WEBVTT

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Today, we are so incredibly privileged to sit

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down with a true legend. A name synonymous with

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talent and artistry in Singapore. In our ongoing

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series, Tribute to SG Music Icons, we're turning

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the spotlight on a woman whose career spans decades

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and whose influence is felt not just on the stage,

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but in the hearts of a new generation of performers.

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She is a veteran singer, a masterful saxophonist.

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In fact, She's celebrated as Asia's first only

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female singer -sexophonist and a visionary behind

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Academy of Stars. She's an artist who believes

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music is a soothing balm and a mentor dedicated

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to helping young people stand out and be outstanding.

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From her days as a 1980s talent time icon to

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the groundbreaking work she's doing today, our

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guest is an innovator, an educator, and a constant

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source of inspiration. I fell on stage. But the

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music went on, the singing went on, we never

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missed a beat. And Xiao Chong and Belinda just

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looked at me and they went like that to me. And

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I went like that back to them. And nobody screamed,

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cried, stopped. You know, we just... And that

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was a memory. That was a memory the very first

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time as a band. And we knew that we just... Don't

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stop. And the music goes on. Before we begin

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the show, here is an important announcement.

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with Shure. Shop the Shure Shop Singapore now.

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AFCHENSON to get limited Shure merchandise with

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your purchases. Now, let's start the show. Hi,

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everybody. Welcome back to the Chris Hansen conversation.

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You've heard my introduction earlier on. I have

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her with me in studio. I have the one and the

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only Kwapo. Hello, Chris. Hey, KP. Thanks for

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coming here, man. Thanks for being in the studio.

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Thanks for having me. No, not at all. This is

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my tribute to you. Thank you. This is our series,

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a tribute to SG Music icons. And you cannot be

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forgotten. I refuse to allow that to happen.

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Oh, wow. Okay. That's great. It's good to be

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remembered. It's been a while. Yeah, it's been

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a long while. As a matter of fact, I'm going

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to make you feel so old. Because the last time

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I saw you perform was really eons ago. I think

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I told you this before. in this place called

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Where Else in Cane Hill? Well, it's so long ago

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that I can't even remember that I performed there.

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So, you know that I've been to so many clubs

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and venues and yeah, and some of them just like,

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some made deeper impressions and some unforgettable.

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Really? Where else was forgettable? No, no, actually

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it's not, but I somehow can't seem to. remember

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that part? Are you sure it's me? And you didn't

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get me mixed up with somebody else? 100 % it

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was you. Oh, okay. So it might be a guest appearance.

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I'm not sure. No, you know, you had this guy,

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this real good guitarist on your band. And in

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where else? I remember embedded into the walls,

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there's this little hollows that, you know, you

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can put displays. And this guy was standing inside

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that. Playing a guitar that's wireless. And he

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was playing. And then you came on right smack.

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You came up front with your saxophone. Okay,

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if it's a saxophone, it's me. That's right. That's

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why. That's only me. It's an indelible memory.

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I will not forget it. Yeah, okay. Yeah, it was

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definitely you for sure. Okay. Yeah. I think

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that I've been very blessed to be performing

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with many good. good musicians so yeah I guess

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I'm glad you had a good time yeah I did I mean

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I didn't forget that you know I mean you're the

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veteran singer the sexophonist and also a children's

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performing coach yeah voice coach and it's well

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that's the new me Well, I can't say new, it's

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been about 20 years. That long? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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I started the school 20 years ago. I'm definitely

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going to talk more about that later on. It's

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three quarters of today is going to be about

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that. Absolutely, my passion now. But before

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we go there, let's talk about you. Kuopo, the

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performer. Kuopo, the person that was on stage,

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you know, thrilling audiences. One feeling, one

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memory from your journey. in the performing arts

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that still give you goosebumps? Well, I was performing

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quite a bit in the venues and, you know, I started

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off with the Talent Time and that competition.

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Yeah. And after that, I did... received quite

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a bit of attention and I was performing in the

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clubs. And because I played the saxophone and

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that was my signature, being the only female

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singer saxophonist in the region, I was quite

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a staple in the club scene. And I think that

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we always look forward to the big Singapore shows

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like the National Day, the Singapore Orchard

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Road, Big Hoo -ha. Swing Singapore, you mean.

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Swing Singapore. And I remember there's one of

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me being in a cherry picker. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

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yeah. Were you? Yeah. Were you? Performing in

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a cherry picker. With a sex? With the sex. I

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can't remember with the sex or without the sex,

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but I was on the cherry picker. You know, I remember

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the cherry pickers, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And

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then there were some of the big national shows.

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And I realized that it's, I really enjoyed that

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so much. And to me, performing to 50 ,000 in

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a crowd is a lot like, I was really, I was not

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nervous. But when I performed to like a very

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small. group of diners and I was like oh my god

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so I rather the 50 ,000 than 5 people and I remember

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telling myself that I said oh my this is really

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strange you know and I felt the energy of the

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people so that was one performance that I remember

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and of course there were many others and most

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of them you know with great musicians like with

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Ricky Hose, Spencer Goh, Belinda Foo. We were

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at Atlantis. This was a club that was brand new

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and built. Mr. Dennis Foo. And Mr. Dennis Foo,

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my good buddy, Dennis Foo, of course. Oh, wait,

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since we're on that topic, I just filmed my season

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premiere a couple of days ago. With Dennis. Oh,

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really? Dennis and the owner of Mel's Place,

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a restaurant and bar. Rosie, Rosalind Brown.

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And I told Dennis, I said, guess what, Dennis?

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A couple of days time after this shoot, Corpo

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is coming to the studio. And he went, oh, please

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send her my best. So Dennis, I've done it. I

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just sent Corpo your best. I love you, Dennis.

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And he told me something interesting. What was

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that? Well, first of all, he spoke about Atlantis

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and of course, naturally, right? I didn't know

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you played Atlantis. You did, huh? Yeah, we're

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the first band. Oh! So we were actually formed

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for the Atlantis. So the jigsaw is coming together

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now for me. Ah, okay. So we were formed for the

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Atlantis. So we're called East Wiz. East Wiz,

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okay. And I don't know if you remember Xiao Chong.

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So he became the male frontliner with myself

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and Belinda. And I'll never remember our opening

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night because we opened at Peppermint Park because

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we were still, you know, in the works for Atlantis

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and it wasn't ready yet. And the very first opening,

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our debut performance, I fell on stage. But the

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music went on, the singing went on, we never

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missed a beat. And Xiao Chong and Belinda just...

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looked at me and they went like that to me and

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I went like that back to them and nobody screamed

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cried stopped you know we just and that was a

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memory that was a memory the very first time

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as a band and we knew that we just don't stop

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and the music goes on you improv we yeah no I

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mean we didn't need to improv we just carry on

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singing but we said I was on the floor yes the

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dancing was improv and I was like Sure. It's

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part of the act. Could you tell? Yeah. And it's

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called levels. You know, now I'm just letting

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you know that dance, there's levels. So we had

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levels. Yeah. And it was a fabulous time. I had

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top notch musicians, Singapore's musicians. And

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that was my very first time in the band. And

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I. remembered saying to myself well okay i sing

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but i need something more and that's when i asked

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spencer i said uh so shall i need to play an

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instrument can we work on that and that's when

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i picked up the saxophone and then um you mean

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you only just started picking up a saxophone

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then uh no i actually played in school but i

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wanted something to rap to kind of like be different

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I want to be different. And that's how it became

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pop. Your signature, basically. Yeah, signature.

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Right. And yeah, I was, I think that that was

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pretty, you know, momentous for me to take up

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the saxophone the first time and blow. And everybody

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was like, whoa, okay, you know, and it worked

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very well. So it was with that band in Peppermint

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Park when you started playing the sax. Yeah,

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yeah. Okay, my timeframe is a little bit like,

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but, Yeah, it was that. And I remember going

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to KL with the fly baits, with Bani Farooq, who

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was the late Bani Farooq, who was already passed.

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And I remember working with him on the ribs and

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all that. And, yeah. I did some Singapore Tourism

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Board, STPB, they called it at the time. To make

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your rounds at tours. Because I was playing the

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saxophone. So that actually helped me kind of

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like, you know, leave a mark in the industry.

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Well, you did. Yeah. Thanks. Bloody hell, definitely

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you did. I can tell you. And so being, you know,

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in that band and also have very, very good musicians,

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it kind of helped elevate. You know? my musicianship

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and playing and happening and going into Atlantis

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which at the time was brand new and the very

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first I think it was like a three million dollar

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club that was made by people from Disney or something

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yeah yeah the guy who designed Pirates of the

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Caribbean oh really that's what Dennis told me

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oh great so I remember the opening night so Belinda

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and I we came out it was the through the fire

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oh Shaka Khan wow Right? And then so we came

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out after the St. Elmo's Fire introduction by

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the band. Wow. And we came out and then we saw

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the ceiling. Right? Buzzy and I will remember

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this. And we both look at the ceiling like, whoa.

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So, of course, I sang and Belinda was singing

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the first verse, I think. And she was looking

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at the ceiling and she forgot to come in. And

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I was like, oi. What was it about the ceiling?

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It was beautiful. It's the way the lights went

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and there was some effect. I've never been to

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Atlantis to be fair. I snuck into Peppermint

00:12:18.789 --> 00:12:21.830
Park because it was in Parkway Parade and I was

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in St. Patrick's School. Naughty boy. Oh, yeah.

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And that story, I think my viewers know because

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I talk about it so often. I told Dennis, I revealed

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that because I didn't know until just a couple

00:12:35.820 --> 00:12:38.240
of days ago that he owned Tavern on the Square.

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Oh, okay. As well. And I snuck in there to watch

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Gingerbread play. And then I also, you know,

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there were tea dancers in Peppermint Park. Were

00:12:48.460 --> 00:12:52.200
there? Saturday afternoon. Yes, yes. So that

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one I didn't have to sneak in, not to be fair.

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It's okay for you. Are you trying to tell me

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you're way younger than I am? I am not going

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to say whether I'm, okay, I'm definitely younger,

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that's for sure, because you were already performing

00:13:07.149 --> 00:13:10.429
when I was in school. I'm 55, nothing to hide.

00:13:10.669 --> 00:13:14.149
I'll accept that. Yeah, okay. So Atlantis, and

00:13:14.149 --> 00:13:16.629
you play with Spencer Gohawk. Hey, Spencer, how

00:13:16.629 --> 00:13:18.909
you doing, man? Long time no bloody see. My brother.

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And what a guy. Anyway, so Atlantis was something

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else, huh? Yeah. Yeah, it was beautiful, beautiful,

00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:34.950
very classy. You can definitely know lots of

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money went in there. And we were the opening

00:13:37.690 --> 00:13:40.470
band, East Wiz. And then there were other bands

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that followed us. And they actually, the management

00:13:44.230 --> 00:13:47.210
brought in Andy Gibb and a lot of international

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guests. So I was, I have to say I'm very privileged

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to have experienced all that. Dennis did mention,

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he very humbly said that, no, I don't bring in

00:13:57.490 --> 00:13:59.730
the A -listers, I bring in the B -listers. And

00:13:59.730 --> 00:14:02.110
he mentioned air supply a couple of times. And

00:14:02.110 --> 00:14:05.269
he said, Andy Gittman said, what the fuck? How

00:14:05.269 --> 00:14:08.590
are they ever B -listers? You can't call them

00:14:08.590 --> 00:14:12.230
B -listers, man. You can't. So it was fantastic.

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I mean, the venue was beautiful. Very beautiful.

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A live venue. Yeah. And you said earlier that

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you started playing the saxophone in school.

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Let me just, so basically, I would like to start

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from just a bit before that. Let's start from

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the beginning. Okay, which beginning are you

00:14:37.590 --> 00:14:39.889
talking about? Earliest memories of music or

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performance. The earliest memory you've got.

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How do you start off? Oh, well, I think when

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I was in preschool, even, I loved to sing. So

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I lived in Sembawang at the time when I was young.

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And my mom had a hairdressing shop and it was

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just a shop houses, a few rows. And there was

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a record shop at the bottom of the street. And

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even at preschool, maybe I was five or four,

00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:14.519
I would go down to run down to the shop by myself

00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:18.320
and I'll pick up an album and I'll tell the shopkeeper,

00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.240
my mom will come and pay for it later. And so

00:15:21.240 --> 00:15:23.240
I just pick up the album. They know me. And then

00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:25.860
I'll go home and play on the phonograph. What

00:15:25.860 --> 00:15:27.139
do you call it? Yeah, record player. Record player.

