Wong Jum-sum loved music of all kinds, and had a particularly deep-seated passion for Western classical music.

In the 1950s, both Wong and classical music were finding their feet in Hong Kong society. The best they could do was to openly embrace the unknown.

To embrace the unknown, one needs support from all directions.

Thanks to Radio Hong Kong, Wong was able to listen to enticing music all day everyday, in that process learning to appreciate simultaneously the distinctive worlds of Shankar and Schubert.

Thanks to Leung Yat-chiu, he knew classical music held no special mystical aura. Whatever sounded good was good music.

Thanks to Wong Jum-sum himself, he learnt to read and absorb the principles and practices of making music, no matter whether they came from Bach or Beethoven.

Thanks to Hong Kong of the 1950s, he encountered a succession of visiting maestros, extending immensely his ideas about music and life.

Radio time

Radio was one of the major sources of music nutrients for Wong Jum-sum.

Hong Kong was a British colony. However the government-run radio stations were keener to play music than sell politics. In 1954, 65% of the air time of Radio Hong Kong English channel was occupied by music programs, with 20% being ‘serious music’.

Western classical music spearheaded the radio music programs, at a time when musical canons were less well defined, and rigid taste was frowned upon by most. On the radio, young persons like Wong could get access to a diverse world of classical music, no doubt aided by a thriving press that opened further doors by introducing classical music to a world thirsting for something new.