I Am My Own Home

Writer: Helena Tai

HKBU Humanities 30th Anniversary Feature

林廸生 Dickson Lam

Tik-sang started studying in the Humanities Programme at the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) in 2009. Born in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, he wanted to move out and live alone and got the chance to do so when he got into the university. At the end of 2020, he moved to Stockholm, Sweden. He is now studying classical music performance at the Göteborg Universitet (Gothenburg University).

Tik-sang worked as a freelancer in Hong Kong for years, mainly coaching musical instruments. He performed in several professional orchestras in Hong Kong as a horn player as well as worked in the Music Office as a full-time officer for years. During the pandemic, he organized an online concert with brass instruments. After graduating from HKBU, he worked on numerous art projects. He was the assistant in “Utopia, Momentarily”, the art ambassador in “I’MPERFECT XCHANGE”, one of the creators in The Sound Library by Sound Pocket “The Inevitable II: the Repetitive”, and the lyricist in a theatre play “Searching for Stillness”.

For Tik-sang, turning 30 was also a milestone. In 2020, he moved to Sweden ,which he called “a now-or-never decision”, and is currently studying Music at the University of Gothenburg. “If I had stayed in Hong Kong, I probably would have stayed in my comfort zone,” Tik-sang said.

Beside a humanities undergraduate, Tik-sang is an avid horn player and has played in almost 20 orchestras in Hong Kong. He learned to play horn in secondary school and has not stopped playing since. When he was asked why didn't pursue Music instead, he said it was a blessing in disguise as he now had the best of both worlds. “To do a music major in Hong Kong, you’d need to take a piano exam and none of my teachers asked me to study the piano back then. Since I’ve always liked to create music and words, the next closest thing was Humanities. In hindsight, Humanities has helped me appreciate music and culture even more.”

When he is not playing the horn, Tik-sang loves to write. Apart from blogs and short stories, he has a habit of altering, at times re-writing the lyrics of pop songs. When he entered HKBU and found the lyrics writing course taught by famous lyricist and Humanities Professor Chow Yiu Fai, he immediately registered.

“Yiu Fai’s class was awesome in every sense. He respected our respective style and conducted class in a workshop format, which meant we had lots of opportunities to share and give feedback to each other. I learned so much about techniques, vocabularies, ways to build sentences and simply how to be creative from Yiu Fai and our guest speakers. We even had an exercise book with creative exercises meant to help us get out of a mental rut and feel inspired. Those two-hour classes with Yiu Fai just flew by easily.”

Tik-sang’s flair for music and writing opened up opportunities even before he graduated. He single handedly organized a successful showcase concert at AC Hall with other students, as well as other Humanities events, including Humanities’ 20th Anniversary Celebration. Tik-sang went on to collaborate with creators such as Penelope Tang in “Searching for Stillness”《休止禮》and other friends from the music industry like Vicky Fung.

“I’ve always wanted to experience life outside of Hong Kong. When I reached 30, I knew it was time to try something new and challenge myself. In 2017, through participating in a music festival in Sweden, I found my music teacher and also started to build my local network there. I’m proud to say I’ve been saving up and planning for five years before I achieved this goal.”

Looking back on Hong Kong’s music scene outside the city, Tik-sang has some promising thoughts to say: “Don’t ever underestimate your possibility and ability. There are so many talented musicians in every genre in Hong Kong. As Hong Kong musicians, we should all be proud of our tenacity and talent. I’m guilty too as I also need to remind myself, I’m just as good as any other international musician I met. Hong Kong’s music scene is not backward at all, as some stereotypes might have us think. On the contrary, we have a thriving industry full of committed people. I say this especially of the young musicians. They just need more opportunities to showcase their talent.”

Tik-sang’s story is symbolic of many tenacious and talented Hong Kongers who have successfully created a new space for themselves wherever they go. As Tik-sang succinctly puts it: “It’s not about which home you’re leaving. For me, the key is where I choose to be and wherever I land, I know I can always create my own world. I am my own home.”

The song, “I’m Here”《我在》, composed by Tik-sang and recorded with his friends to commemorate 30th Anniversary of the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing. Tik-sang channeled his emotions into its poignant lyrics. “What I need now is in Sweden and hence I am here, but I will never forget my roots, my family and friends in Hong Kong.”

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