00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:32.600
And yeah, and sing my heart out. That's something

00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:34.980
that I remember. And I had pictures that reminded

00:15:34.980 --> 00:15:39.360
me of my love for music. So at the time, I would

00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:42.419
sing what my mother would listen to, you know,

00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:46.110
Chinese stars and all that. But my... Brothers

00:15:46.110 --> 00:15:48.649
and sisters, they'll listen to Led Zeppelin because

00:15:48.649 --> 00:15:54.549
they're a lot older than I am. A lot. And Barbra

00:15:54.549 --> 00:15:58.669
Streisand. And she became my favorite. So coming

00:15:58.669 --> 00:16:02.990
from Sembawang, I mean, I went to Canberra Primary

00:16:02.990 --> 00:16:06.529
School. Shout out to my friends, Canberra and

00:16:06.529 --> 00:16:09.529
Naval Base Secondary School. So I've always been

00:16:09.529 --> 00:16:12.450
music. So in the school band, primary school,

00:16:12.529 --> 00:16:13.950
I joined the school band. I remember primary

00:16:13.950 --> 00:16:17.629
three. They gave me, we were not even a brass

00:16:17.629 --> 00:16:19.870
band, it was a bugle and five band, you know,

00:16:19.909 --> 00:16:23.169
five wooden, five band. And I was given the five.

00:16:23.250 --> 00:16:27.850
I said, man, this flute is so soft. I cannot

00:16:27.850 --> 00:16:31.649
take it. So I said, can I play the drums? Oh,

00:16:31.769 --> 00:16:33.759
I got to play the drums. Stand right in front.

00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:36.059
You play drums? So then I went, I became a side,

00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:38.059
I became a drummer, right? So I was marching

00:16:38.059 --> 00:16:40.860
band, became a drummer. So from primary school,

00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:42.960
then went to secondary school. Oh, then became

00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:46.840
a drum set? No. Then like, oh, somehow I got

00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:51.100
the neck. Then my band teacher, the late Mr.

00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:54.259
Johari, really, he liked me very much. And then

00:16:54.259 --> 00:16:56.460
because I was just sitting there and then just

00:16:56.460 --> 00:16:59.259
going for it, right? And then next thing I knew,

00:16:59.340 --> 00:17:02.220
I was on the saxophone. And there were only two

00:17:02.220 --> 00:17:08.359
saxophones in the band. And Fendi was playing

00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:10.779
one and then the drum major was playing the other

00:17:10.779 --> 00:17:14.480
one. So when the new saxophone came, he let me

00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:18.200
have that. So I learned. the saxophone from there

00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:20.619
right from the secondary because that was the

00:17:20.619 --> 00:17:23.400
only new saxophone that was given to me handed

00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:26.579
over to me so I learned that self -learned and

00:17:26.579 --> 00:17:28.460
then after I went to self -learned yeah because

00:17:28.460 --> 00:17:30.579
I picked it up very fast like you know the fingering

00:17:30.579 --> 00:17:33.180
and all that but of course the you know aperture

00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:36.039
and all that not very good wait wait you gotta

00:17:36.039 --> 00:17:37.960
explain that to me what's aperture you know like

00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:41.089
the way you you I think that's the word. You

00:17:41.089 --> 00:17:44.329
mouth over the mouthpiece. Right, right. Like

00:17:44.329 --> 00:17:46.490
hold the mouthpiece. So I didn't know I was not

00:17:46.490 --> 00:17:50.170
very good at that until I went to pre -U. And

00:17:50.170 --> 00:17:54.450
Mr. Ho was a band teacher. Deeper, deeper. I

00:17:54.450 --> 00:17:57.589
got my head pushed into the mouthpiece. I was

00:17:57.589 --> 00:18:00.930
in NJC. But we were a very good concert band.

00:18:01.230 --> 00:18:03.529
And we played until there were blisters on our

00:18:03.529 --> 00:18:07.759
lips. That was pre -U. Then when I went into

00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:12.619
university, so I was in a school band from, I

00:18:12.619 --> 00:18:15.119
guess, from nine years old all the way to I graduated

00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.740
in a university. So you play the drums as well?

00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:21.240
Yeah, not very good, but I can play the drums.

00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:24.720
I can coordinate. Okay, but your instrumental

00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.940
choice eventually became the saxophone, correct?

00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:33.220
That's for performance only. I did learn the

00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:35.460
piano classically, so I finished my grade my

00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:37.900
age. Which is your go -to instrument for you?

00:18:38.140 --> 00:18:40.839
Piano now. It's the piano. Not the saxophone.

00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:44.319
No, I think I've hung up my saxophone for about

00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:47.400
10 years, more than that already. It's just a

00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:50.380
decor piece in my house now. Yeah, unfortunately,

00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:53.980
I didn't have much time to practice and opportunity

00:18:53.980 --> 00:18:57.940
to perform it. So the piano is my go -to instrument.

00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:02.500
I just bought myself a baby grand. So that's

00:19:02.500 --> 00:19:08.900
my, you know, budget bucket list. And so I do

00:19:08.900 --> 00:19:13.420
love. All kinds of instruments. But the piano

00:19:13.420 --> 00:19:15.460
is with me all the time when I'm working now.

00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:19.119
Yeah. So there's not one instrument that captivates

00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:23.319
you the most? No, it's still the piano and the

00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:26.480
saxophone. Okay. Yeah, the saxophone does. In

00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:28.880
equal measure, you mean, equal measure. Yeah,

00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:32.359
yeah. I love, and the voice is an instrument.

00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:37.299
Yeah. Okay, let's talk about that then. How did

00:19:37.299 --> 00:19:41.880
you end up singing? I mean, how do you realize

00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:45.220
that, you know, I'm going to be this lead vocalist?

00:19:46.259 --> 00:19:51.640
I think it's just, this journey just took me

00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:55.799
naturally onto that. It wasn't like I chose to

00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:59.319
be. Okay. It just happened. So when I was in

00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:02.400
NUS or when I was secondary school, I like to

00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:05.380
take part in whatever competition there is. And

00:20:05.380 --> 00:20:08.759
then it went on to university. Form your own,

00:20:08.900 --> 00:20:10.519
you know, a lot of things are student led. So

00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:13.640
you form your own little band and you just sing.

00:20:13.700 --> 00:20:16.700
And I just enjoy being in the front line. You

00:20:16.700 --> 00:20:18.259
know, I told you, I picked up the five. I said,

00:20:18.259 --> 00:20:20.420
nobody heard me. So I want to play the drums

00:20:20.420 --> 00:20:22.180
because then I'm standing right in front and

00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:25.119
I kept the scene and it can be heard. Then when

00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:27.319
I went on secondary school, I played the saxophone

00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:28.980
because it was the only other instrument that

00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:31.539
was different and unique. So there's always been

00:20:31.539 --> 00:20:35.440
this seed to be different and being in front.

00:20:35.579 --> 00:20:40.599
Yeah. Yeah, that was the thing, I guess. The

00:20:40.599 --> 00:20:43.680
reason why I like to ask questions like this,

00:20:43.779 --> 00:20:46.779
because if people are watching this, who knows?

00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:49.220
Budding musicians might be watching this, right?

00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:52.819
And what can they actually gain from my guests?

00:20:52.839 --> 00:20:57.680
Guests like yourself. What drives someone or

00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:02.140
what drove this person into a career? like this

00:21:02.140 --> 00:21:05.099
the music career because when you go when you

00:21:05.099 --> 00:21:09.019
when you talk to kids and I and I have been I

00:21:09.019 --> 00:21:13.119
mean you do of course I'm kind of surprised actually

00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:19.579
because most parents don't want their kids to

00:21:19.579 --> 00:21:27.079
pursue music as a career um yeah I guess even

00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:30.819
to this day, some parents would think that it's

00:21:30.819 --> 00:21:34.339
not a very stable career. I went for dinner last

00:21:34.339 --> 00:21:38.759
week and this lady whom I've never met before,

00:21:38.859 --> 00:21:41.019
they were sitting in the same table and she said,

00:21:41.140 --> 00:21:44.660
you're a singing coach. Why would anybody want

00:21:44.660 --> 00:21:48.079
to learn how to sing? And I went like, why not?

00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:52.339
And I was so appalled by the question, but then

00:21:52.339 --> 00:21:57.740
I went, but that question really you know, stayed

00:21:57.740 --> 00:22:00.079
in my mind and I reflected upon it and I was

00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.059
like, yeah, why would someone take up singing

00:22:03.059 --> 00:22:06.079
lessons? And why would someone sing? For what

00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:08.240
reasons, right? Everybody has their own reasons.

00:22:08.380 --> 00:22:10.740
And for me, it's, I just love music and I just

00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:12.759
love to sing. I don't know. I just love to sing

00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:15.200
since I was like, since I knew how to sing, right?

00:22:15.380 --> 00:22:17.339
I told you four years old, I want to pick up

00:22:17.339 --> 00:22:22.319
the racket, but it's just why I became professional

00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:26.339
singer. It was just a desire. And I told my mom,

00:22:27.049 --> 00:22:29.529
At the time, I said, when I graduated from NUS,

00:22:29.690 --> 00:22:33.890
I said, look, I graduated. So I did what was

00:22:33.890 --> 00:22:36.130
expected of me. I got a degree and so on and

00:22:36.130 --> 00:22:38.789
so forth. But I really want to sing. So give

00:22:38.789 --> 00:22:41.609
me three years. If I don't get anywhere, I promise

00:22:41.609 --> 00:22:47.009
you I'll, you know, get a regular job. And so

00:22:47.009 --> 00:22:48.930
I did. I sang three years. I did the clubbing

00:22:48.930 --> 00:22:53.049
and then three years came up. True enough, like,

00:22:53.150 --> 00:22:56.630
okay, I guess I should try a regular job. And

00:22:56.630 --> 00:22:59.289
one of the customers that came to see me, I was

00:22:59.289 --> 00:23:04.390
at Brannigan's. So he was from like a money -broking

00:23:04.390 --> 00:23:06.849
firm. So I said, what do you do when you go to

00:23:06.849 --> 00:23:08.829
work? How do you know what you need to do when

00:23:08.829 --> 00:23:11.029
you go to work? What is the agenda for the day?

00:23:11.150 --> 00:23:13.170
Is it because I know when I go to work, I need

00:23:13.170 --> 00:23:16.690
to plan my set list, right? Then I know what

00:23:16.690 --> 00:23:19.210
to sing. So I don't know what people do when

00:23:19.210 --> 00:23:20.589
they go to work. How do you know what you need

00:23:20.589 --> 00:23:24.769
to do? Right. So anyway, I tried it out. Money

00:23:24.769 --> 00:23:29.309
broking. I was broker than I was singing and

00:23:29.309 --> 00:23:33.289
I was miserable. And I really, I didn't enjoy

00:23:33.289 --> 00:23:36.069
that at all. So my mom said, yeah, fish out of

00:23:36.069 --> 00:23:38.150
water, get back into the singing. Right. So I

00:23:38.150 --> 00:23:40.089
started teaching. That was when I started teaching.

00:23:40.609 --> 00:23:43.269
It caught pivot, pivot. It's not that I wasn't

00:23:43.269 --> 00:23:46.119
getting anywhere, but. i just wanted more because

00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:48.859
i also got very bored just you know getting my

00:23:48.859 --> 00:23:51.140
makeup done going to work going for rehearsal

00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:54.099
gigging one thing after another then you get

00:23:54.099 --> 00:23:59.539
into this whole mode of like uh oh it's like

00:23:59.539 --> 00:24:03.319
same different day you said it i didn't yeah

00:24:03.319 --> 00:24:06.640
but um yeah i just wanted more and and things

00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:11.390
just happened along the way i wasn't um I wanted

00:24:11.390 --> 00:24:13.890
to have my five -year plan, but my five -year

00:24:13.890 --> 00:24:17.210
plan never worked out. It's always like there's

00:24:17.210 --> 00:24:22.809
a turn and a twist. My life has been very interesting.

00:24:24.390 --> 00:24:29.369
Colorful. So I just go with the flow. Okay. So

00:24:29.369 --> 00:24:31.549
you went back to music and you started teaching.

00:24:31.809 --> 00:24:34.109
Were you still back in music despite the fact

00:24:34.109 --> 00:24:36.529
that you were teaching? Yeah, I started teaching.

