Roller Coaster (the ups and downs in Hacken's life)

July 21,2007

A person must know exactly what is their position.

Especially those who are celebrities, they always need to be aware where the industry is going, and where the selling point is in the news.

The past November, Hacken and Emily married. We thought that Hacken would be similar to other male artists; thinking Hacken will not mind sharing his feelings with others after marriage. Jacky Cheung, Eason Chan, even Nicholas Tse, all have been changed by the women behind them, when talking with the media about their work, they will also mention their marriage life or even share the "baby secrets."

Hacken is the exception. Don't know why Hacken refuses to talk about his marriage life or his wife, Emily. At the release conference, he uses the line: "Today, not convenient to answer" to avoid answering questions about his wife being pregnant. When asked if his wife will accompany him to the concert on July 28th, he also refused to answer.

Maybe Hacken does not wish things outside of his job be part of the news, thus losing focus on the topic, but it is clear that Hacken is not an idol singer-- this year turning 40, should he be clear on his position?

At 40, it is clearest in life that it is the time when wisdom and knowledge is most mature. At 40, even if it is getting married, or even if it is having a wife, or even if it is become Father Lee, it is just a natural thing, why need to avoid talking about it?


Lyrics are not a portrayal (representation, characterization) of me

Looking back at Hacken's songs, there are romantic songs, revealing his thoughts on marriage life, songs including: "Long-time must marry", "Before marriage women", "After marriage", "Father Lee", "Kan Jai" (Kan son); Hacken's lyrics for "Sentiment person," and others.

When talking about the songs, Hacken did not fully support himself, he even said that the songs are not his inner thoughts, they are only the thoughts of the lyricist, it is not all about me.

"Some songs are not written by me, only that at the time of production, we are seeking a particular style song, sometimes when searching for the lyricist, I don't know how they will write the song, so not all the songs represent me."

Hacken even goes on to compare it with acting: "it is like when filming, not all characters represent me, actually to a certain degree, filming and singing is very similar, it is like acting through a song, acting for people to see, this is simply being in character."


10 Years, First bitter then Sweet

Hacken also had a song titled "Before and after 10 years," since it is the HK Handover 10 year anniversary, from 1997 to 2007, 10 years is not a short time, people may have changed a few times. Within these 10 years, besides Hacken securing his status in the industry, the biggest difference is definitely his status changing from someone's boyfriend to someone's husband. But when asking Hacken about his 10 years, he still avoids this topic.

Hacken says, this past 10 years his job has changed dramatically, especially from years ago in 1997, he was in the down point of his career, but actually during this time, he accidentally received many jobs outside of singing, for example being the host for JSG, Miss HK, World Cup and other big shows, opening many opportunities for him in the hosting department.

"Actually at the time my singing career was not so ideal, looking back at the 10 years, there have been a lot of changes, the feeling is like riding a roller coaster-- of course everyone also experiences the ups and downs in life, I will use the phrase "First Bitter then Sweet" to describe my 10 years, when starting it can be said that it was much tougher, but these past few years it has been much smoother."

Can it be said that his hard work paid off?

"In this industry, all artists are hard-working, for example during award ceremonies, not minding where the singers sit, you can see the hard work of every artist. But not everyone is awarded, or not guaranteed to win the big award. Sometimes even though you work hard, it may not have the ideal result. Of course if you don't work hard, there will be no pay off, but being in showbiz is more unique-- besides hard work in showbiz, you also must have other skills to collaborate."

As for Hacken finding something he needs to work harder on? Hacken replies without hesitation: "I want to strengthen my Mandarin albums. The past few years, I released many Cantonese albums, and actually in every album there is a song that represents me as a singer. But in contrast, there are less Mandarin albums released, even to say until (now) up-to-date there is not one album I am completely satisfied with, not one has met my requirements. When I work on the [next Mandarin] album, I hope there is enough time for me to really work on the songs, making the [future] Mandarin albums even better."




Conclusion

Before the interview, [I've heard] people say that Hacken is somewhat arrogant. But it was said that he shares the makeup room with other artists when he attended the Malaysia awards show. I don't feel he is like what others said.

During the interview, Hacken rarely smiled, and the photographer asked Hacken to smile more often. He raises a small smile. But throughout the interview he was also not very expressive. When asked why, he simply replied that he did not get enough sleep.

[Sources: http://www.leehacken.com/news/2007/news_20070721.html, ~ Sinchew]
[translated by Jane, edited by Kate]
[whoa, what a long article!! A BIG THANKS 2 JANE 4 translating this interview!! :) i learned some more about hacken! -kate]