Leo Ku claims to live life in the slow lane, but the singer and sometime cartoonist has been busy with his latest album, “Guitar Fever.” Funny, seeing as he can’t play the instrument himself. He talks to June Ng about his rise to fame and why he would rather just be forgotten.

I’m a slow-paced person. I talk slow, I walk slow. This is my secret to keeping young. If you rush around all the time, your cells die faster.

Hong Kong is a fast-paced city, but I find my slowness balances out my hectic surroundings.

My brain runs fast, though. It keeps coming up with new ideas, probably because I don’t like being bored. All my recent albums have a concept behind them. The latest one is about guitars.

I didn’t play the guitar on the album. I don’t even know how to! I learned to play a song many years ago for a live performance, but I’ve completely forgotten how by now.

I don’t regret that I didn’t learn guitar as a kid. I have another talent—drawing. You can’t have it all.

I once dreamed of becoming a cartoonist. But that was just a childhood dream. When I was 19, I enrolled in TVB’s artist training course after encouragement from some friends. That’s how I started in show business. A bit of a cliché, really. 

I wasn’t the confident type. I was a bit chubby and was never admired by the girls—you know, they only like the jocks. I was Mr. Nice Guy who helped them draw cards during Christmas and New Year.

I was quite lucky to host an entertainment show when I first graduated from TVB.

I was really nervous at first, but I had the opportunity to interview lots of big stars.

I was recruited to be a singer at TVB. They would ask their artists to sing, then voila!

I was a singer. The funny thing is, becoming a singer actually helped me fulfill my other childhood dream.

I published a comic book in 2003. I created it during SARS, when everyone had to stay at home. I had nothing else to do so I just kept drawing. I think my celebrity status helped it become a success.

When you’re feeling low, talk to people. Friends, family, people who are close to you. They might not be able to help in a practical way, but you can still vent your emotions.

Never try to conceal your sorrow. It only does you harm.

I have been in a lot of mainland Chinese drama series playing Don Juan types. But in real life I don’t think I’m that romantic.

Well, I can be romantic sometimes. I drew sketches for my girlfriends, and once I sang to my girlfriend on a beach over the course of a whole night. It was really exhausting, but it made a good memory.

I believe that there is a love that can last forever. My parents are a good example. I don’t think people are more promiscuous now. There have been people like this throughout history.

If you ask me who I’d like to take out for dinner, I’d say my parents—I haven’t seen them in months.

I like keeping old things. I don’t like throwing stuff away. Everything is a piece of me.

When I retire, I don’t want people to remember me. Times will change, and we should let the old things stay in their era. It’s not like you’ll miss black-and-white TVs when you’ve got high-definition.

If you truly believe, your dreams can come true. People should just enjoy life instead of burning themselves out.