00:24:36.630 --> 00:24:40.210
I remember taking up Yamaha. teaching course

00:24:40.210 --> 00:24:45.730
so I took it up and at the same time this these

00:24:45.730 --> 00:24:50.130
friends from well I only knew them at the club

00:24:50.130 --> 00:24:53.549
at Brannigan's decided to own their own club

00:24:53.549 --> 00:24:57.950
their own you know drinking place so they asked

00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:00.710
me and another good friend of mine Fiona who

00:25:00.710 --> 00:25:03.269
also came to watch me at that time would you

00:25:03.269 --> 00:25:06.470
like to run the club for us right so I was like

00:25:06.910 --> 00:25:09.990
Oh, okay. That's another aspect of entertainment

00:25:09.990 --> 00:25:12.410
venues or being an entertainment that I've not

00:25:12.410 --> 00:25:16.509
done before. So after Brannikens, that was what,

00:25:16.549 --> 00:25:19.890
yeah, I mean, I still played in a band, but then

00:25:19.890 --> 00:25:23.269
I started learning how to teach. Then the same

00:25:23.269 --> 00:25:28.289
day that I started my teaching with Yamaha was

00:25:28.289 --> 00:25:31.490
the same day the club opened. And it was like,

00:25:31.589 --> 00:25:34.369
okay, I cannot do these two things at the same

00:25:34.369 --> 00:25:38.859
time. because that is entrepreneur, that's business,

00:25:39.079 --> 00:25:41.680
that's like running the club. So I had to pay

00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:45.380
back a bond to Yamaha so that I just stayed on

00:25:45.380 --> 00:25:48.220
path to just run the business. And that's how

00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:51.119
I became an entrepreneur. Okay. You ran that,

00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:53.160
what's the name of the place? It's called Java

00:25:53.160 --> 00:25:57.619
Jive. It was a very first all English karaoke

00:25:57.619 --> 00:26:03.160
pub in Holland Village. I was your customer for

00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:07.859
a while. I'm very proud of that. Java Jive, that's

00:26:07.859 --> 00:26:10.779
right. That's where Jive Talking came about because

00:26:10.779 --> 00:26:12.779
they were the band that we hired and we named

00:26:12.779 --> 00:26:17.440
them. Jive Talking. Rafi and Jive? Yeah, it was

00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:22.200
Bani Farouk. I reformed the band. So they were

00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:25.420
given birth at Java Jive. That's how the name

00:26:25.420 --> 00:26:28.460
came about. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no. You mentioned

00:26:28.460 --> 00:26:34.619
that. You jogged my memory because the first

00:26:34.619 --> 00:26:37.059
time I heard was somebody told me, hey, have

00:26:37.059 --> 00:26:38.799
you checked out this place called Java Jive?

00:26:38.900 --> 00:26:40.900
I said, I heard about it though. They said, that

00:26:40.900 --> 00:26:45.440
belongs to Kopo, you know. Oh, okay. Then we

00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:47.839
started going. Yeah. It was good fun, wasn't

00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:49.180
it? It was, it was, it was. It was really good

00:26:49.180 --> 00:26:51.220
fun. Yeah, now that you jogged my memory, yeah.

00:26:51.339 --> 00:26:55.220
So, okay, you ended up into bar management, if

00:26:55.220 --> 00:26:58.420
I may say it, or club management. Yeah, club

00:26:58.420 --> 00:27:02.779
management. But I was also, I wouldn't, it's

00:27:02.779 --> 00:27:06.619
like singing, but I started this concept of spinning

00:27:06.619 --> 00:27:11.700
the karaoke songs. Like they were DJ, like I

00:27:11.700 --> 00:27:14.940
was a DJ. So microphones would pass around. So

00:27:14.940 --> 00:27:17.099
this is a very first pass around. We were not

00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:19.880
in a room, it was open singing. And if I didn't

00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:22.000
like your singing, your microphone gets really

00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:24.759
soft and I'll be singing over you. And if I don't,

00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:27.509
and Soldier of Fortune was banned. I hated that

00:27:27.509 --> 00:27:30.289
song. So whenever people requested for songs

00:27:30.289 --> 00:27:33.549
I don't like, they don't get played. And I would

00:27:33.549 --> 00:27:36.309
play with momentum. So like, okay, now all the

00:27:36.309 --> 00:27:39.289
fast songs. Then just a couple of slow songs.

00:27:39.329 --> 00:27:41.670
Oh, the fast songs. And everybody sang along.

00:27:41.789 --> 00:27:43.930
So the atmosphere was always great. Yeah, yeah,

00:27:43.930 --> 00:27:46.849
yeah. So that was usually in the weekend. Weekdays,

00:27:46.869 --> 00:27:48.789
I'm a bit more lax. How come I don't remember

00:27:48.789 --> 00:27:52.269
Jove Talking playing there? They came in much

00:27:52.269 --> 00:27:55.750
later because we were only half. a space, 1 ,005,

00:27:55.829 --> 00:27:58.130
then we increased to 3 ,000 square foot. That's

00:27:58.130 --> 00:28:00.690
when we brought in the live band because we need

00:28:00.690 --> 00:28:02.549
to acquire the license for live entertainment.

00:28:02.809 --> 00:28:04.549
And being Holland Village, being residential,

00:28:04.789 --> 00:28:07.549
that was a little bit difficult. So that came

00:28:07.549 --> 00:28:10.069
on much later. So they were our first band and

00:28:10.069 --> 00:28:13.109
I formed a band with Barney Farouk. And then

00:28:13.109 --> 00:28:16.750
when they moved on to Hard Rock, you know, they

00:28:16.750 --> 00:28:19.289
got our blessings to keep the name. So that was

00:28:19.289 --> 00:28:22.769
how. Wow. So Boon Chai and all that were part

00:28:22.769 --> 00:28:25.670
of it. Oh, yeah, for sure. Boon Chai is coming

00:28:25.670 --> 00:28:27.970
on the show. Oh, is he now? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:28:28.069 --> 00:28:30.349
He played the saxophone. He's my schoolmate.

00:28:30.410 --> 00:28:34.890
Really? Yeah. He played the saxophone for some

00:28:34.890 --> 00:28:39.930
of my gigs. Yeah, he looks like a Chinese man.

00:28:40.470 --> 00:28:49.609
He's the best. I always said this. Excuse me,

00:28:49.609 --> 00:28:52.130
I mentioned this to Gabriel from Bellingham.

00:28:52.210 --> 00:28:54.829
I said, Boon Chai, Boon Chai. Boon Chai is always

00:28:54.829 --> 00:28:57.210
a nerd. He looks like a geek. But when it gets

00:28:57.210 --> 00:29:01.349
behind the sex, wow. I know, he's another different

00:29:01.349 --> 00:29:05.299
person. So tell me about Devil's Bar. Because

00:29:05.299 --> 00:29:10.460
Dennis told me something. Okay, now how did that

00:29:10.460 --> 00:29:12.519
come about? In your own words, I heard what he

00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:14.960
had to say. You're really going back. You're

00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:17.500
really going back, aren't you? Yeah. Okay, Devil's

00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:26.099
Bar. So as I was working from JavaJive to after

00:29:26.099 --> 00:29:29.839
that, I was also managing artists. Managing.

00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:33.559
So Wendy Cole was one of them. Tanya Chua. So

00:29:33.559 --> 00:29:36.380
I was managing artists and I formed Cherry Chocolate

00:29:36.380 --> 00:29:39.500
Candy that won the grand prize for Talent Time.

00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:43.859
That's another story. Cherry Chocolate Candy.

00:29:44.059 --> 00:29:46.950
They won the Talent Time. I'm trying to remember.

00:29:47.549 --> 00:29:50.470
Yeah. Okay. So back to Wendy Cole and she's a

00:29:50.470 --> 00:29:53.109
fabulous performer. Oh, yes, she is. Heaven knows.

00:29:53.349 --> 00:29:56.630
Heaven knows. Yeah. So I was managing her and

00:29:56.630 --> 00:30:02.109
so negotiated and got her into Europa that, you

00:30:02.109 --> 00:30:06.069
know, and Dennis had a new place called Raw.

00:30:07.190 --> 00:30:09.710
R -O -A. That was in Cain Hill. Oh, Raw. Yeah,

00:30:09.789 --> 00:30:13.089
yeah. So, well, I managed to negotiate for Wendy

00:30:13.089 --> 00:30:17.130
to be the resident musician there. So, as we

00:30:17.130 --> 00:30:20.829
were talking about Wendy and then he offered

00:30:20.829 --> 00:30:23.130
me a job. He says, hey, how would you like to

00:30:23.130 --> 00:30:27.589
be, you know, the assistant GM? I said, okay.

00:30:29.410 --> 00:30:32.349
And why not? Okay. So, what was your question

00:30:32.349 --> 00:30:35.430
again? Devil's Bar. Oh, Devil's Bar. Yeah. And

00:30:35.430 --> 00:30:37.789
because we were going to open Devil's Bar. So,

00:30:37.910 --> 00:30:40.069
that's how it happened. And he told me that he

00:30:40.069 --> 00:30:42.589
asked you to manage Devil's Bar. Yeah. So, I

00:30:42.589 --> 00:30:46.059
managed Devil's Bar. You know, started the whole

00:30:46.059 --> 00:30:53.799
thing going and all that. Yeah. And we had to,

00:30:53.859 --> 00:30:56.240
you know, there was a transition. What happened

00:30:56.240 --> 00:31:00.559
to Java Jive then? No, Java Jive was 1990 to

00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:04.720
1994. Right. Okay. Then I had Dada, which was

00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:09.119
another band in Boat King. Another outlet. Yeah,

00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:12.359
that's right. At Bastiani's, it was a wine bar

00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:14.859
in Clark Keep. So I was doing that for the 10

00:31:14.859 --> 00:31:18.059
years. And then after that, a little bit now,

00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:21.700
97, 98. And that's when I started managing artists.

00:31:22.539 --> 00:31:26.880
And then year 2000, just before, was it 2099?

00:31:27.019 --> 00:31:31.400
That's with, then that was Raw. So I think, I

00:31:31.400 --> 00:31:34.650
think. I think Devil's Bar was somewhere around

00:31:34.650 --> 00:31:38.049
that period. Why did you shut down Java Jive?

00:31:38.190 --> 00:31:43.150
I think in the way it's run its course, well,

00:31:43.309 --> 00:31:45.990
it wasn't really we shut down. We kind of like,

00:31:46.069 --> 00:31:51.029
there was a change in the ownership and a couple

00:31:51.029 --> 00:31:53.230
of my partners basically took it over and turned

00:31:53.230 --> 00:31:56.150
it into chaplains, where then the other half

00:31:56.150 --> 00:32:01.009
of us went on to Dada. Alan Moore. Chaplains.

00:32:01.009 --> 00:32:03.069
Alan Moore. I don't think he was an owner. He

00:32:03.069 --> 00:32:06.769
was just running it. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. So

00:32:06.769 --> 00:32:11.809
then I moved on to another unit that was in Boat

00:32:11.809 --> 00:32:15.829
Quay. So, yeah. Thanks for bringing up the memories

00:32:15.829 --> 00:32:20.880
again. Dada. Yeah. We also know that Quopo. Runs.

00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:24.019
Dada. Yeah, yeah. All that good. We're going

00:32:24.019 --> 00:32:27.599
around, you know. So that was when I had another

00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:29.400
band called Private Collection. That was when

00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:33.319
I got Tanya Chua to perform as a frontliner with

00:32:33.319 --> 00:32:37.819
the late Amran, who passed away very young. That's

00:32:37.819 --> 00:32:41.259
right. Yeah. It was in Dada that he played Amran.

00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:43.700
Yeah, he's 33. Yeah. He played with Spencer as

00:32:43.700 --> 00:32:48.750
well. Yeah, Spencer. So Private Collection. was

00:32:48.750 --> 00:32:51.410
the band that we formed right why private collection

00:32:51.410 --> 00:32:54.609
was dada the concept is an art artwork right

00:32:54.609 --> 00:32:57.710
it's dadaism that's that's a concept so when

00:32:57.710 --> 00:33:00.190
we where we had the band there was a picture

00:33:00.190 --> 00:33:02.549
frame a giant picture frame so the band plays

00:33:02.549 --> 00:33:04.950
behind the picture frame that's why it's called

00:33:04.950 --> 00:33:08.509
private collection right what is cool so i would

00:33:08.509 --> 00:33:13.650
sing with the band one set so i had uh i think

00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:18.579
Ad was on keyboards. I had really great... Amran

00:33:18.579 --> 00:33:23.099
was the lead singer. And then I auditioned. I

00:33:23.099 --> 00:33:26.720
went to look at Tanya at the Western and I got

00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:28.980
her in. And there was Margaret Chong as well

00:33:28.980 --> 00:33:31.839
that was on keyboard. They're great musicians.

00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:34.960
We were very good. And I performed like one set

00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:39.220
a night. Yeah, that was Dada. And what happened

00:33:39.220 --> 00:33:42.980
to Dada? And again, you know, just basically

00:33:42.980 --> 00:33:45.079
ran its course. Ran its course. Yeah, ran its

00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:49.440
course. I mean, yeah, you know, business. Let

00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:52.980
me try to understand this. For any bar club owner

00:33:52.980 --> 00:33:55.279
that has, I've heard this a couple of times from

00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:57.779
different people and they use the same term,

00:33:57.880 --> 00:34:04.819
ran its course. What is the definition of a bar

00:34:04.819 --> 00:34:07.039
establishment having run its course? Well, I

00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:11.079
think that When it's run as a car, that means

00:34:11.079 --> 00:34:15.039
that it has reached its height. And then, you

00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:18.900
know, new competition comes along, jumped on

00:34:18.900 --> 00:34:21.800
the bandwagon, could be better than what it was.

