handmade journey
B ANYAN T REE
P HU K E T
Living in
harmony
W i th a na m e that ’ s a
h o m o p h o ne f o r g o o d
l u c k , Ch i ne s e s i n g er s o n g wr i ter H a o Y un i s
ha p p i e s t when he ’ s o n
s ta g e and i s m a k i n g the
m o s t o f h i s g o o d f o rtune
A B O V E : Always lively,
Phuket’s Old Town is especially
so during Chinese New
Year when it holds a street
festival to celebrate
r i g ht : Hao Yun was one of
the judges at Banyan Tree’s Got
Talent, a talent show in Phuket
to mark the company’s 20th
anniversary last year. He says
he was pleasantly surprised at
the amount of aptitude in the
company, with many employees
already performing to a
professional standard
U N D E R T H E B A N YA N T R E E
07/01 2015
I remember clearly when I decided I
wanted to be a musician. It was April
29, 2007. It was my first time on stage
as a singer-songwriter. That night, the
audience reaction made me want to
sing professionally. I wanted people to
know me — and my music.
My musical career started to take
off at the end of 2007, when I was
signed to Universal Music Group, the
largest record label in the world. From
a music producer, I suddenly became
a professional singer-songwriter.
Stepping into the spotlight was the
biggest turning point in my career.
I’ve been playing the guitar since I
was young, and it never failed to cheer
me up. I think everybody wants to do
something that makes them happy.
I play the guitar and bass. When I
was 13 years old, there was a boy who
was trying to score a date with my
sister and he’d play the guitar and sing
for her every day. But when he finally
got together with her, he stopped
singing altogether.
He left the guitar at my place
though, so I’d pick it up and play every
once in a while. So my musical start
was a happy coincidence. Having
a name that’s a homophone hasn’t
affected me much. But when Hao Yun
Beijing was released in 2008, some
people asked me if it was a stag