Being educated primarily in English as all fellow Singaporeans of my age are, English is by far the first language I choose when needing to read a huge tome, when writing either informally or formally in papers, theses or books.
My Chinese wasn't too bad in terms of academic achievements and I speak Mandarin perfectly fluently. But when it comes to digesting a big chunk of information in printed Chinese, yes, I can do it, but how I do prefer to have it all in English.
As I ventured out further into Chinese music, especially when I was doing my undergraduate studies in Chinese Music, when my papers had to be submitted in English, I found that there was simply not enough information - accurate information - about Chinese music, in English. There are some, but when you need to go deeper into the field, Chinese materials are all there is. Which is of course, naturally the case, since almost all experts in this field are Chinese living in China, Taiwan or Hong Kong.
After I started teaching, I found many students having a genuine and intense interest and curiosity about Chinese music, its history, its background, its development, and its philosophy. Some of these students are working adults who like myself, are primarily english-educated. Many admit to not even being able to really understand a passage of Chinese they read even though everyone did go through Chinese language as one of the compulsory subjects in school. To take up a book on Chinese Music in Chinese and plow through it will be near impossible, no matter how great their interest may be. Other students are school-age youngsters who like myself years ago, do study Chinese, but when given a choice, will much rather pick up something in English to read. The effort it takes to digest Chinese text is far too great. I also get some students are are not ethnic Chinese. Some even learnt Chinese as a personal interest, but to read a book on Chinese music especially with all the technical terms, is definitely out of the question.
Besides the people learning a Chinese instrument, there are many others who do not know how to play any instruments but simply enjoy Chinese music. When I perform, I sometimes get audiences who told me after the performances, that they are very interested to know more about Chinese Music. These people come from all over the world, and many are not even Chinese.
As a result, I see a great need for more information about Chinese music in an English medium. I love writing and even more, I love music. The aim of this website is nothing more than a coming together of my passion, and my belief, that music belongs to everyone and should be part of everyone's life. I hope that this website will make Chinese music much more accessible to English readers, and through greater understanding, will come greater interest and love for this music.
