Hong Kong had long been a British colony. Western cultural influences started early and seeped into people’s daily life as early as the 1920s.
Cultural influences from the West took an upward turn in the 1950s, firstly through films. During the time when Wong Jum-sum grew up, the number of Western films on show every year was never less than 200. The West was also prominent in radio broadcast. Thanks to the work of progressive radio show hosts like Aileen Woods and Uncle Ray, a whole generation came to be exposed to all styles and genres of Western pop music. They helped to nurture a world where one could embrace simultaneously the diverse sound and sentiments of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Benny Goodman. A new collective outlook was thus embodied in the skin and bone of the baby boomer generation.
Composer: Chen Gexin 陳歌辛
Lyricist: Wilfred Thomas
Vocalist: Frankie Laine
Rose, Rose I love you with an aching heart
What is your future, now we have to part?
Standing on the jetty as the steamer moves away
Flower of Malaya, I cannot stay
Mei Kwei, oh, Mei Kwei for my Eastern Rose
Men crowd in dozens everywhere she goes
In her rickshaw on the street or in a cabaret
"Please Mei Kwei for Rose," you can hear them say
All my life I shall remember
Oriental music and you in my arms
Perfumed flowers in your tresses
Lotus-scented breezes and swaying palms
Rose, Rose I love you with your almond eyes
Fragrant and slender 'neath tropical sky
I must cross the seas again and never see you more
Way back to my home on a distant shore
(All my life I shall remember)
(Oriental music and you in my arms)
(Perfumed flowers in your tresses)
(Lotus-scented breezes and swaying palms)
Rose, Rose I leave you, my ship is in the bay
Kiss me farewell now, there's nothin' to say
East is East and West is West, our worlds are far apart
I must leave you now but I leave my heart
Rose, Rose I love you with an aching heart
What is your future, now we have to part?
Standing on the jetty as the steamer moves away
Flower of Malaya, I cannot stay
(Rose, Rose I love you, I cannot stay)
