With a music career spanning over five decades, Singaporean singer-songwriter Dick Lee has a fair share of advice to give.
He was asked how he felt turning 70 in August in a recent interview with William Rossy, who runs the YouTube channel Sprouht featuring conversations with older people around the world.
“I judge my feelings by how creative I feel, and my fear is that my creativity will dry out. But as long as I’m creative and have ideas and inspiration, I feel young,” he said in the video uploaded on May 3.
Dick, who was conferred the Cultural Medallion for his achievements in music in 2004, had set his sights on music in his teens, going as far as failing his exams on purpose to focus on his chosen path.
At the age of 15, he took part in talent contests as a member of the bands Harmony as well as Dick and the Gang.
He released his first album Life Story at the age of 18 in 1974, having his breakthrough with The Mad Chinaman in 1989.
The writer behind Singapore’s beloved 1998 National Day Parade song Home, Dick has also composed for Hong Kong icons such as Leslie Cheung, Jacky Cheung and Sandy Lam.
Remarking he’s at the “last quarter” of his life, he told William how he tries to not have regrets: “I told myself that whatever I have done in my life is what it is. That should be enough… Wanting is draining. I just feel happy with what I have and what I’ve done.
“I’m still making music. I still have projects ahead. I told myself, ‘No need to try so hard. I’ve already got my legacy.'”
When asked how he knew what career he wanted to pursue, Dick advised: “I always have kids coming and saying, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ I’d say, ‘You can’t not know what to. I’m sure that deep down inside there’s something you want to do, but you’re afraid to admit it. You have to dig deep and hypothetically think, ‘If you could do anything you want, what would it be?’ Once you put it out, the options become clear.”
Describing himself as someone who sees the “glass half-full”, Dick said his life motto is to not let things upset him as it’s “not worth it”.
“Life is too beautiful to let these things get in the way and ruin your life,” he added.
However, he admitted he has one regret: not having children.
He looked back on his marriage with Singaporean singer Jacintha Abisheganaden, whom he married in 1992 and divorced from in 1997.
“She was my best friend. I proposed to her in a time when I was getting really big in Japan and Asia. And it started to be meaningless. So, I felt that maybe this was time to have an anchor,” he recalled.
“I wanted to have a family with her. We wanted to have lots of kids and make a Sound of Music von Trapp family.”
They naively thought it would be fun, he said.
“I think her expectations were different from mine and it showed after we got married,” he admitted before adding with a laugh: “Don’t get married.”
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