G.E.M. Tang: Why doesn’t anyone court me?

Photos: Camelia Ting, Lee Lay Na
Video: Vanessa Lim

“My fans know that I’ve been wanting to date for the longest time; yet I’m still single (because) there’s no one courting me,” Hong Kong songbird G.E.M. Tang mused wryly.

This wasn’t what we expected to hear from the 24-year-old artiste, who has been embroiled in multiple dating rumours since her debut in 2008. Most recently, she was linked to a rumoured boyfriend of Joey Wong, who is her good friend, and later to a Chinese pop star. She went her separate ways from Taiwanese singer Yoga Lin in early 2014 after three years together.

“There really isn’t anyone courting me and I don’t know the reason behind that either. If any one of you figure it out, please let me know,” she chuckled self-depreciatingly. “To me, the most important thing is that the other party must be of the same religion as I. There aren’t any other qualities in particular that I’m looking out for because I feel that these are just part of the initial attraction. True love isn’t built on that attraction,” G.E.M. continued.

Wise words from one so young – but she wasn’t quite done with surprising the media gathered at the Pan Pacific Singapore hours before her performance at the inaugural Lions Charity Show 2016. “Love is a form of sacrifice. Perfect people don’t exist in this world and it’s a matter of who you’ll make compromises for. If I fall in love with someone, I’ll be willing to accept all of him, even if there’s something not that great about him,” the singer-songwriter concluded.

As for her relationship goal for the New Year, she shot with a grin, “The breakthrough I’m hoping for is to not be single any longer.” Another, she added, would be to build closer ties with her family. G.E.M. shared that she once went through a rebellious stage in which she refused to listen to her parents and contemplated moving out on her own.

These days, however, she has matured and wants to treat her parents as her friends. “I want to use this new way of communicating with my parents. This will need a lot of time and energy, and not just from me – I think my parents will need to work hard too, in order to make this work,” she explained.

“I can tell my mom anything and she tells me a lot too. Somehow, I still feel as though she’s stuck in the role of a mom when she speaks to me,” the entertainer mused. “I asked my dad about his first love and other things from his past. He was really shy when he answered so it was a pretty amusing scene. I really hope to be able to get to know my dad like a friend.”

G.E.M. also gave a glimpse into her future parenting methods with news that she will soon join the ranks of god-mother of her buddy Renee Lee’s unborn child. “I’d let my child do what he wants because that’s the way he can learn. For one’s heart to be able to change, (I believe that) many things have to be experienced personally; if you’ve never gone through it and only heard about it from others, you’ll always have an ounce of doubt in their words. You’ll only realise it after going through it yourself,” she philosophised.

“I think I’ll be a mom that ends up getting angered to death by my child,” G.E.M. laughed. “I can only watch on as he gets hurt, steel my heart and watch him cause trouble and hope deep down in my heart that he doesn’t get hurt too badly.”

This interview is translated by Lee Wei Lin.

A repeat telecast of the Lions Charity Show 2016 will be broadcast on Channel 8 on January 31, 3pm.

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