Cheung: Cantonese has a special place in my heart

HONG Kong singer Jacky Cheung (pic), who displeased some of his fans who felt that he sang too many Cantonese tunes during a concert in Taiwan, says the dialect has a special place in his heart.

“Forgive me. Many of you know me through my songs in the national language (Mandarin). But even though I speak the language, I originate from Hong Kong,” he said, as reported by Sin Chew Daily. .

He explained that he grew up in Hong Kong where Cantonese is widely spoken.

Furthermore, he said the Cantonese songs that he had chosen to sing were a representation of the highlights of his music career.

Cheung, 62, resumed his tour in Taipei on June 16 after being forced to cancel three of his shows due to a respiratory infection.

During the show, he belted out a number of his Cantonese hits including Breaking Up On Rainy Days and Just Want to Be With You My Whole Life.

However, a number of the fans were less enthusiastic whenever he sang a Cantonese number.

Cheung said that he respected his fans’ views, but he would remain steadfast in promoting his music and culture.

As such, he hoped that the fans would respect his decision as well.

A Wikipedia entry stated that Cantonese is spoken by about 82 million native speakers.

> Taiwanese singer Jam Hsiao was forced to cancel an appearance in a musical in China after falling ill, Sin Chew Daily reported.

“I felt ill. I am weak all over and my throat is in pain. The doctors said that I have contracted a viral infection,” he said.

Hsiao, 37, was supposed to fly to Zhuhai, China on Thursday to perform in the musical adaptation of Rouge this week.

He was apologetic and blamed himself for not taking better care of his body.

“I can only hope to get better from the viral infection quickly so that I can return to perform with the cast. Thank you everyone for your concern,” he said.

Hsiao made a name for himself after appearing on the Taiwanese reality singing competition One Million Star in 2007.

● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ‘ >’sign, it denotes a separate news item.