Tropicana The Musical Tan Kheng Hua Connected Friends

No need to review production. The people on duty already drew the crowd: Beatrice Chia (director), Lim Yu Beng, Karen Tan, writer Haresh Sharma, etc, etc.

With a great cast like that and the reverberations of new compositions and lyrics about the 60's, it's already a big success.

What Tropicana The Musical is all about.

UP TO  2,100 VIEWS

    10 COMMENTS      

My post is just about how one lady, with her magic, SMSed us and...

Friends connected during the performances of Tropicana The Musical at the Capitol Cinema. It all started with award winning best actress of the year 2017  and producer of the show, Tan Kheng Hua inviting a few music people and others who lived those years, for a sit-in at the commencement of the production to discuss 60's music and the Tropicana nightclub.

Then surprise, surprise, she invited us to the show.

Pictures on the night of 15th April, 2017.

With 2017 award winning actress, Tan Kheng Hua, with Andy Young, George Chew (The Burns lead guitarist) before Tropicana the Musical performance at the Capitol Theatre.

With George Chew, Andy Young, Larry Lai, Rediffusion DJ and wife Selina, and the maestro himself, musician drummer, singer, Louis Soliano during the buffet dinner.

Andy with Kheng Hua, Anthony AhKim, international hairstylist, Ms Ann King, a former Miss Singapore 80's, at Corpthone King Hotel.  This gathering was a tea-break for new friends way before the performances at the Capitol.

And with Vernon Cornelius, frontman of The Quests, who still looks as youthful.

The pre-production meeting of Tropicana with Andy Young

AhKim Anthony, Larry Lai and The Straydogs and Jimmy Appudurai-chua.

The show itself, was a totally Singapore experience, and one of the best local musicals I've seen these last two years.

Thanks to Kheng Hua for the invitation.

The night ended with George Chew and I rushing to the Conrad Hotel, Singapore to watch 60's band, The Silver Strings perform their last 5 or 6 songs. Pix is a side view.

Images: Andy Young Collection.

House Of Rising Sun, Endless Love 不了情 Says Hair Stylist

                     

Here's the final Part 2 about Ah Kim's Journey and his love for 60's music:

Between 1984 - 2000 Ah Kim had 3 small saloons all located in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia and it was only in the year 2000 that he managed to buy a small property of his own which housed both a saloon and a hair-styling school.

Before he started on this 'Long and Winding Road' he had 3 simple dreams.

1. To own a nice house 

2. To drive a beautiful car 

3. To learn how to swim. 

Believe it or not, he failed in the simplest of all 3 dreams. It was only after his return to Singapore in 2102 that he managed to stand on water.

Today Ah Kim spends much his time innovating  and creating different hair styles for international hair shows. In his own words, "I am not a commercial hair stylist; I am a fashion hair stylist."

He was the finalist for the Alternative Hair Award in 2014 and 2016 in London and was one of the 16 finalists to be selected out of 900 hairdressers in the world. Ah Kim was the only Singaporean to be in the finals and for the record, the only Singaporean in the finals in the last 30 years. 

Hopefully at this renowned event Singaporeans will stand up with pride that among the world's best in coiffure and in this tiny Red Dot City we call Singapore we have in our midst a non-celebrated, giant.  

Cheers to Ah Kim and we wish him all the best for his next show in Singapore and the next big hair fashion competition in London in 2017.

Andy Lim with Ah Kim:

During Andy's interview with Ah Kim, he was kind enough to provide the former with a copy of his book, AHKIM (image) where beautiful and creatively coiffured hair styles of his work were presented in vivid images. 

Besides the glossy photographs, the publication has insights about Ah Kim from his teachers, friends and experts in the industry and a foreword from retired newsman Yeo Toon Joo, Peter.

When asked about his free time, he said he loved listening to Rediffusion in the 1960's. Here's a paragraph from his book where his Gan Eng Seng School classmate, Raymond Chong reminisced:

Our friendship continued to grow throughout our working life. Together with our friends in Chinatown, we used to visit the cinemas and spend time at cafes. Those were the usual activities of youth then. We also listened to Rediffusion and radio programmes, together making requests and dedicating songs to each other. 

  His Publication: AHKIM Copyright 2012. Designer: Eranga Tennekoon.

Urged on about his love for 60's music Ah Kim  revealed his love for the Beatles, The Animals, Simon and Garfunkel and the Rolling Stones with their hits: I Want to Hold Your Hand, A Hard Day's Night, House of the Rising Sun, The Sound of Silence and As Tears Go By.

His favourite singers are Marianne Faithful, Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley. He loves local singers like Huang Qing Yuan, Sakura and his favourite Rita Chao. The Chinese songs are *Endless Love, Wine and Coffee, Flowing Water, Manli, Night and Fog and Peach Blossom River. 

*(不了情, 美酒加咖啡, 水長流, 曼莉, 黃清元, 尤雅, 潘秀瓊).

When he visited a nightclub during his early years and they were rare, he would go with his friends to the Golden Million Club at Peninsula Hotel in Singapore. His friends would usually treat him for the evening. Ah Kim remembers and would return the treat when he had the opportunity in later years. 

