The 100 faces of a calmer Anita Mui

Anita Mui Yim-fong greets me with her arms akimbo and with something akin to a sneer on her face. We are at a dance studio in Kowloon City where she is rehearsing for her coming concerts this week. It takes five minutes before she loses this defensive posture, no doubt a reflex conditioned by many years of less-than-desirable run-ins with unfamiliar media members. Those who know her, however, tend to go easy on her. 'That's because she is very nice to us. We try not to give her too hard a time,' one reporter told me, while we were waiting for Mui. Despite her long, intimate dances with the press, the media glare has eased off slightly now that the calmer Mui is keeping out of the scandal sheets. In fact, in the first single off her coming Cantonese album Sexy Stage, she also takes a discreet dig at the paparazzi and the symbiotic relationship they have with the celebrities who go out of their way to court attention. 'Oh, that's just the lyric writer's [Chow Yiu-fai] observation of the present situation,' she says. 'I think personally it is just a matter of getting used to it. Of course, I hate [the paparazzi attention]; I would never tell you I enjoy it but as long as they don't come into my home and don't disrupt my daily life, that's bearable. 'When I go out and they want to take pictures, it is something I have already prepared myself for. I have nothing to hide.' Mui has had more than her share of scandals and gossip. The more than 10 years she spent at the top as the undisputed queen of Canto-pop in the 1980s cast her into the full glare of the media. She was the original diva: her every move was dogged and every remotely possible love interest scrutinised under the lens. An ardent party-goer, Mui was always surrounded by an entourage of colourful hangers-on and could always be counted on to sell extra copies of newspapers or magazines because of her sometimes less-than-discreet behaviour. She was (and still is), after all, the closest thing that Hong Kong had to a Madonna. It came as a surprise, although not a shock, when she officially announced in December, 1991, that she had had enough of the glitter and the gold, and was retiring to a quiet life. But that was not to be. The following year, she ran into trouble by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ended up being caught in the middle of rival triads. She had to go into hiding to protect her life. That, plus her reportedly lavish lifestyle, dented her retirement funds and sank her plans to disappear from the public eye. In 1995, she announced her comeback concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Four years later, Mui is back for another round at the venue. But it is easy to see that - despite the initial defensiveness - Mui is considerably more relaxed. Television cameras and photographers pack the little dance studio where she is holding court this day, all waiting for an interview with the award-winning singer and actress. Yet, Mui is only dressed in baggy black trousers, a track suit top and sneakers. There is hardly any make-up on her face and her only shield against the usually cruel focus of the cameras is a pair of shades. 'You can't have everything go the way you want it to. That's my attitude now,' she says. 'There's a lot of things I don't get so stressed about now, like, for instance, how many records do you have to sell before you are considered 'popular'? I really don't care all that much. 'And, I am a happier person for it. It's not that I am not striving hard but too many things are out of my control. If my fans come back and tell me that they like the songs I do, then that's what is most important to me.' Mui seems to have adopted the happiness-by-omission technique: anything that makes her unhappy, she locks out of her mind. Such as how true love has evaded her all this time. 'My love life is zero,' she says. 'I am putting thoughts of it aside for the moment. Fate is not something you can force. I think I would be happier if I don't think about it. I think it's more important I do my work as best as I can.' Or, how the ticket sales are going for her concerts. 'I don't want to know how the ticket sales are going,' she exclaims. 'As a singer I think all I should worry about is that I am able to sing my songs well and do the best I can on stage. I have to make sure I have enough stamina. I don't want the extra pressure.' However, promoter Cheung Yiu-wing is quick to relay to Mui that ticket sales have been so brisk that he has been encouraged enough to add an extra show to the original six. But there is little doubt that in recent years, Mui's star has waned. The doldrums that the film industry is in has not even afforded her an alternative route, as it has fellow 'retiree' Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing. Still, she has a devoted following and it is those fans Mui 'credits' for her reluctance to leave centre stage. 'They have been asking me to hold concerts for a long time. I was initially supposed to do it last year but had to postpone it. So they have been accusing me of lying to them,' the 36-year-old says. 'I really don't know when they will next see me back on stage but possibly by then it could be in a different genre . . . a stage musical or something. A few promoters have been talking to me about it. If it is a good role and there is a point to it, I will probably do it.' It certainly sounds as if Mui is planning on sticking around. Admittedly, there have been many who have strived to succeed the woman they call 'The Chameleon' - who can switch guise both in image and song - but none have been able to withstand the test of time. In fact, for her seven-show run which starts on Friday, Mui will be attempting another '100 image changes' to showcase her versatility. Surely it must be difficult to think up yet another 100 changes after her last one in 1989? 'I think how many image changes I can go through will only be a small part of why people will come to see my show,' she says with a shrug of delicate shoulders. 'Besides I am not the one who has to worry about it. There will be experts [in this case, long-time cohort designer Eddie Lau Pui-kei] who will be thinking it up.' And, as if to demonstrate the point, her assistant places a 12-centimetre red stiletto shoe in her hand and whisks her off to the waiting cameras to show off just one of these new incarnations. Anita Mui in concert. Hong Kong Coliseum, Friday to May 6, 8pm. Tickets at $400, $200 and $100 available at Urbtix outlets. Tel bookings: 2734 9009. Inquiries: 2381 2338