One of Sarah Chen's most mysterious releases is Lunar New Year Special. Issued by EMI in 1985/1986, it contains ten traditional holiday songs and was originally marketed only in Singapore and Malaysia. 

The circumstances behind Lunar New Year Special remain unclear, though it may have been produced as a stopgap release. The album arrived during a transitional period in Chen's career. Her long-time producer, Tan Jian-Chang, had just left EMI, and the label was ending its partnership with Four-Oceans in Taiwan without yet securing another local partner. With only ten tracks and poor sound quality, the album could not compete with other holiday albums at the time. Warner Music Singapore reissued it in 2012, adding two tracks with markedly better sound quality (Four-Season Flowers and New Year Happiness). Chen largely stayed away from traditional songs until Sarah's Taiwanese Songs (1992), making Lunar New Year Special her only holiday album. 

This album also highlights the contrast between Sarah Chen and Teresa Teng. Chen recorded three songs that Teng had previously sung: Congratulations to Everyone, Congratulations, and Ten-Thousand Years of Prosperity. Heard side by side, their styles are notably different. New Year with Teresa Teng is bright and chirpy - pure joy, like drinking from a pitcher of lemonade. New Year with Sarah Chen is warm congratulations, celebration with a little reflection, like sipping old wine. Sarah's music may not be for everyone, but for those addicted to her, there's no putting her down. 

陈淑桦最神秘的专辑之一是《贺年》专辑，由百代唱片在1985年末/1986年初在新加坡和马来西亚推出。这张专辑制作背景不明，但它也许起到了暂时稳定陈淑桦产量的作用。

这张唱片发行于陈淑桦职业遭遇危机的时候。那时谭健常刚离开百代，同时百代终止了四海唱片在台湾的代理，但还没有找到新的代理商。《贺年》由郑江中制作，最初只有十首歌，伴奏粗糙，比不上别的新年专辑的数量和质量。2012年新加坡华纳唱片重新发行了这张专辑，并添加了两首音质更好的歌（「四季花开」和「新年喜洋洋」）。在此之后，陈淑桦只录制过一张传统歌曲专辑，即1992年的《淑桦的台湾歌》。这张贺年专辑是她唯一的节庆专辑。

这张专辑也显出陈淑桦和邓丽君的不同。专辑里有三首歌是她俩都演唱过的：「大家恭喜」，「恭喜恭喜」，和「万年红」。摆在一起，她俩的风格明显不同。邓丽君的新年歌欢快轻松，跟喝一杯柠檬汁一样清新爽快。陈淑桦的新年歌是温暖的祝福，庆祝中带着一丝反思，像饮陈年老酒一样，得慢慢品尝。陈淑桦的音乐虽不是所有的人都喜欢，但一旦你爱上了她的歌，你可真放不下她的作品。

Four-Season Flowers is a 1940s folk song. It describes a young woman's first love as she invites her beloved to four seasonal activities, ending with a Lunar New Year's family visit. It is a popular song covered by many artists, adaptable to drastically different styles. Sarah Chen's rendition, a later addition to her New Year album, was likely recorded when she was in her early 20s, judging by how young she sounds. 

Before encountering Chen's version, I had known this song for years, but nothing prepared me for the punch her version landed. No, she wasn't being dramatic - quite the opposite. Unlike many more dramatized versions, Chen sings normally and quietly, repeating the tune almost mechanically four times. Yet this minimalistic style, where the singer nearly disappears, best captures the song's essence: a love song from someone who wants to both show and hide her feelings. You can hear shyness beside boldness, reluctance beside eagerness, and pleading beside tenderness. 

Much of that comes through in how Chen shifts the stress around "Little Ge-Ge" (young man), creating a repeated pattern of irregularity to which the listener's brain can't quite adapt. Weeks on repeat, I still can't imitate it. 

As Sarah Chen disappears into the performance, she brings the best out of the song, revealing an emotional landscape that was once unimaginable.

「四季花开」是一首四十年代的民歌，描述一个年轻女子的初恋：她在歌中邀请恋人和她一起参加四个季节的活动，最后一段是春节去拜年。这么多年来，许多歌手和合唱团都演唱过这首歌，风格各异。陈淑桦的版本是后来另外添加到《贺年》专辑里的，录制时间不明。但从她的歌声中听起来，也许歌曲是在二十岁出头录制的。

在接触陈淑桦版本前，我对这首歌已经非常熟悉，却完全没有意料到她的版本带来的冲击力。不，她的版本乍听没什么特色。恰恰相反，和许多更炫耀的版本相比，陈淑桦的演唱平淡无奇，她静悄悄地把曲调重复了四遍。而正是这种不宣扬的演唱方式，当歌手从歌中消失时，你才听出这首歌的精髓：年轻女子既要显示又想隐藏她的爱意。从陈淑桦的版本里，你可以同时听到羞涩和大胆，回避和期盼，恳求和温柔。

这些复杂的情感部分来自陈淑桦对「小哥哥」音节重音的转移，造成既重复又变化的模式，使得听众的大脑不能完全捕捉重点到底在哪里。我循环播放了这首歌上百遍，还是没学会她的唱法。

当陈淑桦消失在她的演唱中时，她衬托出了歌中最美的意境，一个我曾经无法想象的感情境界。

The heroes of Project Restoration are long-time fans of Sarah Chen who, in Chen's 30-year absence, have kept memories and documents about her. The 1986 Malaysia Concert is at the center of this project; without it, we simply would not have gained access to contemporaneous materials that are central to documenting Sarah Chen's career and legacy.

I first "met" C.Y. on the Sarah Chen Memory Gate YouTube channel, when we covered Chen's long-lost song "Tossing Copper Coins," a song performed live at the 1986 Lunar New Year's Malaysia Concert. C.Y. left a comment about her experience at the concert, recalling how Sarah Chen and her mother had warmly received them backstage. She even knew the exact dates and title of the concert, had taken photos of the event, and had preserved hundreds of magazine clippings. The revelation was stunning: suddenly, we had an eyewitness to Sarah Chen's rare concert, and even more than that, to her character. 

When I first started writing about Sarah Chen, I relied on online sources. Some were interviews, but many were fragments, distorted memories, and rehashed old stories. I thought that was all there was, as the possibility of finding old magazines before the digital era felt minuscule. And gaining the trust of long-time Sarah Chen fans seemed even less likely: as a newcomer and outsider without any credentials, I expected to be judged with reservation. 

But the shared love for Sarah Chen's music brought us together, and the shared goal of restoring her legacy overcame any suspicion. I am so grateful for the Malaysia concert that opened a brand-new, more truthful memory gate toward Chen's career than the one I started.

When Sarah Chen promised at the concert that she would never forget her Malaysia fans, she probably didn't expect them to return her kindness after so many years. But you reap what you sow. And when Chen sowed love, humanity, and kindness, love and kindness grow.  

To be added

春节祝福

Feb 2026, SCM Gatekeeper

Acknowledgements