Andy 60s Music Blog: 朋友 [Pang Yau: Friend of Mine] Alan Tam Wing Lun [譚詠麟]

People. We meet them along the way as we go through life. Some of them become our pang yau or friends while others just pass us by. Here are some old and new friends I met when I retired totally from singing after Covid in 2019.  These pictures are not in any order. Check us out...

Lyrics of a pop song you all know. What I do when free. Wandering around to check out friends and strangers. Know the song title? And singer?

Meeting a bespectacled Chinese Santa in front of a well-known Chinese painting. Do you know this place? It's not too cold actually but for me it was.

The late Mustafa Al-Johari, a respected singer musician I met at a concert. He became a friend but lived in New Zealand. Mustafa passed away not too long ago. Goodbye my friend. May you Rest In Peace. Condolences to his Family.

Ahh! The wandering singing ambassador Jimmy Yap, with former 'Dukes' drummer Clarence Perera and his friend for a chat before Christmas 2025.

It was orchids galore with the expert himself, Mr. Johnny Yeo, at the Botanical Gardens. Johnny, good friend and a serious orchid enthusiast was on fun duty. Besides being an orchid lover, he also plays the Chinese erhu, the ukulele and is a cycling enthusiast.

While visiting the National Library lately, meeting four buskers who were off duty. They had a great time listening to the pianist. But no singing, says the security guard on duty. A visitor, took pictures.

On 15th May 2025 Amanda, guitarist, and Dorothy, leader of a group of young ladies from Yuying Secondary School Guitar Emsemble Alumni, staged a memorable performance at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital Atrium. A huge crowd awaited.

Mr Bob Salleh and Mr.Ali were in charge of the acoustics that day. And what a fine job they did. Not an easy task with the public, patients and a big audience milling around them to watch what they do. I became friends with them too. Thanks Bob and Ali.

And here's the Concordia Guitar Ensemble about to go into their guitar play and rendering songs for the Hospital crowd and passers-by. The group was founded in 2019. Thank you, ladies. You all made my day. These 3 pictures and other ones will be posted as a full article soon. So watch out for it.

朋友 (Pang Yau - Friend of Mine) - Alan Tam Wing Lun (譚詠麟) YouTube Video by: EmperorTam.

The Music Section at the main library, Middle Road. It's only one part of a huge collection of books about songs and their singers. There's Clapton, Parton and Springsteen. With Beatles book of their lyrics. Notice others? Books are my great friends too!

An interesting moment, meeting Mr. Chee Soon Juan at a Supermarket. He was rather busy as usual but this time shopping for groceries. No chat but he was kind enough to spare me time for the picture. 

Pianist Sammin Ang is a good friend and a versatile musician; one who plays quite a number of instruments. His wife, Esther is a singer who can croon in English and Chinese. They appear at many concerts and entertainment venues.

This friend sends me coffee greetings each morning. A well-known Elvis Tribute Artiste, Jimmy PresLee owns many Elvis-oriented pantsuits when he appears on stage. Uh-huh-hah! 

And the good friend Jimmy [top left] who's everywhere gave Rediffusion DJ Larry Lai [with cap] and me a big birthday treat on November 25th. Thank you so much, Jimmy. It was extremely delicious food of local delights, including Larry's kong bah pow. He swallowed three huge ones. We had two birthday cakes and as usual Larry got the bigger piece. 🤣 And here's where I met many new friends.

Mr. Christopher Nathan, that's the man! Check him out and help him out. He's always at the Toa Payoh Hub near the NTUC that is opposite the Value Dollar Store. He sings well and does songs by Freddy Mercury. Hope to meet you again my friend. 

Lovely lines from a 60's hit. Do you know the title? It's there for you... This is one of my favourite numbers. Do you know the singer?

Here's a cutie pie you'd love to be with. Friendly and loving you can cuddle this giant for as long as you like. He won't object. You should see him tumble on the lawn he's actually admiring... and he sleeps in an air-conditioned room. As Ronald Ho says on the Comment Page below, this beautiful animal could be a Samoyed from Siberia. 

In psychedelic colours, here's a Disc Jockey [DJ] at work. Psychedelic is one of the most popularly used words in the 1960's.

My favourite lines as a Senior. Not many years to go but you still get people you know trying to knock you off sometimes. Sad! Do you know the title and the group that sings it?

Can you name this song and singers?

Thank you for reading up to here. Last one, a beautiful decoration piece creatively done for a Christmas dinner table. 

Have a great 2026 everyone. Hope to meet more friends along the way... It's only January.