SINGAPORE — Singaporean composer and musician George Leong has worked on some of the biggest hits of Mandopop and Cantopop, but in an impassioned Facebook post, the 54-year-old seemed to have thrown it all away. He even started a feud with fellow local musician Dick Lee.
On Jan 6, Leong posted photos of Hong Kong singer Sandy Lam's album Love, Sandy and the late Hong Kong star Leslie Cheung's album Most Beloved in the trash, saying he was tossing both works.
They were released in 1995, and he called them the "most monumental records" he had worked on.
He wrote: "Despite the passion I've poured into music and a portfolio boasting over 2,000 works and countless awards, I've come to realise these accomplishments mean little in the grand scheme of things."
Leong, once a producer under Taiwan-based music label Rock Records, has arranged music for hits such as Cheung's Chase from Most Beloved, and Lam's I Heard That Love Had Returned from Love, Sandy.
The veteran lamented that music, which once brought him joy, now leaves him with disappointment, frustration and sadness. He called his skills and experience "undervalued".
Clients want only a cheap deal, he commented, and some question his abilities. He added that despite compliments from people in the industry, he is often left out of projects.
He also called out Lee, the Singaporean composer of Chase, for forgetting Leong's arrangement of the piece. The song first appeared as the theme song of the 1994 romantic-comedy film He's A Woman, She's A Man, which starred Cheung as one of the leads.
"Even Dick Lee, whose royalties from Chase could fill bank accounts for years, didn't realise I was the arranger behind the version. I had to remind him in 2016," he said.
"To this day, he still plays (late Singaporean composer Iskandar Ismail's) version, which is completely unsuited for such an emotional piece."
Lee, 68, commented on the post, calling Leong a brilliant and talented musician.
Lee said: "We all have a love-hate relationship with music, but please don't deny that it is part of you, strongly in your DNA. I hope you continue to find the way to express yourself through music in some way and keep doing projects that mean something to you."
But Leong promptly rebuffed Lee, retorting: "Wishful thinking. I'm never gonna work with you again. Self-centred."
Cheung's Chase credits Leong for its arrangement.
Leong has also written and produced songs for stars such as Taiwanese divas A-mei and Jolin Tsai. He is also the founder of local arts charity SingPop, which aims to foster a vibrant pop music scene here.
Leong said he has had enough of the music industry's negativity and insincerity, and will be cutting it out of his life completely as it no longer pays his bills.
"My New Year's resolution is to let go of the hope that I can still sustain a career in music production and arrangement. It's a painful but necessary decision. Please don't waste my time with false promises or nostalgia — I've moved on."
In a follow-up post, Leong played with the idea of writing a memoir that will capture his 30-odd years in music — "the good, the bad, the ugly and the scandalous", as he put it.
"It'll include all my experiences — including the juicy ones — and even expose some very famous composer-producers who don't know a single bit of music theory, but managed to fake their way through," he wrote.
"There will also be stories about singers who couldn't sing to save their lives, where I had to tune every single note just to make them sound decent."
He said his stories will span the music industries of Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. "I've heard it's relatively easy to self-publish on Amazon these days," he added.
In the comments, his followers encouraged him to go ahead.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
