Lea Salonga. Image: screengrab from YouTube/Gold House
A teary-eyed Lea Salonga looked back on some of the highlights of her career after she was given the Gold Legend Honor at the Gold Gala last May in the United States.
The actress-singer received the recognition “for a lifetime of indelible contributions to the success and representation of the Asian Pacific community.” A video of Salonga’s acceptance speech was shared last Aug. 19 on the YouTube channel of Gold House, the non-profit organization behind the Gold Gala.
Salonga began by expressing her gratitude to the organization for “amplifying Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) voice and uniting the community,” and went on to recall having “the great privilege” of being the singing voice of Disney’s Princess Jasmine and Mulan.
She then regarded being part of “Mulan” as “one of the most fulfilling moments of [her] professional career,” describing its titular character as “an Asian female hero for girls and women of all ages to look up to.”
“[Mulan] embodied so much good and I was proud to be a small part of that legacy,” Salonga said.
“We are so blessed to be living in a time when Hollywood and beyond is embracing AAPI stories and characters,” she continued. “But even with that, do we have a lot of work to do? Oh, absolutely, we do.”
Speaking about the “violence and hatred” toward members of the AAPI community, the singer lamented, “It’s disappointing and disheartening, but we can’t let that get us down.”
“Quite the opposite, we need to get up, continue to amplify our voices and our stories, and make sure those people, stories, accomplishments—all of it—is infinitely louder than the hate,” she urged.
To conclude her speech, Salonga declared, “I am filled with boundless hope that we all can do it together. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for this honor and I will treasure this incredible night always.”
Aside from Salonga, also among the attendees at the event were Filipino-American celebrities Liza Soberano, Bella Poarch, Geena Rocero and Patrick Starrr. /ra