00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:26.659
And perhaps within the management, we decided

00:34:26.659 --> 00:34:29.760
to do other stuff. Right. You know, and things

00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:37.019
just change. People change. all have different

00:34:37.019 --> 00:34:40.260
interests at different times. You know, at the

00:34:40.260 --> 00:34:42.980
same, at that time, we may want to do different

00:34:42.980 --> 00:34:46.159
things. Right. Yeah. So running its cause could

00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:51.639
be, it's seen its heydays. Time to move on. Okay.

00:34:52.300 --> 00:34:55.280
Let me go back even further back in time now.

00:34:55.599 --> 00:34:58.059
Oh, okay. I think for the better. Testing me.

00:34:58.239 --> 00:35:02.409
Yeah. I've had people like Larry Lye on my show.

00:35:02.869 --> 00:35:06.190
You know, we go back so many decades. You know,

00:35:06.210 --> 00:35:09.570
we talk about way back when. And then I had people

00:35:09.570 --> 00:35:12.510
like Mel Ferdinand on the show. And we talk about

00:35:12.510 --> 00:35:16.449
talent time. So I want to ask you about the 1980

00:35:16.449 --> 00:35:21.250
talent time. Okay. Okay, that time when you participated,

00:35:21.429 --> 00:35:25.869
when you took part, what was it like? First of

00:35:25.869 --> 00:35:29.960
all, what was it like? How different are things

00:35:29.960 --> 00:35:33.440
today because we don't have it anymore? And your

00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:37.940
opinion about that? I thought that, I mean, that

00:35:37.940 --> 00:35:40.480
was a time where the nation would sit up and

00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:46.320
root for the new talents of that era. I think

00:35:46.320 --> 00:35:55.840
it was 1984. I knew I was in the last year of

00:35:55.840 --> 00:35:58.599
the uni. it was second last year or last year

00:35:58.599 --> 00:36:01.280
of the uni when I took part so it wasn't 1980

00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:06.659
it was 1984 no absolutely not 1980 there was

00:36:06.659 --> 00:36:10.179
an attempt earlier on that I was with a duet

00:36:10.179 --> 00:36:12.679
I was with this guy and we were in this duet

00:36:12.679 --> 00:36:14.400
but we didn't go very far we were probably in

00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:17.309
the first I'm not even sure if we went on TV

00:36:17.309 --> 00:36:20.269
or maybe we did. I don't remember that one, but

00:36:20.269 --> 00:36:22.929
we went on as a duet and we didn't get very far.

00:36:22.989 --> 00:36:25.769
But the one that I reached the finals, I think

00:36:25.769 --> 00:36:28.190
that was the year when I was in the university,

00:36:28.190 --> 00:36:30.989
probably the third year or the second year, I

00:36:30.989 --> 00:36:37.429
think 84. And yeah, it was great. I mean, it's

00:36:37.429 --> 00:36:41.369
nothing like the voice or nothing like the...

00:36:42.510 --> 00:36:46.889
BGT, AGT. BGT, AGT. You know, we don't have judges

00:36:46.889 --> 00:36:49.929
that would... Knock you down. Give us their opinion

00:36:49.929 --> 00:36:53.030
live. Yeah. You know, it was just based on your

00:36:53.030 --> 00:36:58.070
talent. There was no voting. Yeah. And yeah,

00:36:58.150 --> 00:37:02.909
I was very young, very new. Everything was like,

00:37:03.050 --> 00:37:06.969
you know, very... How do you say? It's just yourself

00:37:06.969 --> 00:37:12.530
and what you have to... Offer. Offer. And there,

00:37:12.690 --> 00:37:15.309
I made good friends. I made friends along the

00:37:15.309 --> 00:37:19.050
way, but it's just also a competition. I know

00:37:19.050 --> 00:37:22.349
that. But I think that Caminaderie was very good.

00:37:22.630 --> 00:37:26.170
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it was great fun. But what

00:37:26.170 --> 00:37:29.329
do you think now? It's been gone for a long,

00:37:29.409 --> 00:37:33.090
long time. Do you think it would have done us

00:37:33.090 --> 00:37:35.929
a lot of good, the music industry, that is? Well,

00:37:36.190 --> 00:37:38.349
in general, for the rest of the country, should

00:37:38.349 --> 00:37:43.829
it have? Should it were to have continued? Yeah,

00:37:43.869 --> 00:37:47.349
it's very sad that it didn't last very much.

00:37:47.429 --> 00:37:52.750
It ran its course. There you see. There you see.

00:37:53.369 --> 00:37:57.289
But every generation will have a sort of a competition.

00:37:57.929 --> 00:38:03.349
And I think that what's really sad now, much

00:38:03.349 --> 00:38:05.949
more, I mean, the competitions there are in its

00:38:05.949 --> 00:38:09.230
very general different ways. And it's expensive

00:38:09.230 --> 00:38:12.130
to run one. I can understand the economics of

00:38:12.130 --> 00:38:14.429
it. But what's really sad is there's no variety

00:38:14.429 --> 00:38:17.929
show. You know, last time you would like sit

00:38:17.929 --> 00:38:19.750
for a variety show. Oh, new singer. Oh, this,

00:38:19.929 --> 00:38:23.429
you know. It's like the Rado show, the old POSB

00:38:23.429 --> 00:38:25.730
show, the kind of thing, right? Or Rolling Good

00:38:25.730 --> 00:38:28.570
Times even. Yeah. We can't even call it recent

00:38:28.570 --> 00:38:31.010
anymore. Yeah, I know. Rolling Good Times is

00:38:31.010 --> 00:38:36.719
like, like, historical. So, That's really sad

00:38:36.719 --> 00:38:38.840
because then you don't know who the new ones

00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:40.940
are. Correct. Right? And then you see them on

00:38:40.940 --> 00:38:43.179
National Day like, eh, who are these ones? Yeah.

00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:44.539
You're scratching your head, right? Eh, who are

00:38:44.539 --> 00:38:47.179
these ones? You know, where do you see them?

00:38:47.420 --> 00:38:49.760
Yeah. Mel Fernandes, when he was on the show,

00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:53.079
he raised this thing. You know, back then, I

00:38:53.079 --> 00:38:55.900
don't know if you remember Limsick. Oh, yeah,

00:38:55.940 --> 00:39:00.119
of course. Yeah. And way back when, well, even

00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:03.500
before TCS, back in the days of the SBC, right?

00:39:03.599 --> 00:39:06.719
And you've got bands playing in different bars

00:39:06.719 --> 00:39:11.699
in Singapore. And they'll spot a good one and

00:39:11.699 --> 00:39:14.659
they'll put them on a variety show. They bring

00:39:14.659 --> 00:39:17.599
the band in to perform. And then people, at least

00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:21.429
the locals, us, people will know. who these guys

00:39:21.429 --> 00:39:24.429
are, you know? And that's where bands were really

00:39:24.429 --> 00:39:27.489
popular back then. You know, people knew Flybaits,

00:39:27.489 --> 00:39:29.409
you know, Flybaits came on TV so many times.

00:39:29.449 --> 00:39:31.369
Yeah, that's right. Gypsy came on TV so many

00:39:31.369 --> 00:39:35.670
times, you know? And yeah, and all that's gone.

00:39:35.670 --> 00:39:38.429
It's all lost. What do you think? No, that's

00:39:38.429 --> 00:39:41.469
exactly what I'm trying to say here because I

00:39:41.469 --> 00:39:46.150
don't know when the new ones are. Sorry. I don't

00:39:46.150 --> 00:39:49.469
have an opportunity to see them or to be introduced.

00:39:50.199 --> 00:39:57.059
to them so it's and I do feel like the new generation

00:39:57.059 --> 00:39:59.719
have to fight so hard to be seen on social media

00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:02.900
you know which is basically the norm these days

00:40:02.900 --> 00:40:06.860
like say you know they appear international day

00:40:06.860 --> 00:40:10.639
like who's that but I think it's very important

00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:17.530
that every generation's media owners you know,

00:40:17.570 --> 00:40:21.030
find a way to find a platform for the new gen

00:40:21.030 --> 00:40:24.170
to appear. And that's why, you know, because

00:40:24.170 --> 00:40:28.050
I'm running a school and I have these new generation

00:40:28.050 --> 00:40:31.750
artists, when they become teenagers, when they

00:40:31.750 --> 00:40:36.210
become young adults, and when they decide not

00:40:36.210 --> 00:40:40.670
to pursue, it's because there's no outlet here.

00:40:40.829 --> 00:40:43.050
There's no platform. Yeah, there's no outlet,

00:40:43.110 --> 00:40:47.010
no platform for them to be seen. You know, it

00:40:47.010 --> 00:40:49.750
was such a thrill back then when I, you know,

00:40:49.769 --> 00:40:52.670
I get on the variety show, Christmas show, whatever

00:40:52.670 --> 00:40:56.170
show. There isn't any now. There used to be a

00:40:56.170 --> 00:40:59.170
weekly thing, I think, right? A weekly thing

00:40:59.170 --> 00:41:02.250
and all that. And I would sit in the studio and

00:41:02.250 --> 00:41:08.090
wait the whole day for $30 or $300 like that.

00:41:08.090 --> 00:41:10.429
But that's not the money. We know that, right?

00:41:10.530 --> 00:41:14.030
It was about being seen on TV. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:41:14.819 --> 00:41:17.280
Do you have any rituals yourself? You know, like

00:41:17.280 --> 00:41:18.960
some, you know, many performers have their own

00:41:18.960 --> 00:41:22.000
unique rituals or routine to get into the zone

00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:23.739
before performance. Do you have any interesting

00:41:23.739 --> 00:41:28.920
ones? Oh, no, I think it's modern warmup, lip

00:41:28.920 --> 00:41:32.239
thrills. And no, I just sit there and do my makeup.

00:41:32.780 --> 00:41:36.400
No, I don't have a ritual. Okay. Absolutely not.

00:41:36.519 --> 00:41:38.440
Don't have, huh? No. You know, like, like, for

00:41:38.440 --> 00:41:42.059
example, I know for a fact that this is really

00:41:42.059 --> 00:41:45.719
weird. This is an MC thing. Really? What is it?

00:41:46.260 --> 00:41:48.460
Not me, though. I don't have that issue. Yeah.

00:41:48.559 --> 00:41:51.739
But I know a lot of compatriots, before they

00:41:51.739 --> 00:41:56.139
have a show, they'll iron their own shirts. Oh.

00:41:56.260 --> 00:42:00.260
Iron the shirts. And then they put them on. They

00:42:00.260 --> 00:42:03.300
leave it tucked out, you know, and carry the

00:42:03.300 --> 00:42:05.940
jacket and have the tie slung around them. And

00:42:05.940 --> 00:42:08.820
they just go for the show. and do the sound check.

00:42:08.820 --> 00:42:11.400
I've seen that. Yeah. So many people do that,

00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:13.860
you know, and then after that, the guys that

00:42:13.860 --> 00:42:16.500
is, then they'll tuck in the shirt and then they

00:42:16.500 --> 00:42:18.760
put on the tie. Once they've done the sound check

00:42:18.760 --> 00:42:22.179
and then on comes the suit, you know, and people

00:42:22.179 --> 00:42:24.840
have funny, funny kinds of rituals. So I was

00:42:24.840 --> 00:42:26.679
just wondering whether you have any as well.

00:42:27.659 --> 00:42:34.260
So we don't have them. Just asking. No. You see,

00:42:34.300 --> 00:42:37.099
I have questions I want to ask. Good, let's talk

00:42:37.099 --> 00:42:39.039
about it. Don't have to ever mind. Yeah, yeah.

