Elva Hsiao: I try to lead my life as I would

SINGAPORE – Elva Hsiao has been in the music industry for about 15 years. Yet the Taiwanese pop star, who was recently photographed kissing her rumoured boyfriend Singaporean Elroy Cheo in a shopping mall in Hong Kong, said she still finds it a challenge getting used to paparazzi.

“I am used to (being photographed), but I am also not used to it,” Hsiao said, ahead of her performance at ION Orchard’s 5th anniversary gala event in Singapore. “I am used to having people pay attention to my private life. Still, it is difficult to overcome my own uneasiness about it, and to feel free to lead my own life.”

The 35-year-old also admitted she isn’t ready to let her guard down, even in paparazzi-free Singapore.

“I’ve heard that there aren’t any paparazzi here, but now, everybody can be a photographer!” Hsiao said, laughing. “Many people take photos with their phones – and maybe they don’t intend to put them up (on news sites), but they put them on Facebook, so people just take the photos and use them somewhere else. But I guess I don’t think very much about it, and I try to lead my life as I would.”

Though she remained coy about her relationship with Cheo, who happens to be Taiwanese actor Vanness Wu’s brother-in-law, Hsiao joked that she found it surprising to see that Singaporean men were “really thin”.

“Is it because they sweat a lot?” she quipped. “It’s really very hot here, and the food is quite spicy. I wonder (if that is) why everyone is so thin.”