Time to stop
Taiwanese singer Fei Yu Ching announces retirement.
TAIWANESE crooner Fei Yu Ching’s concert tour next year will be his swan song.
He announced on Sept 27 via a handwritten note that he will be retiring after 46 years in showbiz.
The 63-year-old, whose real name is Chang Yen Ting, will be holding five concerts in Taipei and Kaohsiung in February and May next year.
In the note, Fei wrote that due to the support and love from fans and the media since his singing debut at the age of 17, he has been very happy and fortunate to turn his passion into a career.
However, he wrote: “Over the years, I have been forging fast ahead in order to reach a higher level, but I have also neglected to enjoy the scenery along the way.”
He said that he lost his sense of belonging after his parents died.
His father, Chang Wu Hsi, died at the age of 96 in September last year. The singer missed his father’s final moments, as he was then performing in China.
He added that without their concern and their presence to share his moments, the glittering lights of the stage and the applause will not be able to fill his sense of loss.
“I know that it is time for me to stop. I can only learn to enjoy life calmly after I stop,” he wrote.
He hopes to live a carefree life and tend to his plants after retirement.
Fei gained popularity in the late 1970s for performing several television drama serial theme songs.
He is best known for his mellifluous voice as well as soulful rendition of songs such as A Spray Of Plum Blossoms and Good Night Song.
He is also known for cracking jokes on stage and impersonating other singers for their singing styles and stage demeanour.
In 2006, he endeared himself to younger pop fans with his collaboration with Mandopop king Jay Chou on the hit ballad Faraway.
His brother Chang Fei is a singer and television personality best known for hosting the variety show Variety Big Brother. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network