He appreciates the vitality and style of Vidal Sassoon and the mini-skirt when it was in fashion, loved the short Bob Cut and Classic Bob hair style, together with the unique Asymmetrical and the Geometric hair cut. 

        Andy Lim (Blogger), Ah Kim and Larry Lai (60's DJ).

During the interview with Andy he revealed he would love to meet Larry Lai, Rediffusion 60's DJ. 

Andy told him, "Surely," arranged a meeting and above is a snap of the three.

Wish hard enough but work harder and dreams will morph into reality. All the best Ah Kim in your unending journey. You've made it, but there's more...

Click below to read Part 1.

http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.sg/2017/01/long-and-winding-road-fashionhair.html

Images and Article:

A Private Collection; Book AHKIM and Art of Hair Inter Coiffure.
Copyrights Reserved.

Long n Winding Road International Hair Stylist Ah Kim P 1

Part One:

Laurence Lim, a former teacher and a member of the 60's band The Trebles writes about his primary school student who has achieved stardom in the international arena of fashion hairstyling. 

As music lovers we are familiar with the tune and lyrics of this Beatles classic, The Long and Winding Road. But today on this blog we will portray a little known celebrity named Ah Kim Anthony Tan  whose Long and Winding Road to stardom and world acclamation will bring some to tears.

Ah Kim is a four time winner in the internationally recognized Avant Garde Hair Fashion Show held annually in Australia and Europe. His latest win being at an Avant Garde Hair Fashion Competition held in Australia in October, 2016.

                                     Ah Kim (left) and Laurence Lim

After having won so many awards in such highly prestigious events, little wonder why Ah Kim is still relatively unknown in this part of the world, especially Singapore? 

He came from a humble home. He lived in a crowded house with his parents and siblings in Havelock Road, a rather undeveloped part of Singapore in the early 60's and 70's. He studied at Park Road School, right in the heart of Chinatown. 

It was in this school that I had the privilege to be his form teacher. Our education system during the 60's and 70's was such that besides the class having its own form teacher there were others who would teach different subjects.

Ah Kim was not an outstanding student academically. He was polite and well mannered. But he had a fair share of scoldings too. But boys are boys as we adults always perceive. As mentioned he was not academically inclined and he had to repeat his Primary 6 PSLE examination.

He made it on his second try and got promoted to secondary level. But due to some financial setbacks and not being able to buy school text books, he was disadvantaged academically. He had to wait weeks to borrow text books, which at that time was a feature in our education system.

All these setbacks contributed to Ah Kim's perception that education was not the only avenue for someone to survive and to succeed in life. So he took the easier way out and quit school after completing Secondary Three.

The wild and windy night
That the rain washed away
Has left a pool of tears
Crying for the day
Why leave me standing here
Let me know the way...

Having no direction in life, with no money and any form of financial assistance from anyone, he took up a job in a hotel with a meager salary of S$90 per month.

"That was good enough," Ah Kim said. While working at the then Mandarin Hotel he met many guests who were  mainly foreigners. It was at this hotel that he befriended a kind Indonesian soul who asked him what he really wanted to do in life after noticing  that he was not  enjoying his work. He  told this gentleman named Mr Yap, an Indonesian, that he actually would like to pursue a course in hairstyling.

As luck had it, Mr Yap agreed to sponsor and also provide him with a monthly allowance to take up a hair styling course at the well known Vidal Sassoon in London.

Vidal Sassoon, London, England.

Ah Kim spent a year in London and returned to Singapore in 1979. Upon his return he worked in four different saloons to gain  working experience as well as some pocket money. Upon his return he personally he felt that he was still not good enough and graded himself 5 out of 10. 

After managing to save some money Ah Kim decided to venture further to achieve his lifelong dream of becoming, The Best Among The Best. But there was no way that he could  fulfill his dream if he had  continued to live and work in Singapore.

In 1983 with a return air ticket and with only $50/ in his wallet Ah Kim flew off to Australia. There he met a Lebanese by the name of Victor who had a small saloon in Sydney.  Upon knowing that Ah Kim is a hair stylist he offered Ah Kim a job in his saloon. 

Their friendship remains intact  to this day. Ah Kim stayed and worked in Australia from 1983 and became an  Australian PR in 1986 which was a prerequisite, according to Australian immigration laws for anyone wanting to live and set up businesses. 

Part 2 continues when he meets Andy and reveals his invitingly glamorous publication, a book of his creations and people who honour him. 

The circle is complete when he talks to Andy about his love for Singapore 60's music.

Click to watch:

http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.sg/2017/01/ah-kim-anthony-tan-hair-stylist-sydney.html

Images from Book, Google and A Private Collection.

Article by Laurence Lim - Copyrights Reserved.

       GEORGE MICHAEL: 'LONG AND WINDING ROAD': VIDEO by ODAIR FENDANDEZ

Songwriters: LENNON, JOHN / MCCARTNEY, PAUL

The Long And Winding Road lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC