Eason's rainy welcome

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Eason's rainy welcome
By Chang May Choon

HONG KONG crooner Eason Chan came to Singapore last Saturday in a red raincoat and slippers - for good reason.

'My house has been leaking because of the typhoon in Hong Kong,' he told The New Paper.

One might think the zany singer-actor was joking, but he went on to explain with a straight face that the winds were so strong and the rain so heavy that no house, expensive or cheap, could escape getting wet inside.

'I thought the weather in Singapore would be better, but it turns out it's raining here too, so my slippers came in handy.'

Well, the 34-year-old balladeer is not known for his fashion sense anyway.

It was his mesmerising baritone and goofy stage charisma that got fans cheering when he performed at Lunar Asian Fusion Bar on Saturday night.

He was here on a whirlwind 24-hour trip to promote his new Mandarin album, Don't Want To Let Go.

It is out in stores here.

It was his second visit here within a month, after staging a widely lauded concert as part of his Moving On Stage World Tour at the Singapore Indoor Stadium late last month.

The tour, which spans more than 10 cities, is still on. He will perform in Shenzhen and Beijing next month.

Eason revealed he was reluctant to do the concert tour as he felt he was not involved enough during the early planning stages.

He lamented: 'I regret letting go of it and allowing the producers and band to help me choose my songs. I really should have been more involved.'

So, when it came to his new album, he refused to let history repeat itself. Eason got involved from the beginning, deciding on the music first and then, the lyrics.

Much of the album is about embracing life while facing up to many helpless moments and unfulfilled dreams.

Lack of time

For Eason himself, the big dilemma stems from a lack of time. The self-proclaimed workaholic, who won a record-high of 19 music awards last year, said he has been working so hard that he has little time to spend with his 4-year-old daughter Constance and his wife, former actress Hilary Tsui.

So much so that he told the Taiwanese media earlier that he felt he was a failure as a father.

But now, Eason is rethinking his priorities.

'I used to think, if I have a mortgage, I'd work hard and pay it off within 20 years so I can leave the house to my children.

'But now I'm thinking, if I can't pay it all off within 20 years, I can always extend it to 25 or 30 years.

'If I slow myself down at work, I'd earn less. Maybe I'd still be paying off the mortgage on the day I die.

'But it's okay. Maybe my daughter won't need my house. I don't need to worry about her future because she'll have her own mortgage to pay.'

Instead, Eason plans to take things easy from next year onwards and plan his work schedule around his daughter's school time.

Said the devoted father: 'I can take her to school at 8am and spend some quality time with her, then I can go work out a bit before I go fetch her for lunch.'

He also hopes to have time to read books and polish up his guitar skills so he can strum and sing on stage. Or even go shopping at Topshop on Orchard Road the next time he comes to town, he added with a laugh.

Well, he did go to the Singapore Zoo when he was here in July, with his wife and daughter. He had extended his trip, partly to celebrate his birthday here on 27 Jul - over dinner with his Hong Kong friends who flew here specially for him.

It had been 10 years since Eason last went to a zoo, and joy lit up his face as he recounted all the animals he saw - polar bear, crocodile, chimpanzee, parrot, giraffe, zebra and 'many more'.

'It was quite tiring because I had to carry my daughter when she got tired, though I had already exerted all my energy on stage on the 26th,' he said, laughing again.

'But we had a very happy time together. It was a rare occasion for us.'

Source: Newspaper Asia
Credit: AsianFanatics