00:42:39.579 --> 00:42:41.539
No, I'm just, I mean, since you asked the question,

00:42:41.579 --> 00:42:43.440
I'm thinking, is there something that I would

00:42:43.440 --> 00:42:45.900
do? I mean, of course, I would like, you know,

00:42:45.940 --> 00:42:55.210
warm up my voice. That's it. You know, that's

00:42:55.210 --> 00:43:00.869
it. Do my makeup. Yeah, okay. After such a successful

00:43:00.869 --> 00:43:02.849
performing career, I mean, then I know you got

00:43:02.849 --> 00:43:05.409
into teaching and that was, it's been 20 years,

00:43:05.550 --> 00:43:08.510
right? Was there anything that inspired you into

00:43:08.510 --> 00:43:10.449
wanting to teach? Was it because there's a legacy

00:43:10.449 --> 00:43:13.050
that you want to leave something behind? No,

00:43:13.070 --> 00:43:16.150
actually, you know, after running the bars, after

00:43:16.150 --> 00:43:18.590
performing, running bars, I was, that was a period

00:43:18.590 --> 00:43:23.639
I was, really jaded you know like god i want

00:43:23.639 --> 00:43:26.920
to do my life right so uh i remember going away

00:43:26.920 --> 00:43:32.940
to australia to take a vacation um but i had

00:43:32.940 --> 00:43:36.980
this concept when i came back i i i saw this

00:43:36.980 --> 00:43:40.679
uh wait okay this backtrack someone's in australia

00:43:40.679 --> 00:43:45.750
and i like to attend the the wine So when I attend

00:43:45.750 --> 00:43:48.230
the wine festivals, right, Hunter Valley, wherever,

00:43:48.449 --> 00:43:51.429
they always have a jazz band. So I'm like, wow,

00:43:51.750 --> 00:43:54.510
very show. You know, so I came back and then

00:43:54.510 --> 00:43:57.369
Colin Goh at the time was running Arts House.

00:43:57.449 --> 00:44:02.309
Like, you know, hey, I would say, I have a concept.

00:44:02.429 --> 00:44:06.469
Then he said, what? I said, I want to run a wine

00:44:06.469 --> 00:44:09.130
and jazz festival. And he looked at me, he said,

00:44:09.309 --> 00:44:15.750
eh, guopo, very hot lah. this is calling girl

00:44:15.750 --> 00:44:18.110
for the rice company yeah hey Colin shout out

00:44:18.110 --> 00:44:21.449
to you yeah and then I said hot nah I said yeah

00:44:21.449 --> 00:44:26.429
then I went I pick up from my bag a CD that I

00:44:26.429 --> 00:44:28.909
just bought downstairs from in the arts house

00:44:28.909 --> 00:44:31.030
okay I forgot Encore was a shop or something

00:44:31.030 --> 00:44:34.809
I can remember and a CD was jazz for kids jazz

00:44:34.809 --> 00:44:38.650
for kids okay so then I reached down my back

00:44:38.650 --> 00:44:41.750
there to go okay lah okay lah how about I run

00:44:42.360 --> 00:44:46.820
I produced a concert, a jazz concert performed

00:44:46.820 --> 00:44:51.300
by children. Then he said, oh, that's good. Let's

00:44:51.300 --> 00:44:55.639
do that. I said, okay. That was how it started,

00:44:55.699 --> 00:45:00.840
okay? So then I went back and then my nephew,

00:45:01.239 --> 00:45:04.300
when he was at P6 at the time, he was showering

00:45:04.300 --> 00:45:06.500
and he was always singing Frank Sinatra. Very

00:45:06.500 --> 00:45:09.030
weird, right? And he's got a good voice. So I

00:45:09.030 --> 00:45:10.429
said, okay, I got to put my nephew. Then I was

00:45:10.429 --> 00:45:12.670
staying with my sister. So a lot of children.

00:45:13.650 --> 00:45:16.769
So I said, okay, I'm going to audition the children

00:45:16.769 --> 00:45:20.150
in the neighborhood, Thompson Grove. And I have

00:45:20.150 --> 00:45:23.030
to bribe my nephew. Hey, I buy you an Xbox. If

00:45:23.030 --> 00:45:26.829
you perform in my group, then, you know, and

00:45:26.829 --> 00:45:29.449
he was P6, right? Wow. So I said, okay, I buy

00:45:29.449 --> 00:45:31.809
you an Xbox, but put up there, finish P6. So

00:45:31.809 --> 00:45:35.760
I got. auditioned a few children and they were

00:45:35.760 --> 00:45:39.219
all in the neighborhood. That was my first batch.

00:45:39.840 --> 00:45:42.280
Of students? Yeah, there were eight of them.

00:45:42.400 --> 00:45:44.179
They were not even students. They were performers.

00:45:44.559 --> 00:45:47.780
They were auditioned to perform. Yeah, so they

00:45:47.780 --> 00:45:49.380
auditioned to perform but actually everybody

00:45:49.380 --> 00:45:51.039
got in there but they were very good. They were

00:45:51.039 --> 00:45:53.199
cute, you know. They were like from eight years

00:45:53.199 --> 00:45:57.159
old to 12. The oldest was 13 and then some friends

00:45:57.159 --> 00:46:00.699
recommended him there. And I remember working

00:46:00.699 --> 00:46:03.909
with them four times a week. uh, three hours,

00:46:04.130 --> 00:46:07.190
uh, four times a week, three hours a time at

00:46:07.190 --> 00:46:09.690
the, uh, during school holidays. Right. So that

00:46:09.690 --> 00:46:12.230
we could perform at the play den for a four to

00:46:12.230 --> 00:46:15.150
four back, back to back show. And they were very

00:46:15.150 --> 00:46:18.030
new, like nobody, they were just virgin performers,

00:46:18.349 --> 00:46:22.010
no? So I had, so I said, okay, how to put them

00:46:22.010 --> 00:46:26.030
on stage like this, you know? So I call Hard

00:46:26.030 --> 00:46:30.269
Rock Cafe. Hey, Mark. Hey, KP, what do you want?

00:46:31.190 --> 00:46:32.920
Uh, I have this group of children performers.

00:46:33.199 --> 00:46:37.659
I like them to perform for your, you know, maybe

00:46:37.659 --> 00:46:41.280
lunchtime. Oh, how much? I said, no, you don't

00:46:41.280 --> 00:46:44.579
have to pay me. You just offer them lunch. Oh,

00:46:44.619 --> 00:46:52.599
okay. Anyway, that was very funny. So that was

00:46:52.599 --> 00:46:55.380
our debut performance at Hard Rock during lunchtime.

00:46:55.480 --> 00:46:58.500
I remember, and one of the girls, Michaela, But

00:46:58.500 --> 00:47:00.539
I started crying before we went on stage because

00:47:00.539 --> 00:47:04.639
she was so, so nervous. And the other kids just

00:47:04.639 --> 00:47:08.059
surrounded her, gave her a hug, you know. And

00:47:08.059 --> 00:47:10.199
I was watching this and said, oh, this is really

00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:13.820
good. And during the whole time when I was rehearsing

00:47:13.820 --> 00:47:17.079
with them, I remembered that they only had one

00:47:17.079 --> 00:47:19.119
thing that they wanted. It's just to please me,

00:47:19.159 --> 00:47:21.679
to make sure that I like their performance and

00:47:21.679 --> 00:47:23.559
I praise them. And that was all they wanted,

00:47:23.699 --> 00:47:28.780
you know. That's so cute. Very cute. And well,

00:47:28.940 --> 00:47:32.480
I taught them how to dance, the little that I

00:47:32.480 --> 00:47:35.280
knew. But basically what I wanted them to be

00:47:35.280 --> 00:47:38.099
is to be confident, to be frontliners. So we

00:47:38.099 --> 00:47:42.599
did like Route 66. There was this song called

00:47:42.599 --> 00:47:46.659
the ABC Scat, which was our opening piece. We

00:47:46.659 --> 00:47:51.530
did Tuxedo Junction. We did A -Train. So we did

00:47:51.530 --> 00:47:54.650
all these old jazz pieces and Michael ended up

00:47:54.650 --> 00:48:00.130
doing the Spider -Man, Spider -Man. And it went

00:48:00.130 --> 00:48:04.550
so well because it doesn't appeal just to children.

00:48:04.590 --> 00:48:07.349
It appealed to parents and everybody else. And

00:48:07.349 --> 00:48:12.809
that was our debut in one of the dads, Montero.

00:48:12.849 --> 00:48:16.329
He also owned another outlet and he said, okay,

00:48:16.389 --> 00:48:18.929
come, come, come, let's perform. So we got the

00:48:18.929 --> 00:48:22.989
practice just, performing very ad hoc at eating

00:48:22.989 --> 00:48:26.530
places right and finally our show came and we

00:48:26.530 --> 00:48:29.130
did four shows back to back on stage lights and

00:48:29.130 --> 00:48:31.650
all that stuff children did fantastic well because

00:48:31.650 --> 00:48:33.550
they already kind of like had three or four shows

00:48:33.550 --> 00:48:35.670
sort of like you know and then learn how to deal

00:48:35.670 --> 00:48:39.769
with the microphones and when we finished the

00:48:39.769 --> 00:48:45.829
last show the children bawled cried because it's

00:48:45.829 --> 00:48:50.420
over And I cried. We had a good, you know, like

00:48:50.420 --> 00:48:53.960
after show parties, right? And then I cried,

00:48:53.980 --> 00:48:56.519
cried, like, oh my God. When I realized, wait

00:48:56.519 --> 00:48:59.739
a second, this is the best thing ever. You know,

00:48:59.780 --> 00:49:04.280
you deal with that artist, children, they don't

00:49:04.280 --> 00:49:05.639
do that. They just want to hug you, hug you,

00:49:05.639 --> 00:49:08.980
hug you, hug you. Right? So then that was the

00:49:08.980 --> 00:49:11.940
last show, went away. And then Colin called me

00:49:11.940 --> 00:49:15.110
and then says, okay, come back. Let's do something,

00:49:15.289 --> 00:49:17.630
you know, start the school. So because of Colin

00:49:17.630 --> 00:49:20.170
and he said, I got space. And that's how I was

00:49:20.170 --> 00:49:22.769
wanting to take it. I said, okay, give me a desk,

00:49:22.849 --> 00:49:25.630
$15 a month or something like that. Pay a desk,

00:49:25.769 --> 00:49:28.690
pay $15, don't know, like $300 for the studio.

00:49:28.750 --> 00:49:30.630
And then that's how the school started. Kids

00:49:30.630 --> 00:49:33.090
Performing. That was the name of the school.

00:49:33.150 --> 00:49:37.730
KP, kids performing. So that was pretty good.

00:49:38.090 --> 00:49:42.050
Enjoyed it very well. Yeah, that was the start.

00:49:42.170 --> 00:49:45.670
I came back and started the school. So it was

00:49:45.670 --> 00:49:48.070
Jazz Kids. That's how we started with Jazz Kids.

00:49:48.070 --> 00:49:52.989
Jazz Kids. Kai, did you put up the pic? There

00:49:52.989 --> 00:49:57.190
you go. So this is the new generation. This is

00:49:57.190 --> 00:50:06.269
the generation that is now. 2003. See the little

00:50:06.269 --> 00:50:08.909
chap that's right at the corner? That's my grandnephew.

00:50:09.239 --> 00:50:13.980
Oh. Yeah. This is 2023. But the very, very first

00:50:13.980 --> 00:50:18.599
batch was 2004. Is this still happening today?

00:50:19.760 --> 00:50:22.300
Yeah, they're there. Oh, yeah. I mean, they are

00:50:22.300 --> 00:50:24.480
jazz kids when they sing jazz. When they're not

00:50:24.480 --> 00:50:30.840
singing jazz kids. So, yeah. What's the difference

00:50:30.840 --> 00:50:36.519
between jazz kids and Academy stars? No, it's.

00:50:37.739 --> 00:50:41.039
Jazz Kids is a program, right? And then they

00:50:41.039 --> 00:50:44.139
had to sing jazz. They only do swing. And then

00:50:44.139 --> 00:50:47.219
I had Sinclair Ang, shout out to you, who comes

00:50:47.219 --> 00:50:50.659
in to teach them to swing, to dance swing. So

00:50:50.659 --> 00:50:55.039
my school is now called Singapore Performing

00:50:55.039 --> 00:50:58.340
Arts Academy. It's gone through a few transitions

00:50:58.340 --> 00:51:02.679
from kids performing and now it's called Singapore

00:51:02.679 --> 00:51:07.989
Performing Arts Academy. Okay. Yeah. Academy

00:51:07.989 --> 00:51:11.969
of Stars was somewhere in between, in the middle.

00:51:12.550 --> 00:51:20.289
That was 2018. And now, two, zero, two, three

00:51:20.289 --> 00:51:22.789
onwards, it's called Singapore Performing Arts

00:51:22.789 --> 00:51:26.289
Academy. And I have programs within the school.

00:51:26.409 --> 00:51:30.090
And the triple threat talents, what you saw that

00:51:30.090 --> 00:51:34.469
group there, they had a six months course where

00:51:34.469 --> 00:51:40.679
they actually, delve into jazz just to keep it

00:51:40.679 --> 00:51:43.619
alive. There was this thing I've researched on.

00:51:43.699 --> 00:51:46.280
I'm trying to understand. You're considered as

00:51:46.280 --> 00:51:49.119
a direct school admissions specialist, DSA specialist.

