At the crossroads of love and hatred, one cannot escape fate in this world. Should one draw near during a blind date? Or should I believe it’s fate… The theme song “What Love Is About in a Lifetime” from Stephen Chow’s movie “A Chinese Odyssey” has been widely sung to this day. The composer and singer of this song, Low Kar Tang, now 74 years old, cannot write his own name, yet he has penned the melody in the hearts of a generation.
Low Kar Tang, renowned as the “genius of the music industry,” a composer, singer, and film score composer, will be holding a concert titled “What Love Is About in a Lifetime” at the Hong Kong Coliseum on June 21st to 22nd. He will also be performing a new song “Walking with Me” in collaboration with his wife, marking a conclusion to a musical love story spanning four decades. In an interview, he described this concert as possibly the last grand concert of his life on the stage of the Coliseum.
In 2024, ViuTV awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” to Low Kar Tang. On stage, he said, “Usually when people receive this lifetime achievement award, they think it’s time to retire, but I tell everyone, ‘My music, my life,’ is just beginning.”
Born in 1950, Low Kar Tang has an unusual background. His father, Low Hoi Tin, was a key figure in the Cantonese opera world, enjoying great success on stage but rarely mentioning family matters. From a young age, Low Kar Tang did not know who his birth mother was, only knowing that his father had married eight wives. No matter how much he asked, his father remained tight-lipped.
Despite coming from a family of opera performers, he was not steered towards the stage to carry on the family legacy. When his father transitioned to the film industry when he was in his teens, he was sent to study in the United States. During his years of studying abroad, his relationship with his stepmother, Tan Sau Chun, was tense, and he even chose to leave home at the age of thirteen due to conflicts. However, the real agony for him was not family disputes but the difficulty in overcoming his learning disability, which he found hard to talk about.
“I have a learning disability, can’t write. Even my own name I can’t write, picking up a pen, my hand hurts,” Low Kar Tang candidly admitted in an interview. Even standing on stage years later, picking up a pen was still a heavy burden in his heart.
Nevertheless, fate always finds a way to bring hope through the cracks. During his studies in the United States, the class required reciting poems. He had a moment of inspiration and proposed to the teacher, “Can we turn the poem into a song to sing?” This proposal unexpectedly received applause from the entire class, and his self-created songs went on tour in three classes. He first felt that music was the bridge for him to communicate with the world, the “only way” for him to survive.
Despite being a “second-generation star,” his father’s status as a Cantonese opera star did not provide substantial assistance on his music journey. After graduating from a music school in the United States, he sang in bars to make a living, singing English songs for eight years, eventually winning the championship at the “American Songwriting Contest” in 1977. Seeing a glimmer of hope in his career, he was unable to secure a record deal even after five years.
Unwilling to give up, he tried his luck in Japan and Hong Kong for competitions, but returned empty-handed. Finally, he gained recognition from Warner Music and was on the verge of signing a contract, only to find that it was the “Golden Age of Cantonese Songs” in Hong Kong then, with the local music scene only interested in the popular middle-aged emotional songs like “Knight of Gambler,” and no one cared for English songs. As a result, after signing for five years, not a single record was released. In such circumstances, could he still persist?
The most important person in Low Kar Tang’s life is his wife, Tang Suk Ching. Their romantic story from courtship to marriage is unforgettable.
Before becoming famous, Low Kar Tang worked as a resident singer to make a living. At that time, he was dating Tang Suk Ching, who was working as a manager at the Hyatt Hotel. Due to the company’s strict rule of “employees of different ranks cannot dine together,” their relationship was discovered by the boss, leading to Low Kar Tang being fired on the spot. Incensed, he stormed into the boss’s office, overturning files and items on the table. As a result, he not only lost his job but also faced a ban from all high-end hotels in Hong Kong.
With no other choice, he turned to performing at nightclubs, accepting various song challenges amidst the colorful lights and wine, effortlessly singing popular songs, old songs, and Cantonese songs. This period of obscurity, however, honed his skills in singing Cantonese songs and stage adaptability.
Through peaks and valleys in life, Tang Suk Ching never left his side, accompanying Low Kar Tang through thick and thin. In 1983, they tied the knot, and that same year marked a turning point in his life.
At that time, he composed the music for “Heavenly Bird,” hoping it would be sung by George Lam. Unexpectedly, this piece brought a turning point in his life—a senior executive from a record company was greatly impressed upon hearing it and decided to sign him as a singer under the company, preparing for his debut album.
