A Singaporean music arranger, producer, and composer thinks Dick Lee is chiefly engrossed with the latter’s own interests. And he shared his views in a post on Instagram. Who is George Leong?

On Facebook last night, music arranger and producer George Leong (梁伯君, Liang Bojun) shared a post that made the headlines the very next day. The Straits Times described the rather lengthy, six-paragraph message in its headline as an “emotional rant about music scene”. That in itself would not have been that newsworthy if not for the comments Mr Leong made about singer-songwriter/fashion designer Dick Lee. Reacting to Mr Lee’s comments on the said post, Mr Leong wrote, “I’m never going to work with you again. Self-centred….” The rejoinder, when we last checked, received 14 reactions, including likes. It is not understood why Mr Leong mentioned the composer of the pop-ballad-turned-National-Day-song Home. Or why Mr Lee saw it necessary to react to his one-time collaborator’s comments. When we spoke to some industry insiders, we received one standard reply: “Don’t know what happened.”

Mr Leong’s post began with what could be a taking-stock-of-the past-year lament. He began, oddly enough, rather upbeat, even welcoming the New Year: “Hello 2025”. And then he announced the one major thing he did to kick start the beginning of the next 12 months. “This year marks a turning point for me—a deliberate choice to close one of the most significant chapters of my life,” he wrote. “I’ve symbolized this by discarding the two most monumental records I’ve worked on: Sandy Lam’s Scars and Leslie Cheung’s 宠爱 (the LP chong ai or Beloved). These albums were iconic, selling over 3 million copies in 1994 and 1995. Yet, despite the passion I’ve poured into music and a portfolio boasting over 2,000 works and countless awards, I’ve come to realize these accomplishments mean little in the grand scheme of things.”

Despite the passion I’ve poured into music and a portfolio boasting over 2,000 works and countless awards, I’ve come to realize these accomplishments mean little in the grand scheme of things

George Leong

He then went on to express his disappointment with the music scene and pointed out that his “skills and decades of experience… are undervalued”. He deplored clients who would not remunerate him properly, even comparing the reward for his work to the wages at McDonald’s and admiring the fast food giant’s provision of “meals and uniforms”. He continued, saying, “It’s heartbreaking to see how little music is valued today.” And then, from nowhere, he pulled Mr Lee into his anguish: “Even Dick Lee, whose royalties from 追 (zhui, or Leslie Cheung’s Chase) could fill bank accounts for years, didn’t realize I was the arranger behind the version that made him millions. I had to remind him in 2016. To this day, he still plays Iskandar (Ismail)’s version, which is completely unsuited for such an emotional piece.”

Did Mr Leong feel slighted? He seemed to have taken a lot to heart and the grief has remained there. And it was a New Year let-it-all-out. In his reply, Mr Lee wrote: “You are a brilliant talented musician George and I’m proud to have worked with you and continue to do so. We all have a love hate relationship with music but please don’t deny that it is part of you, strongly in your DNA. I hope you continue to find the way to express yourself through music in some way and keep doing projects that mean something to you.” He did not say why he prefers to play Iskandar Ismail’s arrangement of Chase, and not Mr Leong’s; he did not assure the latter he was not snubbed.

George Leong in 2023. Photo: georgeleong/Facebook

George Leong was born in Singapore in 1970. Little is known about his younger years except that he went to Anglo Chinese School in Barker Road. His career in music began in the late ’80s, at the height of the 新谣 (xinyao or Singaporean Mando-pop with folksy overtones) movement that saw the popularity of singers such as 巫启贤 (Wu Qixian or Eric Moo) and 梁文福 (Liang Wenfu or Liang Wen Fook). But he really came to his own when he collaborated with Hong Kong stars, especially the late Leslie Cheung whose massive hit Chase from the 1995 album Beloved was considered Mr Leong’s finest arrangements. His use of strings in the track was frequently described as “innovative and impactful”, as he blended traditional orchestral instruments with synthesizer sounds. The arrangement provided a compelling soundscape for Leslie Cheung’s distinctive and powerful vocals and the song’s theme of melancholia and hope.

Two years before Chase, Mr Leong co-produced Dick Lee’s Year of the Monkey album. Back then, it did not appear that there was friction between the two men. Another of Mr Leong’s close collaborator is the now-rather-reclusive Mark Chan. Both fellows were known to try to forge a Singaporean pop sound that is different from Mr Lee’s. Mr Leong appears to want to leave collaborative work behind, saying that he now prefers to “devote his energy to my other passions, like fitness, which brings me genuine happiness and positivity”. In a second FB post roughly an hour after the first, he wrote about the possibility of penning his memoir. In it, “there will also be stories about singers who couldn’t sing to save their lives, where I had to tune every single note just to make them sound decent.” Who could he be referring to? The mind boggles.

Illustration: Just So