Cube Culture: Anson Sun

We've started to rehearse for Project After 6: Cube Culture, a brand new HKYAF x Swire Properties musical featuring professionals and residents from the Quarry Bay area! Let's see what our cast member Anson Sun says about Cube Culture! 

What is your profession?
I’m an engineer. A civil engineer to be specific. So I do lots of structural design and modelling.

How long have you been at this job for?
I moved to Hong Kong for this job and it has been more than three years since then. So that would be around November 2014. The first year of my job in Hong Kong I was working here in the Quarry Bay/ Tai Koo area. I lived and worked around this area, I used to live in Sai Wan Ho which is just down the MTR line. Everyday I used to take the tram to work which was lovely because it was so convenient and close. There was one year in the middle of my time here where I had to be on a construction site of my company, it was because of this that I had to move out to Sunny Bay which is where the site was. I then came back to Quarry Bay a year and a half ago once the year long assignment out in Sunny Bay was complete.

Do you have any special place in Tai Koo/ Quarry bay? Somewhere to wind down and/or relax?
Quarry Bay park. I don't think its really secret because so many people love it. It is special to me because the first year I arrived in Hong Kong I was thirty pounds heavier than I am now. I was a completely different person! Before I came to Hong Kong I was at University and developed quite a few bad habits, staying up late, eating trash. So after I moved here I started noticing that I was the biggest guy every where I went - the MTR, the lifts. I then decided I was going to change my lifestyle, that’s when I started running around Quarry Bay park. Sai Wan Ho was my starting point, all the way along the sea shore to North Point, back and forth. That first year really set the foundation of my exercise routine and my good eating habits. It’s great that Quarry Bay has so many healthy choices, like salads, when eating out. Hong Kong forced me to readjust my life and that’s how I managed to complete my first full marathon here, last year.

Have you always been interested in performing arts?
Performing has been very important in my life. I come from a traditional Chinese family, so education was really what was focused on by my parents. However, my Dad somehow got me to start playing the accordion. I then went on learning how to play for most of my primary school, and part of my secondary school years. So that was my part time creative hobby. Additionally I was a comedian, so I would do a lot of stand up comedies during all those school galas. I only started singing after high school. The reason being - I went through that really terrible phase which all guys have and that’s the vocal chord transition period. I had a really bad voice during that time. My parents would constantly tell me I had a voice like a duck! Everywhere I would go they were all “You sound like a duck”. After high school I moved to Shanghai, which was very important to me with regards to my singing and music, because I was never really exposed to a lot of music when I was in my home town, and we didn't really have access to all the modern music. So I only properly started listening to music when I was in high school. I had to catch up on all the musicians that had already come and gone. I found myself listening to Westlife, Avril Lavigne, Mariah Carey all at once. I also joined the choir and made lots of friends that have the same appreciation for music that I do.

Have you had any previous involvement with any performing arts projects?
No, this is my first one! I wasn't really aware of Project After 6 or even HKYAF for that matter until this year.

What drove you to audition for Cube Culture?
It’s quite a funny story actually. I have a manager in my company who is a rock singer and she is in a band that do both classic rock and heavy metal. I got to know her when we sang together at our company’s spring dinner. She then got an email from Swire, telling her about the upcoming musical auditions. She forwarded me the email suggesting that I go for it. At first I doubted whether or not I was good enough for it because I have never done anything like this before! But here I am!

What would you say is your favourite musical?
I would have to say it’s Les Miserables with out a doubt. I have musical soundtracks on my phone all the time. Currently I’m listening to Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen and Waitress.