SINGAPORE, April 29 — “There is a dark side to me!” said Karen Mok with a laugh as we chatted during our interview at St Regis Hotel in Singapore. We were talking about how she can be so strong, independent and bubbly in person, but yet sound so wistful when she sings, particularly in ballads such as “Ta Bu Ai Wo” (He Does Not Love Me), which is my favourite tune by the singer.
Over the years, I must have listened to that song hundreds of times and serenaded my lucky friends at karaoke sessions. Even though many singers have performed their own iterations at various singing competitions and variety shows, Mok’s original is the only one that can make one feel sad, weepy and lonely — and for no darn good reason, too.
Mok, who was in town for the recent Star Awards and to promote her latest album Departures, explained: “I was born a sunshine girl, and I love to have fun. But of course, there must be a dark side. I don’t wallow in sadness or self-pity, even when I have to go through a bad patch. I try to put that away somewhere, do my crying and get it over and done with. Then I move on and life moves on,” the singer-actress continued in her crisp British accent.
“But I am glad that I do what I do for a living and can unleash all my emotions into my work. Otherwise, I think I would go crazy. I can live out all these different lives in these characters I play or songs that I sing.”
This is perhaps why the Hong Kong singer-actress admitted, quite unabashedly, that she is a workaholic. Mok doesn’t only enjoy her work, she also lives and breathes every moment. The 44-year-old has worked almost non-stop over the past 22 years in the entertainment business since she released her first album, Karen, back in 1993. Mok has also collected an assortment of awards and nominations for her acting roles in movies such as “God of Cookery”, “Fallen Angels” and “Tempting Heart”. She most recently starred in Keanu Reeves’ “Man of Tai Chi” (2013) and Leste Chen’s “The Great Hypnotist” (2014).
“I just love to work,” said Mok, who will embark on her next World Tour in the latter half of the year. She has scheduled stops in Taiwan and China, but wants to also include Singapore in her itinerary, too. “It really isn’t like work for me. It’s my hobby, my passion. I am just constantly thinking about things I could do as part of my work or come up with ideas to collaborate with people... it never ends.”
However, the singer did say that her marriage to high-school sweetheart, German-born Johannes Natterer, has changed her attitude towards her career. “I think, now, I feel very much at ease. I’ve always loved performing on stage, but in the past, I felt like I had to prove something, like I had to do this really ‘wow’ thing on stage.
“But now, I feel I just want to live in the moment — just take it all in and love it — and not feel like I have to sing this song in a certain way or do this dance in a certain way, so (the audience) will be very impressed with my talent. I think it’s got to do with being married and moving on to the next stage in life. I am more relaxed now.”
Mok is also making adjustments to her way of life to make more room for her husband of four years. While she used to insist on filling up every free block of time in her schedule with work, these days, Mok tries to plan her life so she gets to spend some time with her husband.
“I am a gypsy,” she quipped, adding that she slept best on a plane because of the “constant hum” and “a little bit of turbulence”. “Actually, when I stay put in one place for too long, I feel a bit uneasy. That is when I feel, ‘Something is not right, I should be on the move now.’
“I don’t even know where home is, to be honest, especially now. In theory, my home is in London because that is where (my husband and I) have our home together. But then, I grew up in Hong Kong, though I don’t feel it is home any more because I don’t even have my own place (there). But that doesn’t really bother me — I quite enjoy living out of a suitcase.”
Mok said she had learnt to slow down enough to go on a three-month vacation around the world with her husband, although she couldn’t help replying to the occasional work-related e-mail during the trip. But that excursion also ended up being work-related somewhat: She eventually held an exhibition in Beijing of her travel photos.
“I’ve never taken time off to go back to school, take a course or have a baby. Some people work for a long time, but they take breaks here and there, just by doing something completely different. But I have basically been doing the same thing non-stop, because I’ve loved it,” she said. “But now that we are married, we should try to find time to spend with each other. That is the big challenge.”
Now, Mok is already thinking about her next great adventure. Perhaps, like singing and acting, travelling offers her the opportunity to step into someone else’s shoes and to examine her thoughts and emotions. “(My husband and I) were joking about it, like, ‘Oh, we should make it an annual thing!’ But of course, you cannot take three months off every year! You might as well retire, right?”
She added: “But we definitely enjoy going to places we have never been, to experience new things. I think that is part of life and I really like to get out of my comfort zone every now and then. I think it makes you grow.” — Today
