Chan Wing-him Is Moving from Backstage to the Spotlight
The award-winning lyricist has written for almost every Cantopop star in Hong Kong, including Eason Chan, Pakho Chau, Joey Yung and Fiona Sit. Now he's released a string of successful singles.
Thinking back to my childhood, I was doing extra work most of the time. I was a good student and I didn’t mess around much. My mom wanted me to have a good education. I studied in two kindergartens and three primary schools, each one better than the other. Each time, I had to work to get better results to get into a better school. But it made me more independent and gave me less of an emotional attachment to these matters.
No matter how close I was with my friends, our friendships would fade away as I moved to another school. This influenced me as I grew up. Many people might have strong attachments to specific people, places or things, but I seem to find it easier to let things go.
When I was in primary six, I was selected to be a team member to take part in the International Mathematical Olympiad. During the summer training camp, a teacher asked me to photocopy some exercises in the staff room. There was no one in the room so I messed around. I turned all the medals and cups into a golden robot. Also I faked some love letters between the teachers. I was kicked out of the team.
As a member of Hong Kong Children’s Choir, I was lucky to have more chances to see the world than other kids. The places we went on tour aren’t the usual places that Hong Kong people would go: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Marseille in southern France and Kagoshima in Japan. I really enjoyed it. I kept singing in the choir—until my voice broke. I joined the debate team afterwards, and soon became the team leader and won “Best Debater” in public competitions. Also, I got my Grade Eight with distinction in piano.
It was so easy to get what I wanted in my childhood. But I didn’t know how to deal with failure and setbacks.