Leehom Wang Speaks at England’s Oxford Union

After a series of performances in London, Leehom Wang (王力宏) was invited to make a speech last weekend at one of the world’s best training ground for politicians, the Oxford Union in England. According to the organizer, Leehom was invited because he is highly influential in Asia, particularly China, and for that reason, he is the perfect person to propagate Chinese culture to the world.

Since its founding 190 years ago, the Oxford Union has remained independent of Oxford University, although its members are primarily from there. The Oxford Union is known for its chamber debating where extinguished guests are invited to deliver  speeches with the audience participating actively.  Previous speakers at the student debate union included Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa, Stephen Hawking, Michael Jackson, Richard Nixon, Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill and Johnny Depp.

Leehom felt honored to speak at the Oxford Union. Leehom said, “I’m very happy to be given this opportunity to achieve my mission – to introduce East Asian pop culture to the world.”

Integration of East and West

Before he began his speech, Leehom asked the audience to observe a minute of silence for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake as well as the bomb victims of the Boston marathon. Leehom said, “No matter whether it’s Sichuan or Boston, I sincerely pray that people of all the nations will use ‘love’ to embrace everything in the world.” On the same subject, Leehom shared that he would continue to play his part and work with Evangelical Christian relief organization, World Vision, to help those in need.

With his speech revolving around “Understanding the Chinese Class”, Leehom shared many anecdotes of his own personal experience. In the 1960s, his Taiwanese parents had immigrated to New York to further their studies. Leehom, who was born there, had initially considered himself to be an American. However, no matter how hard he tried, he was still alienated.

Leehom said, “I’ve been there, so I understand and hope to guide others through the same journey.” As a result, Leehom’s lifelong mission is to integrate the East and the West. Through his music, Leehom realized that he was no longer judged by his skin color. He said, “Imagine the East and West are a pair of roommates in their first year in university. In order to get along amicably, both parties need to understand each other and through both parties’ efforts, they will be able to live harmoniously with each other.”

Using the Influence of Pop Culture

Leehom has always been passionate in introducing the Eastern culture to the world. In 2004, he traveled to remote villages in China to collect tribal sounds of aboriginal Chinese music and incorporated them into his music. Leehom believes that pop culture plays an important part in influencing a person’s dialogue, values and behavior.

Leehom said, “When I was in high school, I was cast in an important role in a drama. A Vietnamese school janitor came up to me and was touched that after more than 20 years, I was the first Asian to be cast in a big role. On the day of the play, he also brought his young daughter to watch my performance. Shortly after, the girl wrote me a letter to thank me for inspiring her.” In return, the girl had inspired Leehom, who realized how much influence his music and performing skills can impact other Asians. And that sparked his mission in life.

In his speech, Leehom persisted on making use of music to move his audience. He highly recommended the audience to listen to songs from Teresa Teng (鄧麗君), Faye Wong (王菲), Cui Jian (崔健), A Mei (張惠妹), Tao Zhe (陶喆), Jay Chou (周杰倫), Tsai Chin (蔡琴), Harlem Yu (庾澄慶), Khalil Fong (方大同) and Miss Ko to understand the Chinese culture.

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Source: Sina.com

This article is written by Karen for JayneStars.com.