| |
 |
The wish in a new century
|
Song Yingwen
FOUR ordinary citizens in Shenzhen, Luo Zhongyao and his daughter Luo Yi, Gu Yong and his wife Chang Qing, would probably name themselves the luckiest people in the world in the new century.
On January 1, 2001, the very first day of the 21st Century, a song written and composed by them entitled The Light of Peace is played and chorused by hundreds of people in the rising sun of the new century at the same time in three different places in China, which are Penglai in Shandong Province, Yandang Mountain in Zhejiang Province and Nan'ao Township in Shenzhen.
Meanwhile the same song, which has expressed a long cherished common wish of people around the world for peace and love, is on its way to Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, as a special gift from some ordinary Chinese people for the first anniversary of the International Peace Culture Year as well as the arrival of the new century.
Luo Zhongyao, writer of the words, claimed all these honours came as a result of his expectation.
“The idea of creating a song came as an impulse to do something to appeal to the whole world for peace," Luo said. The inspiration was sparkled by his daughter while the family was watching TV together at home during the spring festival of 2000.
“It was a time of festival joy and peace, but our hearts sank as the picture changed to people suffering from war: we saw desperate women crying for their lost families and hungry children in shabby clothes staring at the ruins in puzzle. When my daughter asked whether wars would continue in the new millennium, I could hardly find any answer. At that moment I felt an eager desire that I want to voice out: Let's stop fighting in this global village and give our children a world of eternal peace and love."
Being a peace lover who once served as the chairman of the first youth organization for peace in China, the Youth Association of the Red Cross Society of Sichuan Province, Luo found it easy to put his heart's desire in words. But it took him quite sometime to find a professional composer in Shenzhen who has a good background and rich experience, and the most important of all, the same passion for peace. When Gu Yong, a professor in the Art School of the Shenzhen University who had spent four years in Canada studying music, was introduced to him, he was more than delighted. The two families fit in easily with each other with this common goal of spreading the message of peace.
The same passion had drawn in the team another partner, Jane Gorden, a British professor teaching in Shenzhen University who was dedicated to make the song an international one by translating it into English. “The song has expressed a common desire and it should be introduced to people around the world." Jane's remark on the song when she heard it for the first time was such a great encouragement to the two families that they were determined to present it to the UN as an appeal for peace.
Time flied by as the parties devoted heart and soul to this meaningful job. They weighed every single word and studied every detail note despite of their heavy daily work. “It has become more than a song, but a hope for the future," Luo Zhongyao said.
More and more people were involved in fulfilling their dream to express this hope. Singers offered to sing the song free, recording studios were offered for use free of charge and government encouraged them to present the song in public. And last night the song was mailed to the UN secretary general as had been planned.
But there are regrets. The CD sample they have sent to the UN was in Chinese. Though the song has been translated into English, the group couldn't find the right singers to present it in English. “We set a high standard in producing the song for we dream one day it could be as popular as We Are the World Michel that Jackson had produced," both the writer and the composer stated. The group are now in search of volunteer singers as well as financial support for further production. “We know that there are a lot of difficulties ahead of us, but we are determined to go ahead," Gu and Luo said.
They also fell regretful that Jane, who had left China for Britain earlier this year, couldn't experience all the honours and excitement they have received and gone through in the past few days. “She had devoted so much to the song. How we wish she were here with us," they said.
|
|
|
|
