Michael Kwan

Michael Kwan Ching-kit is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer previously with the Philips label (the brand Polygram was not adopted until later in Hong Kong), and later with EMI. His back catalogue (1986–1988) continues to be published by Universal Music Group. He retired his music career in 1988 and now works as an architect in Seattle, United States, with his wife and son.

Biography

Kwan was born in 1949 in British Hong Kong. He attended St. Paul's Co-educational College and graduated in 1969. He was admitted in the University of Hong Kong in the same year and later graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Architecture. Kwan practiced architecture full-time after graduation and founded his practice in 1983. His wife is also an architect.

Due to his amateur status as a singer, he was never eligible to be awarded lifetime achievement awards despite having sung 78 theme songs for Hong Kong television dramas such as '' Reincarnated'' (1978). Before the 1970s, he was an English folk song singer for the Swinging Minstrels. He also declined to accept the Golden Needle Award in 1993 due to him being out of the spotlight for so long. The award was not awarded at all that year. He did receive an equivalent of Meritorious Service Medal from the Queen in 1985 for services to Cantopop.

In 1986, Kwan joined EMI (Hong Kong) and his first album was the EP "The Revelation of the Clam". Due to his positive and healthy image, Kwan Ching-kit was invited to sing many charity songs, such as "A Little Candlelight" (the song selected for the 1981 Hong Kong International Year of the Disabled), "A Voice" (the theme song for the 1985 Hong Kong District Council Election), and "Ignite the Fire" (the theme song for the 1985 International Youth Year). The song " Revelation of the Clam" (the theme song of the 1986 International Information Year and the publicity song of the Committee on Civic Education) was sung by Lowell Lo and Albert Au, and is considered by many to be his comeback work and a representative public welfare song written by lyricist Richard Lam for the government: it cleverly uses metaphors to visualize political messages and reduce the sense of preaching. In the same year, Kwan Ching Kit released the album "Revelation", returning to the image and singing style of PolyGram's later years. Unfortunately, the album received a lukewarm response from the market, and Kwan remained absent from major music award ceremonies.

Retirement from music

After releasing his last album "One Autumn" in 1988, Kwan continued to participate in some music activities. In 1989/90, he sang three TV theme songs (not recorded in any album), including the TVB TV series "Sharks in the Sea", the Macau TV series "Policewoman 90" and the Hong Kong and Taiwan children's drama "Berlin Weekly". He officially retired from the music scene on December 31, 1989 after attending the New Year's Eve program "Together for the Creation of 90". Before leaving the music scene, he neither gave any notice nor held a farewell concert.

Over the years, many people in the media and music industry, such as Joseph Koo, Simon Ngai, Yip Gang-kau, etc., have tried to invite Michael Kwan Ching-kit to make a comeback or be a guest performer, but they were all rejected.

References

1949 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong male singers
Hong Kong architects
Place of birth missing (living people)
Alumni of St. Paul's Co-educational College
Architects from Seattle

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