not understand. This is what a democratic and liberal society should be,” said he.
This idea is demonstrated in one of his songs, “Forbidden Colour”.
According to Anthony, the song is speaking for homosexuals. It tells them that they do not need to feel shame for their sexual orientations. Somewhere, someday, they will find their place in life.
Anthony said that if he had not been the singer, or the name of the song had not been “Forbidden Colour”, people would not have connected homosexuality with the lyrics. He admits that. He pointed out that the song could be about freedom.
The song seems contradictory to Anthony’s previous Christian beliefs, in which homosexuality is taboo.
“I am no longer a Christian. A religion that is incompatible with my perspectives is meaningless to me.
It is ridiculous that Christians or Christianity cannot accept homosexuals. They say that homosexuality is incongruent with the teachings of the Bible.
“In my opinion, religions should forgive all. They should accept homosexuality even if they think it is sinful.
“I was a Christian in secondary school. Many Christian teachings still have an influence on me, and I still appreciate the wisdom of the scriptures.
“But the worst thing in the teaching of Christianity is the sense of guilt. Some may spend their whole lives fighting against this. Fortunately this sense of guilt does not bother me,” said he.
Now he does not even care whether there is a god. He says there are many other things that he has to think about, so he gives this an extremely low priority. After half a lifetime, he is still unable to verify the existence of God. He wishes to leave this job to theologians.
Said he: “Everyone has a conscience. It is something similar to the god that you believe in.
“There are so many artificial things in the church. Religion is something personal. But when there are more than two people, it (religion) becomes politics as usual.
“Everyone claims that their interpretations about God are the best. This makes God very humanized. “I left my church because it is suppressive. I felt released and happy after leaving.
“I doubt the existence of heaven. Heaven is one’s home, and an angel is one’s beloved.”
Besides conflicts inherent in religion and sex, Anthony’s songs also describe people’s attitudes when they encounter other crises.
“Now almost all countries are experiencing economic recession. People feel that they are going to lose everything. Some try to grasp as much as they can, while others lose incentive to work hard.
“This perception of a holocaust is indeed universal. Hong Kong people also suffer from this problem when the China’s authorities are exerting pressure on the city.
“The political regime in future Hong Kong seems unreliable to local people and makes them feel insecure.
“Yet I think our future is not hopeless. I still have a sense of belonging to Hong Kong. I just take a gamble on my future with the promises that China has made,” said he.
While some Hong Kong people focus only on enjoyment in the post colonial era, Anthony thinks that playing has an optimistic meaning.
His song “Heaven is Coming — You Should Play” hides such philosophy of living.
From now on, everything becomes
games: Play seriously, happy till the end of life.
From now on believe heaven is
coming. We will no longer meet
again, but still we are joyful.
Wander around all gay land.
From now on we can never escape.
“What the world needs is plenty of humour. A frowning face cannot help anything. Being too serious will make life very harsh.”
As an artist singing songs with special topics, Anthony said his music has certain appeal.
“There are different dimensions to listening to a song. You have different perceptions when you listen to a piece at different times.
“I am glad when people ask me whether the meaning of my songs is like that. They are not sure about it, and that is what I want. I try to put various perspectives in my songs, and they are productions that have lives.
Anthony likes to produce songs of rich content which is not easily noticed and recognized. The outcome will be more dynamic. People have to spend some time to think about the themes of the songs.
He said that there are too many popular songs in which people already know the meaning literally from the lyrics.
“People who like me and my productions are fortunate because they have chosen something interesting. They can find surprise and excitement every time when they listen to my songs.
“It is the loss of those who turn to Canto-pop and refuse to try other alternatives. They are actually wasting their time. Much Canto-pop becomes valueless when it is not trendy anymore.”
