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Club Wed 载自 8 Days (新加坡,2003/01/08)
What's it like being married to a cool guy like George Lam? Comeback Queen SALLY YEH has a few ideas.
To all commitment phobes and swinging singles: Sally Yeh wants you to know that marriage is the best thing that can happen to anybody. The Cantopop queen, who's been married to dapper-cool Mr Guinness Stout - no, not Adam King but George Lam - for the past four years swears by matrimony and goes goo-goo-ga-ga over ol' George any chance she gets.
"I'm much happier married than I was not married," gushes the 40-year-old over the line from Hongkong. "You can't imagine what excitement marriage is. It's ... so fun!
"I was terrible at being a wife at the start! I thought all a wife does was clean the dishes and wash the underwear," avers the chipper singer-actress. "But being a wife is so much more, and I'd say I'm pretty good at it right now."
And now that she'd got the wifey thing down pat. Sally is taking a break from underwear-washing release a new album HAVE YOU HEARD after a five year break from showbiz. "I miss singing, I miss my fans. I miss singing on the stage. in the recording studio,"says Sally, "I miss singing, period."
8 Days: Why did you decide you needed a break then?
SALLY: I wanted to know my husband better, I had just gotten married then and I was always afraid of getting married, I was always afraid that I wouldn't have a good marriage, like a lot of people. I didn't want that. Plus, I was really getting burnt out anyway. I was singing since I was 18, and I was at it for almost 20 years after that. So when my contract ended, I thought I was just going to take it easy for a while
8 Days: What are some of the things you got to do - that you might never have done if not for the break?
SALLY: I spent a lot of time with Lam, talking - just spending a lot of time together. And I really got to know what it takes to be a good wife. It's hard work! It's harder than working outside.
8 Days: What have you learnt about George?
SALLY: He's pretty easygoing, not as intense as I thought he was. When we were courting, he was like really intense and I thought, "Oh Dear"...
8 Days: Did you find out anything about him you didn't like?
SALLY: He doesn't get up at the same time as I do. He gets up at five or six in the morning and I get up much later, so every time he got up, I'd wake up! It drove me nuts at the beginning!
8 Days: Now that you're back, how do you think the Chinese pop scene has changed?
SALLY: There's more quantity than quality. It's sad, because the Taiwan market has become come up and the Hongkong market seems to be concentrating on how much money you're gonna make. There's no concentrating on the artistic aspect of the work. But when I made my album, I reliased there were a lot of good composers, and good arrangers out there. But there's lack of good, new artistes.
8 Days: What do you think of new breed of female singers like Kelly or Cecilia Cheung?
SALLY: A lot of times you don't need to be a great singer to have your own style. I haven't listened to Kelly much, but she 's grown over the years. I think there's still room for improve-ment. Like Madonna, she doesn't sing great, but she's a great entertainer, and a great stylist. Kelly's my neighbour actually.
8 Days: Do you hang out? Do neighbourly stuff together?
SALLY: We see each other in the lift once in a while. She's a busy girl. My God! She's probably done every commercial in town. You see her face everywhere! But she's beautiful without make-up on. I can tell you that.
8 Days: So no one's caught your ear?
SALLY: The problem with these new singers is when I hear them on the radio, I spend half and hour trying to figure out who it is. You succeed when you sound different. That takes you one step ahead of the pack already.
8 Days: Was there any pressure in coming back and making your new album?
SALLY: It wasn't so much a question of whether I'd be popular again, because I'm not looking for popularity. I just want people to like my songs, and I did my best to give them good songs to listen to. My biggest hurdle was if I could juggle both working and my marriage. Being married now, I have to go home and cook. I asked my husband, "Do you mind being alone at home? 'Cos I'm going to work my ass off!" He gave me plenty of support and gave me the confidence to come back.
8 Days: Were you worried you had to be slimmer and prettier than all these sweet young things on the music scene these days?
SALLY: I can never be slimmer than them. My bones are bigger than their arms, so even if i went down to being a skeleton, I'd be fatter than them. And it's impossible to be younger than them, so I don't even go there!
8 Days: How would you describe the last year in five words?
SALLY: Exciting, crazy, melodramatic... It's been a great year. Hey, that's five words.
8 Days: You mentioned you cooked for your husband. Any signature Sally dishes?
SALLY: I'll try my hand at some Chinese dishes and I cook a lot of steak and spaghetti. Not very interesting dishes, but I make an effort to figure out the menu for the night, tell my maid what to cook and I'll help prepare.
8 Days: Right. What are the indredients that go into a good marriage then?
SALLY: Understanding, letting the other person be who he is and not judging. Communication. And it's important to marry your best friend, because it's so much fun having your best friend with you all the time.
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