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Sun, Jun 07, 2009
The Straits Times
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Stella Chang to sing for charity
by Jocelyn Lee

Fans of veteran Taiwanese singer Stella Chang will have a rare opportunity to see her perform this Sunday.

Her appearance on the live fund-raising television programme TrueHearts 2009 may also be the last time fans will get to see her perform.

The 43-year-old is perfectly happy with her life as a wife and mother of two sons and says she has no plans to return to showbiz anytime soon.

Speaking to Life! in Mandarin over the phone from Hong Kong, the cheery artiste who has been singing since the 1980s, says: 'I've played the role of a good singer for the past 20 years and now, it is time for me to move on to my next stage in life - playing the role of a wonderful mother and wife.'

The singer, who retired from the entertainment scene when she married Hong Kong-based investment banking executive Sung Hsueh-jen in 2005, adds: 'My sons, who are four and two, will grow up very quickly, and I want to spend more time with them.'

The powerhouse act says she does not miss her singing days: 'Many people had approached me and asked me to cut an album or stage a concert soon, but I really don't think so because that would require too much of my time and effort and I simply cannot afford that now.'

With more than 30 albums released in the past two decades, Chang was a sales chart topper in Singapore and the region, selling over 13 million copies of her albums worldwide. This earned her the famous nickname of 'Dong Fang Bu Bai' of the music industry. The phrase means 'The Invincible East', a tribute to her star power.

The mention of her nickname triggers some great memories as she laughs: 'I was very lucky to have very loyal fans who would buy my CDs to show their support for me. It is difficult to find such fans now.'

The songstress feels blessed to have had a full career, she says, as times have changed and it is not easy to maintain a long-lasting career in showbiz now.

She notes: 'The trend now is that singers rise and fall from stardom very quickly. Newcomers must accept the fact that they may be substituted and that it is not their fault. They should instead give it their best shot while they are at it.'

For this same reason, she says she will not encourage her sons to follow in her showbiz footsteps. She adds that she will let them choose their career paths themselves and guide them along.

She says she will sing about three songs for her appearance on Sunday. She has not decided on the songlist but hints that they will be familiar classics.

Having not been here for close to six years, she wants to tell her fans this: 'I have not seen all of you for so long and I really miss you. I look forward to catching up with you when I am in Singapore.'

  • Catch TrueHearts Live on Sunday at 7pm on Channel 8.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

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