Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3002684/hong-kong-buskers-whose-passion-and-equipment-exceeds-their-talent
Comment/ Letters

Spare Hong Kong the torture of buskers whose passion exceeds their talent

Concern groups protest against noisy singers at the Star Ferry Pier on Victoria Harbour in Tsim Sha Tsui in August 2018. Photo: Felix Wong

Hong Kong has many zealous singers who love their art but lack training and talent. The shower used to be their practice venue, but many crave public performance. The karaoke bar came as a blessing to them, with advanced sound systems that enhanced their singing with amplifiers and echo effects. But one man’s singing can be another’s noise pollution.

I once supped with three fellow Sacred Music Commission members after meeting at a restaurant: composer Professor Chan Wing-wah, pianist Tam Ka Kit and music teacher So Ming Chuen. A couple were singing karaoke out of tune in the next cubicle and I pitied the three maestros with their exceptionally sensitive ears for the torture endured.

But at least the karaoke fans sang behind closed doors. Not the buskers who nightly besiege the Cultural Centre now, busking loudly with out of tune accompaniment by shabby instruments – all amplified by cheap systems with only volume but no quality. Unlike young local buskers who sang their own songs in this area, just “killing me softly” with them, these middle-aged aunties sing “red songs” of neither familiarity nor interest to passers-by.

Rupert Chan, Mid-Levels