00:51:49.500 --> 00:51:51.980
Yeah, that's one of other programs. Yeah, the

00:51:51.980 --> 00:51:54.960
DSA specialist. That's right. Okay, DSA into

00:51:54.960 --> 00:51:58.559
where? Into what? Into this program or into mainstream

00:51:58.559 --> 00:52:04.670
schools? Alamak, DSA is not into a... Performing

00:52:04.670 --> 00:52:07.369
Arts Programme, it is going into a secondary

00:52:07.369 --> 00:52:08.469
school. Correct, that's what I wanted to know.

00:52:08.610 --> 00:52:10.829
So it's mainstream, right? Let me explain to

00:52:10.829 --> 00:52:13.550
you. I know what DSA is, just that I need to

00:52:13.550 --> 00:52:16.829
understand DSA into where? Into secondary school,

00:52:16.969 --> 00:52:20.510
into pre -U. Okay. So it's called direct school

00:52:20.510 --> 00:52:24.030
admission, meaning you actually use a talent

00:52:24.030 --> 00:52:29.670
to audition into a school of your choice, which

00:52:29.670 --> 00:52:33.460
could be a secondary school or... And in this

00:52:33.460 --> 00:52:37.380
instance, it's for singing? Or music per se?

00:52:37.500 --> 00:52:42.719
Where I'm concerned, I teach singing and acting

00:52:42.719 --> 00:52:46.400
preparation and interview skills. Right. Okay.

00:52:46.500 --> 00:52:50.920
So as a DSA specialist, you focus on helping

00:52:50.920 --> 00:52:54.579
your students stand out and be outstanding. I

00:52:54.579 --> 00:53:00.340
see you've done your homework. Beyond technical

00:53:00.340 --> 00:53:04.500
skills. What are the key qualities you, do you

00:53:04.500 --> 00:53:10.320
aim to instill in them to help them shine? Based

00:53:10.320 --> 00:53:16.699
on what I've learned, my journey, I always encourage

00:53:16.699 --> 00:53:19.019
them to find something unique about themselves,

00:53:19.179 --> 00:53:23.760
to stand out, to say something other people can't

00:53:23.760 --> 00:53:28.519
say. This is basically to find something in them

00:53:28.519 --> 00:53:32.269
that will kind of, You know, when they go into

00:53:32.269 --> 00:53:36.829
the interview to leave a mark behind. I think

00:53:36.829 --> 00:53:40.889
it's important to search. I mean, even deep within,

00:53:41.070 --> 00:53:42.909
they always say, oh, I got nothing to say. But

00:53:42.909 --> 00:53:45.250
there's always something. There's always something.

00:53:45.969 --> 00:53:50.670
So that's one of the key strategies that we have.

00:53:51.610 --> 00:53:56.530
I think more importantly is like, I just don't

00:53:56.530 --> 00:53:58.789
want to teach you to sing. I want to teach you

00:53:58.789 --> 00:54:03.730
to be a frontliner. is to have a confident personality,

00:54:04.130 --> 00:54:08.329
to stand out as a frontliner and try not to blend.

00:54:08.889 --> 00:54:12.090
Is there pedagogy for this? Teaching a kid, okay,

00:54:12.190 --> 00:54:14.730
let's not just, let me be fair, let's just do

00:54:14.730 --> 00:54:18.369
a hypothesis here, okay? Let's say me. You, yes.

00:54:18.630 --> 00:54:20.789
I'm not a kid, of course, obviously. Yeah, you.

00:54:21.050 --> 00:54:24.429
I'm an old man, okay? So, if an old guy comes

00:54:24.429 --> 00:54:26.949
to you and says, just switch it up, old guy,

00:54:26.989 --> 00:54:31.139
yeah? Teach me how to frontline, how to be a

00:54:31.139 --> 00:54:35.199
good frontliner. Are there steps? Are there modules?

00:54:36.260 --> 00:54:38.559
It's not pedagogy, it's pedagogy for kids, right?

00:54:38.619 --> 00:54:41.679
Yeah, pedagogy, yeah. So what would you say?

00:54:42.340 --> 00:54:48.320
Just sum it up for me. Don't you think for older

00:54:48.320 --> 00:54:51.900
people, I feel it's a lot easier because one

00:54:51.900 --> 00:54:56.400
of the main things that they need is... Yeah,

00:54:56.539 --> 00:54:59.000
okay. Number one. And like you, you're able to

00:54:59.000 --> 00:55:02.800
speak well, right? And being able to stand, posture,

00:55:02.980 --> 00:55:05.719
poise. What's that first five seconds of impression

00:55:05.719 --> 00:55:09.739
that you set when you walk in? Okay. The way

00:55:09.739 --> 00:55:12.179
you hold yourself. When you talk about other

00:55:12.179 --> 00:55:15.400
steps, yeah, it starts from inside out. And that's

00:55:15.400 --> 00:55:18.559
for me, that's what's important. You know? So

00:55:18.559 --> 00:55:23.980
I think that to stand out. when you say an old

00:55:23.980 --> 00:55:26.860
guy come to me, I need to kind of like, okay,

00:55:26.860 --> 00:55:29.340
what do you do? Let's say you're just a man off

00:55:29.340 --> 00:55:32.360
the street, right? It doesn't matter. What did

00:55:32.360 --> 00:55:35.239
we say last week? You fake it, you make it, right?

00:55:35.639 --> 00:55:38.840
So it's the way you carry yourself. The grooming

00:55:38.840 --> 00:55:41.559
is very important. The way you speak is very

00:55:41.559 --> 00:55:45.519
important. And what skillset do you have? What

00:55:45.519 --> 00:55:48.659
skillset? Are you an expert in something? So

00:55:48.659 --> 00:55:51.639
let's say you gather all that information and

00:55:51.639 --> 00:55:55.079
you have it in hand. What do you do with that?

00:55:55.159 --> 00:55:59.980
Is there a method, a methodology? Yeah, there

00:55:59.980 --> 00:56:07.139
is a methodology. However, I need to qualify

00:56:07.139 --> 00:56:15.239
that there is no definite definition. for stage

00:56:15.239 --> 00:56:17.639
presence if we do research I tried to do that

00:56:17.639 --> 00:56:20.460
and everybody has it's that thing that you cannot

00:56:20.460 --> 00:56:25.340
define the aura yeah the charisma the X factor

00:56:25.340 --> 00:56:28.239
that X factor you can't define it you just know

00:56:28.239 --> 00:56:31.179
it when you see it right so there are many front

00:56:31.179 --> 00:56:34.659
liners we see many personalities but some have

00:56:34.659 --> 00:56:37.719
it more than the others what is it yeah that's

00:56:37.719 --> 00:56:40.260
a mystery isn't it that is still a mystery that

00:56:40.260 --> 00:56:45.260
is still a mystery is there a methodology I think

00:56:45.260 --> 00:56:49.019
that that's what my next research paper is going

00:56:49.019 --> 00:56:52.199
to be about. Hey, share that with me, man. No,

00:56:52.239 --> 00:56:56.019
I am not going to. I'm actually going to delve

00:56:56.019 --> 00:57:00.800
into that a lot more, but focus on kids. It's

00:57:00.800 --> 00:57:05.250
to work out a methodology where it's... can be

00:57:05.250 --> 00:57:09.329
more defined because you cannot define what is

00:57:09.329 --> 00:57:12.070
X factor, but there are steps that you can take

00:57:12.070 --> 00:57:14.789
on too. And I think one of the main things, I

00:57:14.789 --> 00:57:17.710
mean, for performance is to be very good in the,

00:57:17.710 --> 00:57:20.630
in, in the skill. Right. And if you're not that

00:57:20.630 --> 00:57:23.769
good, you got to make up, make it up. For example,

00:57:23.769 --> 00:57:29.349
if I, I was a singer and how I evaluated myself

00:57:29.349 --> 00:57:32.530
is that I'm okay. A singer, I'm not great. You

00:57:32.530 --> 00:57:35.570
know, I'm, I like my tone, but I'm not a great

00:57:35.570 --> 00:57:38.409
singer. You know, some limitations I have. So

00:57:38.409 --> 00:57:39.969
what is it that's going to make me different?

00:57:40.110 --> 00:57:42.190
And that's why I pick up the saxophone. Because

00:57:42.190 --> 00:57:45.269
that's when I can then carve out a niche for

00:57:45.269 --> 00:57:48.070
myself. So be something that nobody else can

00:57:48.070 --> 00:57:51.070
be. And that's one way that you can actually

00:57:51.070 --> 00:57:53.449
step up. A unique selling point, a USP. Yeah,

00:57:53.449 --> 00:57:58.070
USP. Exactly that. Okay. The reason why I use

00:57:58.070 --> 00:58:05.269
the example, the hypothesis, of an older person

00:58:05.269 --> 00:58:08.369
is because kids should not be watching my show.

00:58:11.230 --> 00:58:14.590
I see. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're pretty well behaved.

00:58:14.829 --> 00:58:16.849
I have been very well behaved with you despite

00:58:16.849 --> 00:58:19.230
the fact that I probably spewed one or two profanities

00:58:19.230 --> 00:58:22.630
earlier on. But that's par for the course as

00:58:22.630 --> 00:58:24.369
far as my show is concerned, by the way. But

00:58:24.369 --> 00:58:27.989
I've been very, very, very polite, okay? Oh,

00:58:28.010 --> 00:58:30.110
yeah, you've been very well behaved. I have been.

00:58:30.570 --> 00:58:32.650
Don't know why, maybe you've been teaching kids

00:58:32.650 --> 00:58:34.929
so long that I feel like, okay, it's a teacher.

00:58:35.730 --> 00:58:39.210
But parents do watch. I mean, parents would want

00:58:39.210 --> 00:58:41.130
to watch, right? I would ask them to watch, right?

00:58:41.289 --> 00:58:44.030
Yeah, yeah. I kind of realized that how, you

00:58:44.030 --> 00:58:45.889
know, like when we started the show, they said,

00:58:45.909 --> 00:58:49.369
okay, Chris, hold back. Okay, if you don't hold

00:58:49.369 --> 00:58:53.510
back, what would you say? No, I'm just worried

00:58:53.510 --> 00:58:55.449
about parents telling you, KP, what are we doing

00:58:55.449 --> 00:58:58.130
in this guy's show? He's like, potty mouth okay

00:58:58.130 --> 00:59:03.789
I think you're alright so far so far I've really

00:59:03.789 --> 00:59:07.389
been very conscious of my language anyway really

00:59:07.389 --> 00:59:10.809
yeah yeah you know I don't want to go into linguistic

00:59:10.809 --> 00:59:16.849
gymnastics yeah I'm just keeping it as kosher

00:59:16.849 --> 00:59:19.230
as I can. I'm really surprised. I have to, I

00:59:19.230 --> 00:59:21.829
have to. Thank you for that. I kind of realised

00:59:21.829 --> 00:59:24.550
that parents, you know, of the kids you teach

00:59:24.550 --> 00:59:27.449
might probably watch, so I better do you some

00:59:27.449 --> 00:59:32.449
favours. Okay, COVID -19. When the pandemic was

00:59:32.449 --> 00:59:36.030
here, you created, you led the creation of the

00:59:36.030 --> 00:59:40.090
If Not For You. It's a song, it's a touching

00:59:40.090 --> 00:59:45.739
song. 39 young performers. How did this initiative

00:59:45.739 --> 00:59:51.440
come about? Wow. Okay. Thanks for bringing that

00:59:51.440 --> 00:59:55.039
up. I write songs occasionally under duress.

