Rather than loneliness and unpleasantness, we all hope to be popular. Having outstanding looks, perfect figure, eloquence, or talent seems to be able to enter the ranks of “idol”, so many people constantly demand themselves to become perfect, slowly carrying many tangible and intangible, large and small burdens: material, financial burdens; family, love, social burdens; academic performance, work performance burdens; even image, reputation burdens… added to ourselves, in order to enhance security and self-esteem levels, make us confident, and gain recognition and welcome from others. Especially in the entertainment industry, it is difficult to survive without a bit of “idol baggage” and “image engineering” to continue to be loved by the audience.
However, there are too many burdens in life, not only weighing people down, but also hindering progress.
In SuperGirls, Heidi Li Ching-yee, who is used to relying on others, has transitioned from being one of five to developing herself as an individual, facing challenges along the way. In the past, she could rely on her group members to handle things she wasn’t good at, but now she needs to face them head-on. This process may expose her shortcomings and flaws to others, but Heidi chooses to believe in “Be True To Yourself” and continue moving forward. How will staying true to herself make Heidi think about growth and embrace a better, more authentic self? Let her personally kick off the exploration of BTTY personal style for everyone.
「做組合是很容易依賴。」
After parting ways with some of the SuperGirls sisters, Heidi admitted, “The most uncomfortable thing now is that we can no longer complement each other.” In the past, within SuperGirls, the members emphasized division of labor, not just in terms of lead vocals and dancers, but also in the roles of members offstage: the captain acted as a leader, coordinating interactions and communication among members; members with lively personalities were responsible for creating atmosphere and bringing the group’s image to life. In this safe harbor, Heidi felt that she was not good at expressing herself, so she often delegated the responsibility of external communication to the other members. Outside of the stage, Heidi admitted that she sometimes wished to hide behind her fellow members, even saying, “When visiting radio stations for interviews, I often avoid speaking and leave it to them to handle.”
However, starting again as an individual, without the protection of SuperGirls, Heidi now has to make decisions, supervise, deal with, and even bear everything on her own. Describing herself as a “typical Pisces,” she has sensitive nerves and a straightforward personality, enjoying living in her own little world. Because she is often seen as difficult to approach by the outside world, she gives off a somewhat distant impression. Although she doesn’t intentionally isolate herself, Heidi admits that she often shows a serious side to the outside world, “maybe I have some concerns, or it’s a kind of self-protection consciousness, always thinking that speaking less naturally leads to fewer mistakes.”
To protect herself from harm, Heidi became more and more cautious in her words, and this serious side slowly became an invisible burden that prevented her from seeing her true self clearly.
“Learn to enjoy loneliness and embrace solitude.” In the process of being alone, it is inevitable to feel lonely, but she can only silently accept it. Heidi, who describes herself as having a very genuine personality, chooses “Be True To Yourself” (B.T.T.Y) as the starting point for personal development, emphasizing the concept of “being true to oneself.” Through various creations, she attempts to share the importance of this concept and uses it as an opportunity to reexamine her past ways of handling things.
「B.T.T.Y 算是我入行以來的一個小總結。」
Dubbed by netizens as the “Heidi BB” goddess, despite having a charming face, Heidi rarely encounters personal development opportunities. Instead, she hopes to focus more on “personal” than “development,” simply put, like a chance for everyone, including herself, to truly get to know the real Heidi Lee.
“Be True” is Heidi’s first solo single, with the song clearly conveying the B.T.T.Y theme. The lyrics repeatedly emphasize “unconventional thoughts, Be True Be True, a unique style, being the best version of myself.” Heidi hopes to encourage girls to be true to themselves through this song: “As long as everyone is true to their true thoughts, be themselves, they will have a confident side.”
As for this concept, behind it are countless experiences: “When I was young, I would always force myself to fit into this circle, agreeing to many things that I was not willing to do or that made me unhappy. At that time, my mindset was purely to quickly integrate into this environment.” No matter which community you live in, the most direct way to gain identity recognition from that community is undoubtedly to integrate into it. After putting in a lot of effort, Heidi finally developed this habit. However, as time passed day by day, the matured Heidi realized a valuable lesson, “Actually, many things cannot be forced, because even if you try your best to please the other party, the other party may not even consider it important.”
“However, this is a stage that everyone must go through,” Heidi admitted that if it weren’t for these experiences, she would never have realized the importance of being true to herself. Now, she holds a belief that when she finds the right way to interact with herself, not only will her mood become brighter, but more importantly, the harvest of growth will also become abundant. “So, being true to oneself is really important,” Heidi emphasized once again.
But being true to oneself, how easy is it?
「我曾經聽人説過 Heidi 真是很真實，真實得會令人不喜歡。」
“Especially my appearance, whenever I stay silent, it always makes people feel very cool and unfriendly.” Heidi has never denied these personal impressions from the outside world, and even openly admits that this has always been a projection from within. At that moment, she simply didn’t feel like talking, and the feedback she received was: “Heidi is really authentic. Maybe being authentic can make people not like you.” With a sarcastic tone, Heidi reflects constantly, wondering whether showing her true self is good or bad?
“I am just too real. This is both my advantage and my disadvantage.”
She understands that the entertainment industry is not like any other business, where all aspects revolve around different people. No matter how much status and experience you have, you can’t completely center everything around yourself. “In fact, it’s really difficult to practice (being true to yourself) in this circle,” Heidi softly expressed.
Yes, but if we look at it from another perspective, all advantages and disadvantages are actually neutral, it depends on how you use them. For example, the negative aspect of being “too real” is “only focusing on oneself”, which will of course hinder your communication and interaction with people in this circle and on different levels, thereby affecting your career; but if you can still “be yourself” in a hypocritical world, perhaps you can gain greater spiritual freedom than wearing the mask of a “fake person”.
Heidi later added that the key to being true to oneself should lie in finding a balance, rather than adopting an extreme attitude towards life. “In fact, I should speak more, so in the future I will remind myself to speak more and smile more.”
To truly be loyal to oneself, one must first experience what it means to be disloyal to oneself.
“Being true to oneself” has always been a difficult lesson to learn. To honestly face oneself, acknowledge one’s imperfections, and dare to show true feelings in front of others, revealing one’s insecurities and vulnerabilities. How many people can actually achieve this? The emergence of “Be True To Yourself” has deeply made Heidi feel the bumps of growing up in this circle alone, as if readjusting to this circle, even slowly realizing the consequences of going against the flow. However, it is precisely because of the struggles, the conflicts, the experiences of loneliness and being lost, that make the B.T.T.Y project more meaningful and interesting. The days of flying solo will be the true beginning of Heidi’s growth in this circle, which will inevitably involve confusion and a lack of security. Perhaps with more time, she can explore more within the theme of “being true to oneself” and continue to write more chapters for B.T.T.Y in the future.
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Producer: Vicky Wai
Photography: @issaclam_
Videography: @wootwootvisual
Styling: Vicky Wai
Make Up: Melody Chiu
Hair: Terrance Chan @HAiR Salon
Video Editor: @wootwootvisual
Editor: Carson Lin
Design: Tanna Cheng
Assistant: Mandy Kan
Wardrobe: @ysl
