A little taste of Taiwan
I had just completed my Army training in June, 2006, and was ready for my career, until the unimaginable happened – my father passed away. What made it worst was that it wasn’t a natural death – he had committed suicide. It happened suddenly in August. You would think the last thing I would do was leave my family behind.
September, 2006
Shaun and I arrived here in Taiwan. It was my first time in Taiwan, and also marked an official start for me.
My father’s death brought me down to my knees, but I think it also skyrocketed some part of me.
It is true – pain makes you grow. It gave me strength. Never have I wanted more to be heard, to make money for my family, and most of all – to make him proud. Will you forgive me, father?
I haven’t recovered. I’m deeply wounded and there will be scars. I am relying on my own mix of morphine – relieving pain by moving forth, busying, occupying myself, running. I have escapist tendancies.
I arrived and joined Shen Yi Entertainment. I had a good time knowing the people in the office, the new boys who would form a new boy band around.
During the next two months, I produced four new songs, and the company loved them. Their acknowledgment really kept me going, as I was still affected by my loss from time to time.
Unfortunately, I was soon informed to return home because of visa and perhaps, Dawn. Gossips, rumour, you know the drill. It really affects things in the entertainment field. She was introduced to this company by me, and they were interested in grooming her as well. We got together well, and it became a problem to the company.
I learnt a lot from this trip – lifestyle, healthy & unhealthy foods, music tastes, and most of all, people of Taiwan.
It wasn’t long before I got news that my manager had left the company due to some problems. I foresaw that coming. Shaun asked,
“Do you want to stay behind? You might be the next one to cut an album.”
He believed in me, although it took him quite some time, he still brought me here to Taiwan, and if I should cut an album, I want him to benefit from it.
Thus, I was back to square one – I left with Shaun, without a company, back in Singapore and waiting.
The whole experience was like a little taste of the forbidden fruit, like a little prank, bringing you closer to heaven, then dropping you down again.
However, I was sure it happened for a reason, for better things to come. At least, I tasted Taiwan.
Sweet 17
I was a free-lance model, and my agent then, Weng, asked what my interests were, almost as if he was planning something.
“Music.”
I replied instantly. I grew up in a family, where music was one of the ways we communicated, surprisingly. You might be painting in your mind – piano lessons, good schools, tuxedos, and western food. Nah.
It was all but that, I picked up my early music influences from my mother’s Chinese operas, my brother’s love songs he wrote on the guitar, my sister’s karaoke sessions, and mostly from my sessions at church. Music in church has always been memorable – I even sang at church when I was a kid!
Coming back, Weng helped me arrange for a voice test with this guy, Christopher, and gave me his name card. I brought the card home and told my sister about it, she said,
“Go for it!”
And so I did. Christopher met me the next day.
At the studio, he passed me the guitar and told me to sing a song. I sang 2 lines, and strummed 2 chords, before he said stop – almost like what they have been doing recently on American Idol clones on TVs these days – when some poor fella sings unbearably. He told me to return the next day, Yong Bang would be around.
“Was I that bad?”
I thought to myself and headed home, pretty confused. My sister suggested that I find out for myself, simply by returning tomorrow.
And return I did. I met Yong Bang, and upon our first meeting, he wanted to sign me as an artist, to act on idol dramas. I didn’t know how to react to that – firstly, I hated being a model, it was too superficial for me, and now, to act on idol dramas? Kind of along the same lines.
Thank God, Christopher appeared again. He opened and stuck his head through the door to the room we were having a meeting in,
“Have you heard him sing? Or his CD?”
Yes. I had a CD of 1 song demo I did using my brother’s Yamaha keyboard.
Yong Bang heard it and his eyes lit up literally, almost immediately, he turned to me and went,
“A composer artist contract.”
So that’s how it started. I never wanted to be a singer, but by the family I had, the environment I grew up in, the development of my music-making hobby, and eventually a chanced meeting, I got a contract within 3 days from the question,
“What are you interested in?”
I got my answer, maybe we can all start from there.