00:59:55.659 --> 00:59:59.179
So only under duress. So you can only write songs

00:59:59.179 --> 01:00:03.079
when you're under duress. Yes. Yes. I wrote a

01:00:03.079 --> 01:00:08.119
school theme song, kids performing. The kids

01:00:08.119 --> 01:00:12.659
performing theme song. Right. What? I can't remember

01:00:12.659 --> 01:00:16.699
the title now, who I want to be, okay? I'm the

01:00:16.699 --> 01:00:19.260
dearest because I have a festival. And I said,

01:00:19.300 --> 01:00:21.219
oh my God, I have a festival and I don't have

01:00:21.219 --> 01:00:24.199
a theme song. So I wrote a theme song. And I

01:00:24.199 --> 01:00:26.860
was doing a, they were doing a documentary on

01:00:26.860 --> 01:00:29.019
me. And I said, if you don't want to pay for

01:00:29.019 --> 01:00:32.260
IP, got any songs? Okay, I write one song. And

01:00:32.260 --> 01:00:37.139
that's another song I wrote. And then for this,

01:00:37.260 --> 01:00:42.690
of course, and I wanted, I just wanted to, express

01:00:42.690 --> 01:00:45.670
myself in a certain way my gratitude and I want

01:00:45.670 --> 01:00:52.769
my talents to also somehow contribute and we

01:00:52.769 --> 01:00:59.210
were about to be shut down and we I had to rush

01:00:59.210 --> 01:01:02.349
the project so I told you under duress and I

01:01:02.349 --> 01:01:05.360
quickly had to gather all the kids learn the

01:01:05.360 --> 01:01:08.820
song get the music done and the first arranger

01:01:08.820 --> 01:01:11.800
went AWOL on me and I had to get another arranger

01:01:11.800 --> 01:01:15.199
and yeah and we did that under duress and we

01:01:15.199 --> 01:01:17.460
released it the same time Dick also released

01:01:17.460 --> 01:01:21.659
the song I think because we were both supported

01:01:21.659 --> 01:01:27.760
by MM2 and so Music in Movement no MM2 MM2 okay

01:01:27.760 --> 01:01:31.500
who's MM2 sorry MM2 Entertainment Melvin Ang

01:01:31.500 --> 01:01:34.989
MM2 yeah okay for sure Because we were part of

01:01:34.989 --> 01:01:39.769
the entity. And yeah, we rushed out and the impetus

01:01:39.769 --> 01:01:44.329
was basically just wanting to express our gratitude

01:01:44.329 --> 01:01:47.530
to the frontliners. And so I wrote the song and

01:01:47.530 --> 01:01:50.710
had our kids, we filmed it where our school was.

01:01:50.750 --> 01:01:54.050
We were at the yards at the time and got them

01:01:54.050 --> 01:01:58.380
to care and did the shoot. Okay, for everyone

01:01:58.380 --> 01:02:01.840
to know, we'll be playing that video at the end

01:02:01.840 --> 01:02:05.920
of the show for a performance of If Not For You.

01:02:06.179 --> 01:02:12.179
So nice, thank you. You're welcome. Then also

01:02:12.179 --> 01:02:17.099
tell me about this thing you did. AOS Stay At

01:02:17.099 --> 01:02:21.380
Home And Sing Challenge. Yeah, COVID, right?

01:02:21.579 --> 01:02:27.300
Yeah. Then go away and sing. You did this now.

01:02:27.400 --> 01:02:34.820
Can we play some of it, please? Here we go. So

01:02:34.820 --> 01:02:39.380
we stayed home, right? Yeah. We stayed home and

01:02:39.380 --> 01:02:42.500
you just had to make sure everyone stayed entertained,

01:02:42.659 --> 01:02:49.119
is it? Okay, so this is to get There's no volume.

01:02:49.320 --> 01:02:52.650
This is to get my kids to sing. To continue singing

01:02:52.650 --> 01:02:57.809
despite the circumstance. So I have to set example,

01:02:57.929 --> 01:03:01.510
right? So I sing a song every day. Sometimes

01:03:01.510 --> 01:03:03.550
I sing five songs in a row, then I just release

01:03:03.550 --> 01:03:06.769
one every day. Then I just need to know, change

01:03:06.769 --> 01:03:11.039
my t -shirt, change. 25 days. Hi, this is KP,

01:03:11.260 --> 01:03:14.500
and this is day one of the AOS Stay Home and

01:03:14.500 --> 01:03:17.059
Sing Challenge. I'd like to kickstart with a

01:03:17.059 --> 01:03:19.519
song from The Carpenters. It's all coming on,

01:03:19.599 --> 01:03:29.900
okay? Yeah. Sing, sing a song. Sing out loud.

01:03:31.000 --> 01:03:35.340
Okay. Sing out strong. So that's day one. Day

01:03:35.340 --> 01:03:39.219
one. That's day one. Sing out good things. 25

01:03:39.219 --> 01:03:44.699
days. Yeah, I know. You're not playing 25 days.

01:03:44.699 --> 01:03:46.320
No, I'm not going to be playing 25 days. No,

01:03:46.320 --> 01:03:47.820
no way am I going to be doing that. Otherwise,

01:03:47.860 --> 01:03:50.920
we have no time. Okay, guys. Thank you very much.

01:03:51.019 --> 01:03:53.460
So that was day one. You went on for 25 days.

01:03:53.639 --> 01:03:56.099
Yeah. You know, it's kind of entertaining. I've

01:03:56.099 --> 01:03:59.289
got to admit, though. Well, you know, COVID days,

01:03:59.389 --> 01:04:02.329
we shut down. We find ways to entertain ourselves

01:04:02.329 --> 01:04:05.909
and everybody. But you see, the impetus is that

01:04:05.909 --> 01:04:09.849
I need to keep that spirit alive for the kids.

01:04:09.869 --> 01:04:12.269
Did the kids do it? Yeah, some of them did that.

01:04:12.369 --> 01:04:14.070
Some of them, like, you know, didn't do it for

01:04:14.070 --> 01:04:16.230
25 a day. That's cool, man. They still do. And,

01:04:16.230 --> 01:04:19.909
you know, my friends look forward to, you know,

01:04:19.949 --> 01:04:22.989
the day's broadcast. And I think that's very

01:04:22.989 --> 01:04:25.469
important. Just keep going. Keep going. You know

01:04:25.469 --> 01:04:30.519
what I do. What did you do? Back then, who knows

01:04:30.519 --> 01:04:36.320
about maybe a lot of cinema. That was only like,

01:04:36.400 --> 01:04:39.039
what, five years? Oh, believe me, man. I tell

01:04:39.039 --> 01:04:42.269
you, in this last five years, it was boom. Well,

01:04:42.289 --> 01:04:44.510
anyway, sad story on my part, but never mind.

01:04:44.849 --> 01:04:47.630
What we did was I was approached by some guys

01:04:47.630 --> 01:04:51.590
from the Star Association who wanted to do something.

01:04:52.690 --> 01:04:54.489
Everyone is stuck at home, right? There was a

01:04:54.489 --> 01:04:56.809
circuit breaker. So they said, okay, let's do

01:04:56.809 --> 01:04:59.369
our first digital online live thing, you know.

01:04:59.550 --> 01:05:01.530
In those days, I mean, when it started, right,

01:05:01.570 --> 01:05:04.849
it wasn't a thing. It wasn't a thing yet, going

01:05:04.849 --> 01:05:07.530
live Facebook and stuff. So I said, good idea.

01:05:07.920 --> 01:05:12.699
Okay. So at home, I have these mics, right? Oh,

01:05:12.699 --> 01:05:17.739
yeah. Right? The Super 55s. And then put it up,

01:05:17.780 --> 01:05:20.360
set it up, got my leather jacket on, got on my

01:05:20.360 --> 01:05:22.440
black jeans and tight black jeans and did my

01:05:22.440 --> 01:05:27.880
hair up with this. You know? And I didn't have

01:05:27.880 --> 01:05:31.119
a studio then. I only had the mic. I had my monitor,

01:05:31.360 --> 01:05:34.059
you know, speaker. And I told the wife, okay,

01:05:34.079 --> 01:05:37.420
set this up. Set the phone up, you know? And

01:05:37.420 --> 01:05:40.840
we just shoot, right? And I sang Elvis Treat

01:05:40.840 --> 01:05:44.679
Me Nice, right? And honestly, I don't know why,

01:05:44.900 --> 01:05:48.400
for some strange reason, the audio was so damn

01:05:48.400 --> 01:05:54.820
good. It was so good. I was like, wow. Closed

01:05:54.820 --> 01:05:56.940
my curtains over my balcony, my last house, not

01:05:56.940 --> 01:05:58.880
this house. Closed the curtains, you know, and

01:05:58.880 --> 01:06:01.199
the gray curtains in the back. And it's kind

01:06:01.199 --> 01:06:04.059
of glittery. And it looked really like real legit,

01:06:04.280 --> 01:06:06.739
you know. Yeah. Like you're in the studio legit.

01:06:07.119 --> 01:06:10.239
And it turned out so well. I got to say, it turned

01:06:10.239 --> 01:06:13.579
out really, really well. And this is what I did

01:06:13.579 --> 01:06:17.559
for COVID. Don't you think that's like. a good

01:06:17.559 --> 01:06:20.380
thing I mean it was you asked us do it now like

01:06:20.380 --> 01:06:22.800
oh no no no I look at it like oh yeah you know

01:06:22.800 --> 01:06:25.320
just to be able to entertain you know what I

01:06:25.320 --> 01:06:28.059
mean that's right I think just about doing something

01:06:28.059 --> 01:06:33.260
yeah just to show that you know we are alive

01:06:33.260 --> 01:06:40.019
and that we want to be what was that we we Stay

01:06:40.019 --> 01:06:42.159
safe. And there was another, like, we share,

01:06:42.300 --> 01:06:45.019
we care. One of those things that, yeah, one

01:06:45.019 --> 01:06:47.760
of those motos. And I just felt that we, I had

01:06:47.760 --> 01:06:51.340
to do something. And that was my impetus to just,

01:06:51.420 --> 01:06:53.559
it's actually for the kids. I wasn't expecting

01:06:53.559 --> 01:06:57.300
you to be playing it now, but it was for the

01:06:57.300 --> 01:07:00.280
kids. Come on, let's just keep singing. Let's

01:07:00.280 --> 01:07:03.000
do this. Okay. 35 days. Let's just do 25 days.

01:07:03.039 --> 01:07:04.840
The reason why I put it up is because, yeah,

01:07:04.880 --> 01:07:06.840
I kind of figured that is the reason why you

01:07:06.840 --> 01:07:10.670
launched the 25 day thing. And the reason why

01:07:10.670 --> 01:07:13.010
I want to put it up also is to have everyone

01:07:13.010 --> 01:07:18.829
know. Look, man, I mean, us musicians, entertainers,

01:07:18.849 --> 01:07:22.210
we have soul, you know, right? We have a heart,

01:07:22.230 --> 01:07:24.570
you know. No matter what, we'll figure something

01:07:24.570 --> 01:07:27.429
out. To do something worth, to do something,

01:07:27.489 --> 01:07:29.929
not productive, but do something to raise your

01:07:29.929 --> 01:07:32.610
spirits. We're not the only ones who've done

01:07:32.610 --> 01:07:34.389
stuff like this, you know, during that period.

01:07:34.570 --> 01:07:36.969
Yeah, I think everyone in the world. Yeah, somehow.

01:07:37.880 --> 01:07:40.860
Got in to do, okay, your band's coming together,

01:07:40.980 --> 01:07:43.500
all Zooming and then doing the recordings and

01:07:43.500 --> 01:07:46.940
play songs, you know. It was crazy, but it was

01:07:46.940 --> 01:07:50.940
all amazing feats and efforts. And I think because

01:07:50.940 --> 01:07:54.559
of those days where we couldn't go out and we

01:07:54.559 --> 01:07:57.059
became more creative. And I think that's why

01:07:57.059 --> 01:08:00.639
we're doing Vidcast now, podcast. It's more popular

01:08:00.639 --> 01:08:04.889
than ever. And, you know, new ideas of... Working

01:08:04.889 --> 01:08:08.489
remotely. Yeah. Singing remotely. Yeah. All these

01:08:08.489 --> 01:08:12.690
possible. Yeah. Because we had no choice and

01:08:12.690 --> 01:08:17.029
then new things were invented. So it was. But

01:08:17.029 --> 01:08:18.470
I got to say something. I got to say something,

01:08:18.529 --> 01:08:21.010
KP. You know what I love about your voice, your

01:08:21.010 --> 01:08:24.689
tone? Oh. It's a happy tone. Nice. Thank you.

01:08:24.789 --> 01:08:27.050
No, no. There's something about your tone. First

01:08:27.050 --> 01:08:29.310
time someone tell me that. It's a happy tone,

01:08:29.390 --> 01:08:34.470
you know. You somehow feel happy. Just your tone.

01:08:34.569 --> 01:08:37.470
Ah, nice. Just now, you know, I know it's a happy

01:08:37.470 --> 01:08:41.590
song, sing, sing a song. But that tone, it's

01:08:41.590 --> 01:08:45.550
something about you. It makes someone feel happy.

01:08:45.630 --> 01:08:48.630
Pull a smile. So nice. Thank you. No, really.

