In 1983, my father, Goh Poh Seng: doctor, poet, novelist, playwright, nightclub owner, businessman and entrepreneur was the sponsor and promoter of David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight Tour in Singapore. My father, widely acknowledged in hindsight as a pioneer of the Arts in Singapore and a man ahead of his time, almost went bankrupt financing the first big rock & roll concert in Singapore. I spent that summer holiday in 1983 with my best friends acting as tour guides showing Bowie’s bandmates the sights and sounds of Singapore. Initially, my father contemplated bringing Duran Duran but decided on the rock musical legend David Bowie instead. This was my first bona fide encounter with a real live rock star, a living legend who many considered to be the greatest rock musician of all time.
My father and I were waiting in excitement for Bowie to arrive at the Singapore international airport. When he cleared customs, my high school friend, Bernice Heng, got the honor and privilege of presenting him with a bouquet of flowers. Bowie was tall, towering over everyone. He was dressed in a baby blue three-piece suit and was smoking a cigarette. He bent down to kiss this short and rather shy and overwhelmed teenage girl on the cheek. The photographers from the press and newspapers were banned from printing the photograph in the newspaper taken of Bowie kissing my teenage friend because he was smoking a cigarette, something which was frowned upon and discouraged by the government campaign urging Singaporeans to quit smoking.
My father invited Bowie and his musicians to our home to listen to a live performance by classical Chinese musicians. Bowie’s band came but the man himself declined, saying that he did not “fraternize with concert promoters.” My father sent David Bowie a message through his personal assistant, telling him to tell Mister Bowie that “he is only a rock star. I, however, am a poet.” Bowie came to meet my father in person hat in hand to apologize for his rudeness. My father told Bowie that two of his songs had been banned from radio play. “This rock & roll business is more than just drugs, sex and rock and roll and making money, it is about freedom of speech. Perhaps people in the West take this freedom for granted. But I know poets and writers in Asia who have been imprisoned for their writing. Here, freedom of speech is something people are willing to fight for, even die for.” Fired up by my father’s words, Bowie kicked off his concert with the two banned songs, galvanized by his band attacking the stage like a squad of guerilla soldiers on the rampage.
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http://www.gohkagan.com/
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My father and I were waiting in excitement for Bowie to arrive at the Singapore international airport. When he cleared customs, my high school friend, Bernice Heng, got the honor and privilege of presenting him with a bouquet of flowers. Bowie was tall, towering over everyone. He was dressed in a baby blue three-piece suit and was smoking a cigarette. He bent down to kiss this short and rather shy and overwhelmed teenage girl on the cheek. The photographers from the press and newspapers were banned from printing the photograph in the newspaper taken of Bowie kissing my teenage friend because he was smoking a cigarette, something which was frowned upon and discouraged by the government campaign urging Singaporeans to quit smoking.
My father invited Bowie and his musicians to our home to listen to a live performance by classical Chinese musicians. Bowie’s band came but the man himself declined, saying that he did not “fraternize with concert promoters.” My father sent David Bowie a message through his personal assistant, telling him to tell Mister Bowie that “he is only a rock star. I, however, am a poet.” Bowie came to meet my father in person hat in hand to apologize for his rudeness. My father told Bowie that two of his songs had been banned from radio play. “This rock & roll business is more than just drugs, sex and rock and roll and making money, it is about freedom of speech. Perhaps people in the West take this freedom for granted. But I know poets and writers in Asia who have been imprisoned for their writing. Here, freedom of speech is something people are willing to fight for, even die for.” Fired up by my father’s words, Bowie kicked off his concert with the two banned songs, galvanized by his band attacking the stage like a squad of guerilla soldiers on the rampage.
More:
http://www.gohkagan.com/
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