Thanks to the introduction of high-tech, I was able to watch on TV as Cai Qin and Fei Yuqing - both from Taiwan - crooned old, nostalgic tunes from the 1930s, exercising an indescribable fascination over me.

The lilting, lyrical and sometimes sentimental tunes were so captivating that I was made to recall the days when I was merely a kid bathing in the tenderness of parental care, when Eastern culture was clashing with its Western counterpart and when we laid more emphasis on moral integrity than personal gain.

In sharp contrast with present-day pop singers who, attired in quaint clothing and decked out in worthless bric-a-brac, twist, spin and jump on stage while belting out fragments of a song, Cai and Fei impressed me with their easy manners, rhythmic gait, properly-cut costumes and decent ornamentation.

The audiences are also of a different stock. There are those who shout themselves hoarse when confronting their idols, often frantically waving short fluorescent sticks, while other more sedate spectators respond with enthusiastic applause, occasionally breaking into a chorus that resonates with the singers on stage.

Given that music is a reflection of the times, I can't help asking what the popularity enjoyed by today's pop singers hints at. It runs all the more counter to artistic taste, considering that the wording of most of the pop songs is abstruse and illogical, sometimes peppered with a few disconnected English words. Neither is the music inspiring; very often it gives the impression of being screwy, weird and psychologically morbid.

As for the pop singers themselves, I opine that, perhaps driven by an urge to rake in a big fortune, most take their performances as an opportunity to engage in publicity stunts, hence the fierce competition between them to seize on every offer to sell themselves to the highest bidder.

Art in the form of pop songs has been downgraded to the lowest possible point.

So is it also true that our ability to appreciate and make a perceptive assessment has also degenerated?

Yes and no. Young people in general have not mentally matured enough to differentiate between what is art and what is not. I once saw a young girl from the audience land a smooch on the cheek of a stoutly-built male singer, whose singing was notoriously out of tune. I believe that the kiss was more for his appearance than his vocal chords.

Apart from this, there surely have been voices of disagreement with regard to the trend of pop songs, which have been smothered and drowned in the cataclysm of the news media.

With the emergence of Cai Qin and Fei Yuqing, a ray of light has penetrated through the frenzy of a stage hitherto dominated by the so-called avant-garde artists, alias "pop singers".

Hopefully the ray of light will grow and expand and ultimately usher in all-powerful sunlight splashing on the whole of the stage.

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