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Tanya Chua: I wish I had a boyfriend

SINGAPORE — Some of her friends — including fellow Singaporean singer Stefanie Sun — may have already started their own families but Tanya Chua says she’s not in any hurry to settle down.

Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua held a special music showcase at Shanghai Dolly on July 4. Photo: Jason Ho

Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua held a special music showcase at Shanghai Dolly on July 4. Photo: Jason Ho

SINGAPORE — Some of her friends — including fellow Singaporean singer Stefanie Sun — may have already started their own families but Tanya Chua says she’s not in any hurry to settle down.

“Just because my friends are doing it doesn’t mean I have to do it,” the 40-year-old quipped in an interview before her music showcase yesterday (July 4). “If it happens, then good for me — I will definitely shout about it across the continent to let everyone know. But right now, it just seems like it’s not happening for me.”

“There is just so much work,” she continued. “I was just saying to my hairstylist that I wish I had a boyfriend. But even if I did, I wouldn’t have time for him and I would feel very bad.”

Tanya Chua is, indeed, a very busy woman. The Singaporean singer-songwriter, who has been based in Taipei for the last eight years, has spent the last year playing judge on Chinese reality talent show Sing My Song, as well as performing in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. After we caught up with the singer, she went on to regale an audience of about 700 with some of her favourites from her own collection of Mandopop and English songs (while throwing in fan favourites Bottomless Pit and Beautiful Love at the end of the show for good measure). The casual, hour-long showcase was held at Shanghai Dolly and organised in collaboration with AMPed Music.

Over the next few months, Chua will also focus her energies on her next Mandopop album, which she aims to release at the end of the year.

“It’s a very painful process this time because (my new album) is going to sound pretty different from my previous albums. It’s a new approach,” said Chua, who acknowledged that making an “experimental” album might also potentially mean alienating half of her target market.

“We’ve all settled into this comfort zone of me singing ballads. I think it’s cool for a period of time but I don’t want to be pigeonholed. Musically and creatively, I feel like there are so many more things I can explore, so this album is about that. It’s about breaking the boundaries and limits, and seeing what I can do.”

Chua plans to continue working on her music from the comfort of her home and studio in Taipei, which is one reason why she has no plans of moving back to Singapore in the near future.

“I am quite comfortable in Taiwan right now,” she said. “First of all, I’ve established a really comfortable environment for myself. I have my own place and a studio, and it’s my sanctuary. No matter where I am, I really need to be in a ‘Tanya’s comfort zone’ place. I can bake any time I want. And I’ll be writing songs, recording. It’s good for me and it’s also more practical, because if you’re talking about being in the Chinese music market, you just have to be there. That’s just the way it is.”

And perhaps that is why, thanks to her music (and her little sanctuary), Tanya Chua is happy where she is — with or without a man in her life.

“I am not sitting at home and crying my eyes out because I don’t have a boyfriend because that is not what women are supposed to be represented by,” she said. “There are other things we can do to feel our self-worth, to make our lives worth living.”

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