When a Singer Preaches

I remember seeing the award-winning Chinese singer-songwriter, Eric Moo Kai-yin ( 巫启贤) (inset) sing in a concert in Taiping. That was many many years ago when the singer was still dashing and one of the top ten Malaysian Chinese singers. Then, there was always a question of who actually Eric Moo was. On one hand, friends were telling me that he was a Malaysian and some other people would be telling me that the singer had claimed that he was a Singaporean. It was however a fact that Eric was born in Malaysia - in Kampar, Perak to be exact. Today, the singer resides in Taiwan and probably would call himself a Taiwanese. In a recent concert in Singapore's Suntec City, some fans felt cheated and wanted a refund when Eric merely sang two of his popular songs. He had sung more Christian songs and preached Christianity instead. It reminds me of a born-again Christian lady school teacher who preached Christianity in her class full of Buddhist students. Christians see it as their duty to preach their religion and often in Malaysia, born-again Christians preach with much fervor to Buddhist children at the slightest opportunity. Buddhists probably do not have so much zeal and conviction in spreading the Dhamma even to their children, do they?