KJ: Music and Life / 音樂人生

Life, as in music, can give you brightness and darkness, I guess. And more so, are these magnified if you are a musical genius like KJ, winning a Best Pianist prize and becoming a concert pianist, all at the tender age of 11. A documentary, or biography, containing footage and interviews with KJ, his family and friends, from when he was 11 to now, at 17. At times, it filled this audience with so much life, emotions and confusion, about music, art and mostly about life, that it goes beyond just being an average film.

It occurred to me to question: did being forced to go for competitions by his father, performing at such a young age, and his lost childhood spent on hours of practice, have such huge impact on his emotional development, that he was made into an arrogant, rebellious and egoistic young man (if I may say so)?

Yet, did his early musical education, somehow, gift him the mental capacity for profound thoughts about life, about humanity?

Or is he a genius born, and as such, has to bear the many burdens, the frustration of one, in his quest for perfection, or for what he really thinks is music? Then again, KJ thinks that anyone can be a good musician, with a good teacher, like he had in Ms Nancy Loo, at a young age. In either way, good for him, for without the failings, or music, KJ would not have known what he wants in life, would not have learnt, more than some of us, how to live, how to be "a human being". Like he said, he would not have any regret at his dying moment, because "I know what I am doing."

Music, or life, has given him much. I like the fact that he thinks in order to learn music, you must first learn to be a human being, to feel music, or as Ms Nancy Loo put it, to "internalize it".

It will be rather difficult to forget one interview at 11, where he chatted with his father about the meaningless of life, about how this world would be better if all the humans are gone (all these he started thinking at age 7, really!) and that he would not commit suicide as he just wanted to "live a little longer." And when asked if he was happy, his answer was affirmative.

At close to 17, KJ even attempted to answer what is music. And fumble he did, and demonstrated how life, like music, is impossible, or too complex, to define.

An excellent, excellent film.

KJ is now studying music in the US, and doing it not just for the sake of competition, I believe. He wrote this on the film's facebook:

"I don't believe in Heaven. Because I believe we are all living in Heaven already. We are just blindfolded by our immature human nature, too foolish to admit."

To KJ: All the best in your "truth-seeking".

P.S.: Walking out of the theatre, a man was telling his friend that KJ is one crazy dude, and I thought:"As egoistic as any other human being, otherwise sane." We think that we all have this thing called life, this art called living, all sorted out.