"I believe my life has a purpose, as I know I was created by God," Christian singer G.E.M. said in an interview.
Christian artist Gloria Tang Tsz-Kei, known as G.E.M., became famous at a young age. She released her first musical EP at the age of 17, with which she won the 2008 'Chik Chak Ultimate Song Award' for fresh female singer on the Hong Kong Popular Music Chart. At the age of 24, she participated in the second quarter of "I'm a Singer" in mainland China, to win the runner-up position at the finals.
Interviewed by City News on December 19, 2015, she said, "So every time I ask myself about the meaning of singing or why I am on the stage, I immediately find the answer, no matter how lost I feel or how confused I am about what to do."
Though being the focus of attention of people and media, she could only choose to silently endure the external doubts.
"I think in my career as a singer, one of the most difficult things is to face public opinion. How to face it, in fact, really depends on how you look at yourself. If you know your value, you will not let others’ words affect your road ahead," she added.
"The song 'Heartbeat' was written on Easter when I was facing one of the biggest pressures of public opinion in my life. At that time, there were 80,000 comments on Weibo (a Twitter-like platform). Many people quarreled, including my fans and those who hated me, and I was so scared that I even downloaded my Weibo blog for 7 days."
When she went out to face the audience and the media every day, she still reamined very happy and lively. "But whenever I came back home alone, there was a big contrast. I tried many methods, including the mediums, but they did not help me. Finally, the one thing that gave me hope was my faith."
"I felt very shocked when I watched the movie 'The Passion of the Christ', in which Jesus was misunderstood, charged, almost whipped to death, and still had to carry the cross. It suddenly occurred to me that Jesus suffered so much that what happened to me was nothing. So I felt I had a new life with courage."
Therefore, she wrote an excerpt of the scriptures into her song, "The old has gone, and the new has come".
"'Forgetting what is behind, striving towards what is ahead and pressing on towards the goal.' These verses teach me not only to forget past successes but also failures, so we can forgive ourselves in order to cherish the next moment and do another good thing."
- Translated by Abigail Wu
