#LivingFreedom

#FamiLim Amplifies Message of a Freer World Through Music

“Lumikha Tayo ng Mundo” is a song about the injustices in society such as discrimination, violence, censorship, and corruption, but takes a hopeful tone as it urges the listeners to persist in creating a freer world together.  

“It is our love letter to this generation and the generations to come,” said Vince and Gold Lim, who composed and sang the song. “We cannot stop at nothing. What we cannot find, we create. And not alone but together.” 

The original composition was the winning entry of the power couple, both artist-teachers with the Philippine Educational Theater Association, for the Living Freedom Songwriting Contest—Manila leg last September 2020. 

Vince and Gold Lim advanced to the regional level competition which will be held in February 2021. They will co-write a freedom song with four other artists in the region. Watch their performance video here: 

The regional program, organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, inspires artists from the Southeast Asian region to creatively express themselves through music and to spread the message of greater hope for freedom and democracy especially in times of crises. 

“We wish to convey the message that freedom will never fail to pull us through and by striking a chord, we would be able to generate a beautiful harmony that always errs on the side of freedom,” said Wolfgang Heinze, the country head of FNF Philippines.

The contest was held simultaneously in five different countries namely, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. In Manila, a hybrid concert was conducted at the FNF Philippines office in Makati City. All performances were pre-recorded but the top five artists (out of 38 entries nationwide) came to the FNF office to talk about their compositions and witness the announcement of the winning song.

Daughter as inspiration

In an online interview, the #FAMILIM, as Vince and Gold call their duo, was asked for their take on freedom. For Vince, it is being able to let oneself express freely while for Gold, it is fearlessness and fairness. Both have been doing music for a long time now, an integral part of their lives as individuals and as a married couple. 

“Music has always been a big part of our family, and though the pandemic gave us a lot of headaches and uneasy moments, we’ve always found comfort in music,” Vince said.

When asked about their inspiration and creative process, the couple talked about a unique layer to their music composition formula. “Vince is the melody guy. I am the lyric girl. It has always been like that. But this one is a little bit special because I was inspired by my daughter, Cara,” said Gold.

Cara is the funny, free-spirit four-year-old daughter of the Lims. The duo related how she effectively channels her energy to letters and artworks. They want their daughter to continue being creative, enabled by a caring environment. 

However, with all the negativity in the world, they couldn’t help but be concerned as parents. “What if the energy and creativity are doused by all the chaos of this world?" Gold asked. 

This dilemma became the couple’s motivation to write a song about “creating that world” of freedom, courage and unity.