However, just before the album’s release, writing lyrics became another challenge. He originally intended to invite the experienced lyricist Cheng Kwok Kong to write the lyrics, but the fee was 800 Hong Kong dollars, and he and his newly-married wife Tang Suk Ching only had 780 dollars left, unable to afford the lyricist’s fee.
In desperation, he had a sudden inspiration: “My wife used to love writing poetry when she was young. I bought her a book on writing lyrics for English songs and asked her to come and write the lyrics.” In this way, Tang Suk Ching penned down the touching lines: “Ah, I want to fly to the sky, ah, just like the heavenly bird soaring,” and the song “Heavenly Bird” was born. This song not only became one of Low Kar Tang’s representative works in his musical journey but also kicked off the golden collaboration of the “husband-and-wife duo.”
Interestingly, the stage name “Kar Tang” was also personally named by Tang Suk Ching. This profound friendship extended from their names to their works, capturing the most touching moments of their intertwined lives and music.
In 1984, Low Kar Tang held his first solo concert at the High Mountain Theater, officially stepping onto his own stage.
Notably, he collaborated again with his wife Tang Suk Ching to create a new song “Walking with Me,” as a sequel to “Walking with You” from forty years ago. This couple, who have walked hand in hand for over half a century, continue to collaborate and create music, epitomizing the most touching friendship in the world of music, already viewed collectively by many fans.
In 1985, Low Kar Tang reached a significant turning point in his music career. At that time, the rising young director Tsui Hark appreciated his talents and invited him to star in the film “He’s a Woman, She’s a Man,” also entrusting him with the task of scoring the film, initiating his dual role as an actor and composer, setting him on a relentless path of three professions.
Having experienced nightclub scenes, lows, and disappointments, Low Kar Tang released a series of popular songs such as “Wandering Singer,” “Scavenger,” and “Passerby.”
When it comes to composing film scores, his achievements are incredibly brilliant—he has composed music for over 140 films to date, including “God of Gamblers,” “The Killer,” “The Lucky Stars,” “Autumn’s Tale,” “Prison on Fire,” and even the theme music for the Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony.
The most talked-about achievement is that he completed the main melody of “God of Gamblers” in just ten minutes. Due to the tight deadline, he jokingly said, “As long as it sounds impressive, it’s fine!” This sudden talent for creativity made him a legendary figure in the Hong Kong film industry for his film scoring.
In 1995, Low Kar Tang composed “What Love Is About in a Lifetime” for Stephen Chow’s film “A Chinese Odyssey – Part Three.” This song can be considered another pinnacle in his career. When director Jeffrey Lau told him the story of the film about the “500-year love story without resolution,” he was deeply moved at that moment. On his flight back to Hong Kong, he had already almost composed the entire melody, and his wife Tang Suk Ching had also completed the lyrics in just two days.
This somewhat melancholic love song perfectly matched the love story of the characters Monkey King and Fairy Zixia who missed each other in a lifetime, even moving the director, prompting the addition of a last-minute key scene to the end of the film, transforming the film from pure comedy to a tear-jerking classic.
Low Kar Tang reminisced, “After the director heard this song, he immediately filmed the final scene. Originally, the whole movie was nonsensical and humorous, but because of this song, the ending became emotional and touching, making the entire film a classic.”
Although the initial response to “A Chinese Odyssey” was mediocre, “What Love Is About in a Lifetime” quickly went viral in the internet era, especially among university students in mainland China. Today, this song plays every day at noon in the Zhenbei Bao Film and Television City in Yinchuan, Ningxia, becoming a musical symbol commemorating this classic on-screen love story.
In recent years, Low Kar Tang was awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the ViuTV “CHILL CLUB Recommended Awards 24/25,” but he is unwilling to retire, joking that his life has just begun.
At 74 years old this year, he will hold two farewell concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum on June 21st to 22nd, humbly stating that he is “out of breath and strength,” and merely wishes to have a happy party with his fans. Apart from performing his classic signature works, he will also reinterpret songs he composed for other singers, including “Heaven Changes, Earth Changes, Love Remains the Same” by Jacky Cheung, “Where Are You?” by Leslie Cheung, and “A Friend Like You” by Roman Tam.
Low Kar Tang does not hide the fact that he suffers from a reading and writing disorder, but this obstacle has never stopped his life, rather guiding him to find his own path—telling stories with melodies and expressing emotions through music. For him, music is not just a profession but also his way of life. He not only sings his own story but also sings into the hearts of countless people.