The Original Disrupter

He’s blazed a trail through fashion, theatre and soon, film, but one talent that has underscored his entire career is music. Dick Lee takes us through his multifaceted career, starting where it all began, and gives us his view on how Singapore can develop its own cultural identity in the next 50 years.

- Lorraine Robert

I REALISED WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG THAT I NEEDED TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT BEING SINGAPOREAN THROUGH MY MUSIC. THE ONLY THING I COULD GRASP, THAT WAS LITERAL, WAS SINGLISH AND I USED THAT IN MY MUSIC WHEN I WAS 17. I WROTE FRIED RICE PARADISE AND THIS GOT ME MY FIRST ALBUM DEAL. HOWEVER, WHEN IT WAS RELEASED IN THE ALBUM LIFE STORY IN 1974, IT WAS BANNED BECAUSE OF ITS USE OF SINGLISH.

Years later, when I was studying fashion design in the UK, I sent my demo to Warner/ Chappell Music, the biggest music publishing company at the time, and they liked it. But they told me that being Asian was the most interesting thing about me and asked why it wasn’t reflected in my music. That’s when I realised that if I stayed, I would have compared myself to the Western world. So I returned to Singapore in 1982 and continued my music and fashion career based on trying to build a Singaporean identity. That same year, I launched Singapore’s first fashion week called Singapore Apparel under my events company Runway Productions. It was renamed Style Singapore and later, Fashion Connections, which I produced until 1989. I also created and produced shows for the Society of Designing Arts from 1984 to 1986, and opened Hemispheres, Singapore’s first young designer “market” in 1986—these were all part of my efforts to build a Singapore brand. As we had no traditional culture, pop culture was the best way that we could evolve.