I was born in Ceylon. I still call it Ceylon, even though it is now known as Sri Lanka. I came from a Dutch-Portuguese family. We were what they call Dutch Burghers. My family left for Hong Kong when I was nine, and I went to Quarry Bay Junior School. Then I went on to King George V School. It was there that I formed a band with some friends and called it The Rebel Sect. We were doing tracks by the Kinks and the Animals. I played guitar and I wrote songs, but the band went through many personnel changes and got much better after I left. But it was a good time, as it gave me my first glimpse of groupies.
I still write the occasional song, one of which made it on to the Rush Hour 2 soundtrack. Some of my earliest 'hits' were songs written for [Canto-pop king] Sam Hui, and what came to be close to Hong Kong's national 'anthem' - Pitching In, a jingle for one of those unsuccessful Keep Hong Kong Clean ad campaigns.
One of my biggest passions is horse racing. I have been into it since I was in Ceylon. The first bet I ever made was in Ceylon, at the age of seven - and I won. I was hooked.
My best friends are jockeys. If they trust you and you are not bugging them for tips, you are just out to have a good time, they make very good friends. These are guys who are on these [450kg] beasts, and they are little guys. If I am ever in a fight I will have a jockey on my side any day because you cannot knock them out, you have got to kill them.
I am just a big racing fan; I really think it is a sport that requires skill. I have got horses in Australia. It is just fascinating, and your mind just blanks out problems of record piracy, illegal downloading, dealing with troublesome artists; it all goes away for a couple of hours. You are cheering on your horses. I have been known to have a large flutter, depending on what I know. I have won a couple of pretty big [bets], and my biggest was more than seven figures. It was a lot of luck, and I had to split it three ways.
Horse racing is the same as music. Some artists do not do well when they are with certain companies, but they join another company and, suddenly, they have a hit. You sometimes have a horse that just does not fire for a certain trainer. So it switches stables, gets a new trainer, meaning a new A&R [artist and repertoire] guy. This guy spots the potential and then, bang, this horse starts winning.