01:08:48.770 --> 01:08:52.029
I mean, let me tell you, man, I am not one of

01:08:52.029 --> 01:08:54.949
those. I would call a spade a spade. I don't

01:08:54.949 --> 01:08:58.829
blow sunshine up anyone's behind. I say what

01:08:58.829 --> 01:09:01.829
I mean, I mean what I say. I've never heard that

01:09:01.829 --> 01:09:05.989
before. Okay, okay. Thanks, Chris. No, not at

01:09:05.989 --> 01:09:07.930
all. Good to hear that. No, not at all. But it's

01:09:07.930 --> 01:09:12.100
true. You have a very pleasant tone. I'd like

01:09:12.100 --> 01:09:16.460
to ask KP about your assessment of the current

01:09:16.460 --> 01:09:19.560
state of affairs in nightlife and live entertainment

01:09:19.560 --> 01:09:23.960
in Singapore. What excites you? What concerns

01:09:23.960 --> 01:09:30.260
you? That's a tough question now. Because frankly,

01:09:30.500 --> 01:09:34.399
I have not been out except if there is a good

01:09:34.399 --> 01:09:40.670
show on. So I don't go to like a dance. place

01:09:40.670 --> 01:09:44.789
because of the dance music uh last week i went

01:09:44.789 --> 01:09:49.189
for i was invited to uh watch jerry montero do

01:09:49.189 --> 01:09:51.710
his live recording and because i also wanted

01:09:51.710 --> 01:09:55.170
to watch sean hong wei on the saxophone so i

01:09:55.170 --> 01:10:00.989
did go out um and that was at the blue jazz and

01:10:00.989 --> 01:10:08.199
i really had a great time um And I have to say

01:10:08.199 --> 01:10:12.859
that I was glad I went out and I thought that

01:10:12.859 --> 01:10:17.960
was world -class music. And the atmosphere was

01:10:17.960 --> 01:10:20.479
great. A lot of the people, it was full house.

01:10:23.500 --> 01:10:25.699
When you have good quality music like that and

01:10:25.699 --> 01:10:29.539
it's about really going out there and sharing

01:10:29.539 --> 01:10:32.579
it. And of course, Jeremy had a purpose was to

01:10:32.579 --> 01:10:34.779
do the live recording, but he was so entertaining,

01:10:34.819 --> 01:10:37.380
you know, between the pieces that he played.

01:10:37.420 --> 01:10:41.300
And you know that they are all maestros. So,

01:10:41.319 --> 01:10:45.319
you know, in the nightlife, we have venues that

01:10:45.319 --> 01:10:48.439
support great musicians like that. It's really

01:10:48.439 --> 01:10:54.439
amazing. For the younger ones, now they're performing,

01:10:54.699 --> 01:11:01.060
where are they? Timber? Where else? Some other

01:11:01.060 --> 01:11:04.220
venues? Well, where are they? Mando Pop is really

01:11:04.220 --> 01:11:08.460
hitting the streets now, man. I mean, lots of

01:11:08.460 --> 01:11:10.659
young people are into the Mando Pop thing and

01:11:10.659 --> 01:11:12.579
they're singing, they're performing there. They're

01:11:12.579 --> 01:11:16.600
thriving, that one. Yeah, unfortunately, I haven't

01:11:16.600 --> 01:11:20.560
been to any of these venues, but I'm just glad.

01:11:20.859 --> 01:11:23.840
that there are still some around. Or you asked

01:11:23.840 --> 01:11:26.140
me about the scene. It's so different because

01:11:26.140 --> 01:11:29.340
I'm not sure about the metal part, but I know

01:11:29.340 --> 01:11:32.960
that the English bands or the Western bands,

01:11:33.100 --> 01:11:37.520
they don't have residency like we did before

01:11:37.520 --> 01:11:40.560
when we have a contract for three months, six

01:11:40.560 --> 01:11:42.859
months, a year, whatever. You know, I was always,

01:11:42.960 --> 01:11:45.300
you know, on a contract for a certain period.

01:11:45.340 --> 01:11:48.239
Not like, oh, Friday I'm here and Saturday I'm

01:11:48.239 --> 01:11:53.140
somewhere else. So that concept has been in the

01:11:53.140 --> 01:11:55.600
West, Australia or London or America for the

01:11:55.600 --> 01:12:00.899
longest time. It's only in the last, what, 10

01:12:00.899 --> 01:12:05.439
years that the musicians are getting around and

01:12:05.439 --> 01:12:08.960
it's very tough. Actually, more so after COVID.

01:12:09.180 --> 01:12:11.680
After COVID? Yeah, more so after COVID. Yeah,

01:12:11.680 --> 01:12:17.560
and that's a problem. And of course... have to

01:12:17.560 --> 01:12:21.020
be doing very well to support bands of the size

01:12:21.020 --> 01:12:23.000
that we had during Dennis Foo's days, right?

01:12:23.100 --> 01:12:27.000
So he was doing well, I think. He had two bands

01:12:27.000 --> 01:12:30.340
sometimes and it was great fun. So the scene

01:12:30.340 --> 01:12:33.060
is so different and musicians now have to promote

01:12:33.060 --> 01:12:38.100
themselves through social media. So I don't know.

01:12:38.140 --> 01:12:40.579
It's just different. And I'm glad that I was

01:12:40.579 --> 01:12:45.010
a musician back then and not now. Really? Because

01:12:45.010 --> 01:12:47.829
it's a lot harder today, you think? Is that the

01:12:47.829 --> 01:12:51.329
reason why? You got to make a lot of noise to

01:12:51.329 --> 01:12:59.069
be heard now, to be really good. Yeah, I'm sorry

01:12:59.069 --> 01:13:00.930
I can't answer that question because I haven't

01:13:00.930 --> 01:13:04.229
been out. I mean, there are some bands I know

01:13:04.229 --> 01:13:07.810
they're really good and I've walked past them

01:13:07.810 --> 01:13:11.500
or I've seen them perform some big gigs. And

01:13:11.500 --> 01:13:14.899
I know that we have very good musicians, you

01:13:14.899 --> 01:13:19.140
know, the new generation. So I hope that, you

01:13:19.140 --> 01:13:23.479
know, the venues are able to support them. And

01:13:23.479 --> 01:13:27.539
I know they have to work a lot harder to be heard.

01:13:28.000 --> 01:13:30.939
Yeah. So the last time I organized the Jazz by

01:13:30.939 --> 01:13:36.619
the Cove, Sentosa. basically commissioned me

01:13:36.619 --> 01:13:39.020
to put together some musicians, which I brought

01:13:39.020 --> 01:13:42.600
in some international jazz musicians. And also

01:13:42.600 --> 01:13:47.739
we have some of the local ones. And I also discovered

01:13:47.739 --> 01:13:53.460
some new jazz musicians, new singers that's different,

01:13:53.680 --> 01:13:57.819
you know? So I think the music will go on, just

01:13:57.819 --> 01:14:01.369
different. Okay. Yeah? I've got one last question

01:14:01.369 --> 01:14:04.170
for you. Oh, okay. It's been an hour, I think.

01:14:04.170 --> 01:14:08.029
Okay? Oh, wow. Okay. Is that like way over? No,

01:14:08.029 --> 01:14:10.470
no, don't worry about it. I was, we were, Dennis

01:14:10.470 --> 01:14:14.989
and I and Rosie, we were on for an hour and almost

01:14:14.989 --> 01:14:17.529
two hours. Okay, because you're older. Yeah,

01:14:17.529 --> 01:14:22.090
thanks. I talk a lot. Thank you. Actually, it's

01:14:22.090 --> 01:14:23.430
more Dennis. That's because there's a lot of

01:14:23.430 --> 01:14:25.609
things to say. Dennis could go on for five hours,

01:14:25.649 --> 01:14:28.529
I tell you. Oh, absolutely. I think Dennis would

01:14:28.529 --> 01:14:31.210
have a lot of anecdotes. A lot. A lot of stories

01:14:31.210 --> 01:14:34.350
because, you know, in the bars, things happen.

01:14:34.729 --> 01:14:37.189
Yeah. Yeah, I love working with him. I learned

01:14:37.189 --> 01:14:39.829
so much from him and he's a man of details. Yeah.

01:14:39.949 --> 01:14:43.869
You know? Oh, Gopo, you think the bass too much,

01:14:43.869 --> 01:14:49.909
no? Just the bass. Then one day he told me, eh,

01:14:50.090 --> 01:14:55.289
the pool table is so dirty. And I was outside.

01:14:55.369 --> 01:14:58.930
It was Christmas. I said, Dennis, I'm the executive

01:14:58.930 --> 01:15:01.649
director. You have a GM, a manager in the bar

01:15:01.649 --> 01:15:04.609
for a reason. Don't call me about the pool table.

01:15:06.710 --> 01:15:10.550
Yeah, that's my darling. Great guy. Yeah, he

01:15:10.550 --> 01:15:15.390
loved me. He loved me and I love him back. Okay.

01:15:15.510 --> 01:15:19.500
What do you hope? You, your lasting legacy will

01:15:19.500 --> 01:15:22.600
be for Singapore's performing arts scene and

01:15:22.600 --> 01:15:27.000
the generations of artists to come. My hope,

01:15:27.000 --> 01:15:32.359
my hope is that that always be that they have

01:15:32.359 --> 01:15:35.939
their dreams of being who they are, fulfilled,

01:15:36.220 --> 01:15:41.239
right? And that they can grow up to be decent

01:15:41.239 --> 01:15:45.090
human beings. If they choose performing arts,

01:15:45.289 --> 01:15:51.529
they need to know that it's not like they have

01:15:51.529 --> 01:15:56.149
to work at it. And we always want to be the best

01:15:56.149 --> 01:15:59.270
that they need to work at it, not think that

01:15:59.270 --> 01:16:02.210
just because I want to do this and things fall

01:16:02.210 --> 01:16:07.449
in their lap. So I do hope that we continue to

01:16:07.449 --> 01:16:10.279
churn out great artists. internationally renowned

01:16:10.279 --> 01:16:14.380
yeah I'm very proud of my students with Pursuit

01:16:14.380 --> 01:16:17.619
Musical Theatre Nathaniel Ong for example that's

01:16:17.619 --> 01:16:24.460
made it in West End wow so I'm really like in

01:16:24.460 --> 01:16:29.359
a hope that I churn out more artists like her

01:16:29.359 --> 01:16:32.859
talents like her who's made it and make Singapore

01:16:32.859 --> 01:16:37.579
proud and especially when it's their dream then

01:16:38.260 --> 01:16:42.199
I've done my job. All right. KP, it's our tribute

01:16:42.199 --> 01:16:44.579
to you. Thank you so very much. You're an icon.

01:16:44.739 --> 01:16:48.720
Thank you. You are an icon in my eyes and I'm

01:16:48.720 --> 01:16:50.520
sure in the eyes of a lot of us. Oh, thank you

01:16:50.520 --> 01:16:52.020
so much. And thank you for giving us also your

01:16:52.020 --> 01:16:57.079
great bars like, you know, Dada and Java Jive.

01:16:57.079 --> 01:16:59.380
I mean, and thank you also for starting Jive

01:16:59.380 --> 01:17:01.300
Talk because I still think they're great. Oh,

01:17:01.300 --> 01:17:03.260
they're the best. They're very good. Thank you

01:17:03.260 --> 01:17:04.920
for having me, Chris. Not at all. My pleasure.

01:17:05.020 --> 01:17:08.279
My pleasure. I got to say goodbye now. Thank

01:17:08.279 --> 01:17:11.380
you, everybody, for watching this episode of

01:17:11.380 --> 01:17:14.319
Season 6 of the Chris Hansen Conversation. I

01:17:14.319 --> 01:17:17.079
hope you've been enjoying it so far. More to

01:17:17.079 --> 01:17:19.220
come. This is going to be one heck of a long

01:17:19.220 --> 01:17:23.579
season. And do make sure you comment, share,

01:17:23.819 --> 01:17:28.439
like. And even if you want to say something terrible

01:17:28.439 --> 01:17:31.020
to me, please go ahead. I welcome all comments,

01:17:31.180 --> 01:17:33.239
okay? Thank you so very much, everyone, for watching.

01:17:33.300 --> 01:17:35.939
Stay safe. See you again real soon. Bye -bye.

01:17:36.359 --> 01:17:38.479
To the doctors and nurses. Dear airport staff.

01:17:38.720 --> 01:17:41.520
Dear police. We thank you for making sure that

01:17:41.520 --> 01:17:44.300
the virus doesn't spread in and out of our country.

01:17:45.060 --> 01:17:47.560
Thank you for always being there for us. We appreciate

01:17:47.560 --> 01:17:49.659
your bravery and dedication. I know everyone

01:17:49.659 --> 01:17:52.619
will be there for you too. Dear Conliners, thank

01:17:52.619 --> 01:17:57.619
you for fighting the COVID -19. You are our heroes.

01:17:57.819 --> 01:18:07.359
We love you. We can't see your face, but there

01:18:07.359 --> 01:18:16.579
is courage and spirit to rise above your fears.

01:18:17.819 --> 01:18:23.600
You stood on your feet, breathing in the same

01:18:23.600 --> 01:22:00.680
space, sleepless for days. The Chris Hansen Conversation.

01:22:00.819 --> 01:22:04.260
Real talk, no filters, and a growing community

01:22:04.260 --> 01:22:07.760
of more than 80 ,000 subscribers across ASEAN,

01:22:07.760 --> 01:22:09.340
right here from Singapore.