Pro-Democracy Lyricist’s Name Was Replaced on Song List for a Hong Kong Superstar Concert in China

The well-known lyricist has written over 3,800 songs since mid-1980s

The famous lyricist Lam Chik, known as the "Asian God of Lyrics,” on Oct. 9, 2015, at The University of Hong Kong. (Tzoi-shu Poon/The Epoch Times)

As Hong Kong superstar Eason Chan resumes his world tour concert, the mainland Chinese organizer of his concert in Guangzhou has replaced the name of a politically outspoken lyricist, Albert Leung, with other lyricists before submitting the document to the Chinese official. Many Netizens criticized Chan’s betrayal. On June 18, The organizer apologized and promised to withdraw the document. However, Chan’s manager Gan Jingjing, responded that the cooperation with the Guangzhou organizer would be ceased immediately the next day.

Hong Kong superstar Eason Chan Yick Shun, who ranked sixth in the 2013 Forbes China Celebrity Top 100 List, is participating in his 2023 world tour and plans to hold a concert in Guangzhou, China.

As the song list needs to be approved by local Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authorities, the organizer, Guangzhou Xinfei Cultural Development, replaced the name of lyricist Albert Leung Wai-man, better known as Lam Chik, with other lyricists.

After the application documents were leaked online in early June, heated debates erupted on the internet, and many netizens criticized Chan’s betrayal as Lam had written many lyrics of his famous songs.

On June 18, the organizer apologized on its Weibo,  “A major error that adversely affected the lyricists.” The company “will take full responsibility for the errors. We want to apologize to the lyricists sincerely, the copyright holding companies of the songs, and the artist and management company.”

Chan’s manager, Gan Jingjing, responded to the media on June 19, saying, “Errors in the approval documents are unacceptable, and we have terminated the cooperation with the organizer immediately.

Research shows that when Lam’s works were publicly performed in China in recent years, the lyricist column was replaced with “anonymous.” For example, during the New Year’s Eve program “Dreams Come True East 2020” broadcasted by Dongfang TV, Chinese artist Wang Kai-sang on Leslie Cheung’s famous song “Me” with lyrics by Lam, the lyricist column in the song information was written as “anonymous.” Lam’s identity as a lyricist has completely disappeared in China.

Lam Chik

Lam Chik, known as the “Asian God of Lyrics,” has written over 3,800 songs and has many fans worldwide and in China. He left many memorable legends during Hong Kong’s golden age of music in the 1980s. Lam has been nominated for Best Lyricist at the Golden Melody Awards several times and has created many popular songs for famous singers such as Faye Wong, Jacky Cheung, and Eason Chan. His signature love songs like “Shall We Talk” and “Infinite Beauty of the Setting Sun” have touched the hearts of his audience.

Lam was outspoken during the 2014 Hong Kong Umbrella Movement and wrote lyrics for the song “Umbrella in the NIght.” He also publicly supported the pro-democracy movement against the extradition bill in 2019. In November of that year, he attended the “Support Hong Kong, Demand Freedom Concert” in Taipei. During the concert, he said, “Heaven will destroy the Chinese Communist Party,“ and shouted ‘Hong Kong, keep going!’ Noting that wearing masks and black clothes or even buying an egg would be regarded as guilty by police, he directly pointed out that “Hong Kong’s ”One Country Two Systems” no longer existed and condemned the CCP-controlled Hong Kong government for destroying the rule of law.

In August 2020, Lam posted on Instagram and Facebook to publicly support Nathan Law by rewriting the lyrics of the song “Promise.” Law was one of the core members of the anti-extradition bill movement and was wanted by China for “inciting secession” and “colluding with foreign or external forces” to endanger national security under the Hong Kong National Security Law in 2020. Nathan Law has been in exile in the UK since 2020.

Since 2020, more than 3,000 songs written by Lam have been removed from multiple music platforms in mainland China. When songs written by him are played on TV in China, the lyricist column is changed to “anonymous.”

During an interview with Radio Television Hong Kong in 2020, Lam said he knew he might lose a lot of lyricist work before expressing his support for Hong Kong. He also said, “But I believe that people must do what they must and not do what they shouldn’t do. This is my persistence.” “If I am worried about losing my lyricist work and have to shut up and not speak out, I will go against my original intention.”