[2010.07.19] FAMOUS SINGING TEACHER DAI SI CHUNG PASSES AWAY

"Music Godfather" Dai Si Chung due to acute coronary heart disease complication passed away at the age of 69. Two days ago Dai Si Chung suffered a heart attack at home and lost consciousness. He was rushed to the Ruttonjee Hospital and passed away at 8:35AM yesterday. Dai Si Chung's wife, daughters Dai Wan Wai, Dai Sun Wai and family as well as his student Lam Man Lung and Lam Lei were by his side. Unfortunately his most successful student Faye Wong and Daniel Chan Hiu Tung could not return in time to see Mr. Dai for a final time; Faye Wong originally planned to return from Beijing yesterday morning to visit her mentor but before getting on the plane she received the news of his passing and cancelled the trip; she will return to Hong Kong for Dai Si Chung's funeral. Chan Hiu Tung tearfully said that not being able to see Mr. Dai for a final time was the regret of his life.

The 69 year old Dai Si Chung in 1958 went to junior high in Fujian. In the 60s he once studied machinery transport engineering. Upon graduation his first dream was to study music, so he joined the China literature and art work group to study vocal music and sing male baritone. In 62 he immigrated to Hong Kong and began to produce film theme songs for film companies like Shaw's and Southern as well as singing behind the scene as a substitute singer. Thus he often worked with Joseph Koo Ka Fai. In 74 he even studied music in Japan for two years. In 77 upon returning to Hong Kong he became a singing teacher and cultivated many superstar successors for the music industry.

Mr. Dai's piano and good instructional method over 30 years have instructed various students. The best known ones were Anita Mui Yim Fong, Faye Wong, Leon Lai Ming, Andy Lau Tak Wa, Aaron Kwok Fu Sing, Takeshi Kaneshiro (Gum Sing Mo) and Charlie Yeung Choi Nei; at the same time Daniel Chan Hiu Tung, Kevin Cheng Ka Wing, Lui Fong and others also came from his school. Actually his first student was MY CHINA HEART's Cheung Ming Man. He constantly said that he was happy just to see his students succeeded. He even felt that singing was the secret to his health, because it required breathing and air circulation it was a type of Qi Gong.

Among Dai Si Chung's numerous students, his favorite was Faye Wong. When Faye Wong came to learn singing from him, everyone thought that she was too uncouth and no record company would sing her. However Mr. Dai never gave up on his recommendation because he felt Faye's voice was exotic. He persuaded Cinepoly to sign her and the rest was history. They stayed in contact all along. He felt that Faye had love and loyalty and thus always praised Faye Wong in front of others.

Dai Si Chung stressed that his relationship with his students were like father and son, but lately he has been involved in several singer contract disputes. In 1992, Dai Si Chung founded a management company and signed Daniel Chan Hiu Tung and Kevin Cheng Ka Wing among others. When they first appeared on the scene Dai Si Chung gave them a hand. Ka Wing even called Mr. Dai "Old Man" like father and son. However, both due to contract and commission issues ended their relationships with him. Chan Hiu Tung reportedly was asked for 10 million to terminate his contract early. Dai Si Chung denied the accusation and called Tung Tung a "traitor", then called a press conference to end their relationship. In recent years they forgave each other.

Cheng Ka Wai after a few years in music was "exiled" to Taiwan as Dai Si Chung sold his contract to a Taiwan company and their relationship ended. Later Ka Wing returned to Hong Kong and made a name for himself at TVB. Dai Si Chung immediately asked for Ka Wing to obey their contract that charged 10% commission. Dai Si Chung said that back then Cheng Ka Wing thanked him with the contract as a gift. After the matter blew up, Dai Si Chung settled the matter to keep peace. Last year Dai Si Chung sued magazines for slander and reportedly suffered from depression. Since then he rarely appeared in public.