Local musician Lee Siu Hong shared his thoughts with The Macau Post Daily yesterday about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on local artistes, musicians in particular. The interview was conducted in Lee’s office in Areia Preta district
Lee is the chairman of the Macau Jazz Promotion Association (MJPA) and the music director of the Macau Vocal Association. Father of two, he is also a music teacher at the United International College (UIC) in Zhuhai.
More opportunities for the locals
Lee praised the government for providing resources for artistes to perform, and he told The Macau Post Daily that although the government subsidies had been reduced during pandemic, which automatically led to fewer resources for his association, performance venues such as the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM), had been waiving a lot of the fees for art organisations.
“From my observation, there have been more local performances in these two years. Not only the reduced venue cost is really helpful for organisations to cover their costs, there are far fewer performing groups from other regions to compete with the local ones. The quality of the shows by local artistes is great, and the quantity is definitely helping the cultural development of Macau,” Lee said.
Lee also said that the pandemic has pushed the Macau Jazz Promotion Assocation to search for methods to survive. “To be honest, it is incredibly difficult for artists to “survive” by performaning only, we earn our living mainly as music teachers,” Lee said, adding: “We have been holding larger sized classes organised by our members to have a more stable revenue for the MJPA.”
Lee added that the new generation of parents are more willing to pay for their kids’ music classes, but recently the feeble casino business and the pandemic have made even the most cultured parent “think twice” about music lessons.
New COVID-19 outbreak distressing
For those artistes who cannot make a living by teaching but only by performing, Lee said that they have been hit the most during the pandemic.
“It is extremely hard for stage artistes to earn a living when all Macau performing venues are closed, and our “hush!” performance may also be postponed”, said Lee. When asked about whether online performances could substitute live performances, Lee came up with a straight no, since not only was it challenging to attract an audience to pay for online performances, be it live or not, but playing music in front of cameras also lacks the necessary charm, said Lee.
Nonetheless, he appreciated the local government’s swift response to the current COVID-19 outbreak, telling The Macau Post Daily that once the pandemic is under control, things should run smoothly again for local artistes.
Local musician Lee Siu Hong poses during yesterday’s interview in his office in Areia Preta district. Photo: William Chan
