SINGAPORE — At 65, singer-entertainer Frances Yip has seen and done it all.

She has released more than 80 albums and has performed on television, in films, concerts and cabarets, in more than 30 countries on five continents. Her linguistic skills, with unique interpretations of lyrics in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, as well as several other Asian languages, have led to a fan base across a wide range of cultures and countries.

And she shows no sign of stopping. The singer will appear along with Susanna Kwan and Elisa Chan as part of the Hong Kong’s 3 Divas concert on Feb 23 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The concert is organised by MediaCorp Vizpro.

But into every ocean a little rain must fall. Even as her career soared, Yip faced difficult and challenging circumstances in her personal life. Not least suffering from breast cancer, and more recently, having to see her grandson suffering from a brain tumour.

“In 2009, my grandson, George, started having seizures five weeks after he was born,” she recounted matter-of-factly. “On New Year’s Day 2010, he had a five-hour operation to remove the tumour. He survived the first benchmark of six months ... the most recent MRI was in November and its still all-clear!”

However, Yip is philosophical about life’s ups and downs. “So often when something bad happens, we say ‘why me?’, but when something good happens, do we say ‘why me?’. So these are the things we ought to think about. When I look back at my life, everything balances out. So we should have faith,” she declared.

This personal faith probably explains Yip’s latest musical foray into Christian music, with last year’s release of — Grace And Glory — and a performance at a local Catholic Church.

“I wouldn’t call it a performance or a concert — it’s a sharing,” she elaborated. “I’m here to share some of my experiences in public because I have just made a 16-track Christian CD, mostly in English. This is a CD made with a lot of love and gratitude — an expression of thanksgiving.”

Yip emphasised that the main message is “not to give up because I was very tempted to give up”. “Sometimes if it’s too much for you, to leave it to God,” she added.

In her darkest moments, Yip said the one thing that kept her going was that she felt she still had a lot to do. “I am not ready to go. I am not ready to give up,” she said, adding that while she did at one point have doubts about her grandson’s recovery, at no point in her life did she have any thoughts about carrying on herself.

“I never doubted that with myself, for some reason,” she said.

“I feel that there is a moment in your life when it’s time to pay back. This is ‘payback’ time for me.”

We’re sure fans who go see her concert won’t disagree.

The Hong Kong 3 Divas concert happens on Feb 23, 8pm at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Tickets from Sistic. The album, Grace And Glory, is out now.