Tian Mi Mi

"Tian Mi Mi" (; literally "very sweet") is a 1979 Mandarin Chinese song by Teresa Teng. The lyrics were written by Zhuang Nu. The music was adapted from a 1940s gambang kromong about sampan boats called "Dayung Sampan" by the pasindhèn Dasimah. The film Tian mi mi (Comrades: Almost a Love Story) is named after and features the Teresa Teng song. Recording and versions In 1978, while on tour in Southeast Asia, Teng produced an Indonesian-language cover of "Dayung Sampan", a popular song in Indonesia and Singapore. In 1979, she was arrested in Japan and deported to British Hong Kong for using an Indonesian passport, which Japan found had been obtained from the Indonesian embassy in Hong Kong under suspicious circumstances. Fearing punishment in Taiwan, which was under an autocratic government at the time, for using an Indonesian passport, unable to return to Japan, and unable to stay permanently in Hong Kong, she went to the United States and became a student at the University of Southern California. To fulfill her contractual obligation, she composed a Chinese cover of "Dayung Sampan" while studying, which became Tian mi mi. Zhuang Nu (莊奴, 1922–2016), a Taiwanese songwriter, wrote the lyrics in roughly five minutes after being told he was writing for Teresa Teng. Although the song is indelibly associated with Teresa Teng, it has been recorded by many artists.